Glen Waverley, Victoria

Geography

The suburb of Glen Waverley is generally bounded by Dandenong Creek to the east, Ferntree Gully Road to the south, Blackburn Road to the west and Highbury Road to the north. Springvale Road, a major north-south distributor, divides the suburb. The geography varies from river flats adjacent to the Dandenong Creek in the east to hilly in the region between the Dandenong Creek and Scotchmans Creek catchments.

History

The area was first settled in the mid nineteenth century and later developed as orchards and farming lands. The Post Office opened on 1 July 1885 as Black Flat in the area to the south of the railway line, was renamed Glen Waverley in 1921, and Glen Waverley South in 1963 on the same day Glen Waverley North office (open since 1954) was renamed Glen Waverley (from 1994 The Glen). The name "Waverley" was, like the name of the train station in Edinburgh, taken from a novel by Sir Walter Scott.

Major development occurred in the 1950s to 1970s with rapid infilling of housing built to a generally high standard on large (typically 800m²) blocks. Much of that housing stock is now ageing and renewal is occurring, frequently involving subdivision of the larger blocks into townhouse development. The suburb was also the site of Victoria's first McDonald's restaurant, which opened on 12 September 1973, at the corner of High Street and Springvale Road and was demolished in 2016, it has now re opened. It was opened shortly after the original in Sydney. Following the Sydney McDonald's closure, it became Australia's longest surviving McDonald's.

Facilities

The main street of Glen Waverley is Kingsway. In recent years, Kingsway has developed into a vibrant dining and entertainment area, with strong Asian influences. Also on Kingsway is Century City Walk, a cinema multiplex. It houses various eateries, a Strike Bowling Bar and a Village Cinema (equipped with Gold Class facilities). There are now many hotels such as Novotel Glen Waverley, Hotel Ibis, Waverley International Hotel, Apartments of Waverley and the Quest Hotel. There is also a large branch of the Monash Public Library Service. Construction of a 10-storey apartment, office, retail and carparking complex between the railway station and Kingsway will begin in mid-2011. The suburb also has numerous churches, and is home to the Victoria Police Academy, which occupies a former Roman Catholic seminary.

The Glen (formerly known as "Centro The Glen") is a local regional shopping centre owned, (formerly managed and developed by Vicinity Centres). Although smaller than nearby shopping centres such as Westfield Knox or Chadstone, The Glen houses a substantial collection of shops, including supermarkets, a food court named Diners Life and a number of smaller clothing stores. Centro The Glen currently has over 207 specialty retail shops and 11 anchor retailers, thus making Centro The Glen one of the most significant shopping centres in the vicinity. Centro The Glen was the first shopping centre in suburban Victoria to contain a David Jones retail outlet.

Economy

Glen Waverley has also developed to become somewhat of a business hub in metropolitan Melbourne, with many international companies including Toshiba, Ansell, and NEC all having their Australian headquarters in the suburb.

Demographics

The majority of Glen Waverley residents identify as being Australian born. At the time of the 2011 Census, over 10,500 people responded with China as being their country of birth; 22.4 per cent of residents. This compares with 3.7 per cent for Victoria overall and 3.1 per cent nationwide. Mandarin and Cantonese are the most spoken languages at home, following English. There are changes, too, in where Chinese migrants are coming from. The first wave of arrivals from Hong Kong and Malaysia has been replaced by more migrants from mainland China. In the City of Monash, 8.1 per cent of residents were born in China, up from 3 per cent in 2006. Malaysia 5.2%, India 4.5%, Sri Lanka 4.5% and England 2.8% are other major responses for countries of birth.

Politics and representation

Most of Glen Waverley's voting booths are within the federal electorate of Bruce (with the remainder in Chisholm). The suburb is traditionally oriented towards the Liberal Party, but has become extremely marginal and competitive in recent years. This is evidenced in the 2010 federal election results, in which the combined booth results for the suburb produced a primary vote of 40.7% for the Labor Party, 46.0% for the Liberals, and 9.8% for the Greens. After preferences, the split was 49.99% for Labor and 50.01% for the Liberals (a difference of 3 votes).

Education

University/TAFE

Secondary Schools

Primary Schools

Private Schools

Sport

The suburb has two Australian rules football clubs, Glen Waverley Hawks Football Club, and the Glen Waverley Rovers Junior Football Club both competing in the Eastern Football League.

Soccer clubs include Glen Waverley Junior Soccer Club (founded in 1980), and Waverley Victory Football Club (founded in 2001), they are both members of Football Federation Victoria.

Tennis clubs include Glen Waverley Tennis Club, Glenvale Tennis Club, Glenburn Tennis Club, Legend Park Tennis Club, Notting Hill Pinewood Tennis Club and Whites Lane Tennis Club.

Cricket is represented by the Glen Waverley Cougars Cricket Club and the Glen Waverley Cricket Club, who both compete in the Southern District and Churches Cricket League (SDCCL). In season 2009/2010, the Glen Waverley Cricket Club's 50th year, they won the SDCCL Menzies Shield, defeating Mount Waverley Uniting Cricket Club. The Glen Waverley Hawks Cricket Club compete in Wilson Shield of the Box Hill Reporter District Cricket Association.

Golfers play at the course of the Glen Waverley Golf Club at Waverley Road in the neighbouring suburb of Wheelers Hill.

Glen Waverley has a major recreational and aquatic centre located on Waverley Rd, the Monash Aquatic and Recreation Centre. It has a range of different swimming pools to cater for everyone's needs with two kid pools, a 40-metre wave pool, a Learn-to-swim pool, an indoor 25 metre pool, an outdoor 50 metre pool and a hydrotherapy pool.

Rail

The suburb gives its name to the Glen Waverley railway line, which terminates at Glen Waverley station. Services depart platform 1 and 2, with a frequency of 7–8 minutes in peak hour, and every 15 minutes in off-peak periods. Glen Waverley is classed as a Premium Station, is in Metro Zone 2. Syndal railway station is located one station to the west of Glen Waverley railway station and also on the Glen Waverley railway line.

Bus

A number of bus routes operated by Ventura Bus Lines and CDC Melbourne also operate in the area, with connections to Monash University, Chadstone Shopping Centre, Eastland Shopping Centre, Westfield Knox, Rowville, St. Kilda, Glen Iris, Springvale, Blackburn, Mitcham, Dandenong and Croydon. The 902 SmartBus from Chelsea to Airport West, also operates via Glen Waverley at 15-minute frequencies all day in both directions, and at up to 10-minute frequencies in peak periods.

Roads

Springvale Road is the main north-south arterial road running through Glen Waverley, with 3 lanes in each direction. Blackburn Road runs parallel to Springvale Road to the west. High Street Road, Waverley Road and Ferntree Gully Road are the main east-west collector roads in Glen Waverley. The Monash Freeway also runs through the south-western corner of Glen Waverley, with access via Ferntree Gully and Springvale Roads.