Fawkner, Victoria

Population

According to Moreland Council suburb profile, Fawkner has a larger percentage of population aged over 70 years (17.7%) and aged from 5 to 11 years (8.9%), than the average for the municipality (11.8% and 7.0% respectively).

The suburb also has a lower proportion - 47.4% - of people born in Australia, as against the municipal average of 60.1%.

Since the population boom after the second world War, Fawkner has attracted immigrants from a range of cultures. For many years the suburb contained a substantial Italian immigrant population. Currently 13.1% of residents were born in Italy. Other large immigrant communities include Pakistan (4.4%) and Iraq (2.5%).

History

The area was originally called and was part of Box Forest, named by Melbourne settler pioneer, John Pascoe Fawkner. In 1867 John Jukes bought a parcel of land in the area and named it Fawkner in honour of the pioneer settler. John Jukes grandson, David Jukes, continued to live in the area until the 1970s.

One of the original settlers in Fawkner was Michael Dowling and his family, who settled on their property at Major Road near Merri Creek in September 1902, grazing cattle to fatten for market. Miss Dowling described the area then as a harsh windy place with few trees and a few unfinished shacks.

The first school in the area was the Fawkner State School, opened 1909, on Lynch Road. The school was decommissioned in the 1990s and was subsequently purchased in 1997 by the Quang Duc Buddhist Welfare Association to form the buddhist Quang Duc Temple.

The opening of the Upfield railway line on 8 October 1889 (electrified to Fawkner on 2 December 1920); and the development and opening of the Fawkner general cemetery in December 1906 encouraged residential development in the south of the suburb.

By 1910 there were 35 houses within walking distance of Fawkner Station.

Electricity was extended to Fawkner in 1920 by the City of Coburg Electricity Supply Department. Returned soldiers started settling the suburb in the 1920s. By 1939 post office directories listed 180 buildings in Fawkner.

North Fawkner remained a dairy farm owned by the Coyne family until 1945. The period after World War II saw the most significant period of development in the suburb with the first public housing built by the Housing Commission in 1949 and continuing up until the 1960s with the development of the Moomba Park estate, named after the initial Labour Day Moomba Parade held in 1955. Other facilities established included the Fawkner Swimming Pool in 1964 and Fawkner Library in 1969.

The Post Office opened in 1878 as Box Forest, was renamed Fawkner in 1885 and closed in 1888. The next Fawkner office was open in 1904 and 1905. The third (known briefly as Faulkner) was open from 1909 until renamed Fawkner South in 1960. The fourth was open from 1960 until renamed Fawkner East in 1970, when the current Fawkner office opened. In addition, a Fawkner West office was open from 1962 until 1993, and the Fawkner North office on Anderson Road in the Moomba Park area opened in 1961.

The suburb was transferred in December 1994 from the City of Broadmeadows to the new City of Moreland, when the Victorian Government forced Local Government mergers.

Shopping

The main commercial areas in Fawkner are the strip bordering Sydney Road, which is mainly automotive-related and light-industrial and the Bonwick Street shopping strip. There are a number of corner shops and small shopping strips dotted about the residential area. Bonwick Street offers a wide range of shops including Italian cuisine as well as cafes.

Schools

Within the suburb of Fawkner, there are two government primary schools: Fawkner Primary and Moomba Park Primary. Two Catholic primary schools were also built: St. Matthew's PS and St. Mark's PS (1934). Fawkner Secondary College began in 1956 and an Islamic college, Darul Ulum College of Victoria, was established in 1997 on the grounds of the former Fawkner North Primary school. Historically, the Fawkner Technical School was built on the site west of the Moomba Park Primary School at the same time the primary school was established. Fawkner Technical School was eventually demolished to make way for residential allotments. Bruce Smeaton, composer and musician taught at this school which started out as an exclusive boys school of high repute.

Transport

The stations of Gowrie and Fawkner on the Upfield railway line provide public transport to Melbourne CBD. The Gowrie Station bus (route no. 527) provides transport to Northland Shopping Centre. Gowrie Station was a later addition. There was a small station just north of Camp Road at Campbellfield consisting of a platform and iron shed. The rail line used to go to Somerton Station just north of Somerton Road, Somerton from Upfield.

The Coburg North - Campbellfield (K-Mart) bus (route no. 530) runs through Fawkner, providing access to neighbouring suburbs.

The Upfield Bike Path, Merri Creek Trail and the Western Ring Road Trail provide facilities for recreational and commuting cyclists.

Reserves

Fawkner has three major reserves: Charles Mutton Reserve, home ground for the Northern Saints; Moomba Park, home ground for Moreland United; and CB Smith Reserve, home ground for the Fawkner Blues Soccer Club. There is also significant open space along Merri Creek.

Religious settlement