Victoria

Cherry St Memorial McLeod
Kamesburgh Gardens in Brighton (photo by Trevor Pitkin)

Welcome to the Victorian Branch. With over 500 members, the Branch is active in organising events throughout the year including lectures, informative walks and working bees in historic gardens for our members. We are vigilant in watching landscapes at risk and actively show our concern where appropriate. Recording the stories of people who have contributed much to the Society is an ongoing oral history project.

Event Calendar


Belmont survives recent bushfire

Members will be relieved to know that whilst the recent bushfires in western Victoria came on to the historic property of Belmont where AGHS has enjoyed conference visits, held workshops and conducted working bees over the last 44 years, it has escaped damage. In the owner, Jo Reid's words in a recent email, 'There were many personnel battling the fire around Belmont.  It came right up to the verandah. The area around the lily pond is all burnt. That takes care of the watsonias!' Eurumbeen, another significant garden further south was not impacted. Di Ellerton will be in touch with Jo Reid to set a date for a working bee at Belmont, possibly in April or May.

 

Pictorial – Belmont


Working Bees

Working bees are one way we support custodians of private historic gardens and demonstrate that we value their contribution and the assets they maintain. These are Members Only events.

Next working bee: Sunday 14 April, Working bee at Surrey Hills. Contact Di Ellerton if interested.

Contact Diana Ellerton on 9397 2756 or email at diana.ellerton@icloud.com for details of other forthcoming working bees.


Oral History Update

The Branch has completed five recent oral histories which are in the process of being uploaded to the website and lodged with the State Library of Victoria for historical records.   We thank the people who gave their time and recollections so graciously and for the wealth of knowledge this provides to garden histories and all interested parties.  Plans for four more oral histories are underway when Branch funds allow.


Historic Gardens in Victoria

Victoria contains many significant historic gardens and recording them is an important part of our commitment.

A garden history of Goronga is now available.

Three garden histories were written as part of our 40th Anniversary Grant celebrations.

  • Umina in Toorak
  • Longacres which was Sir Arthur Streeton's property in Olinda
  • Titanga a Western District property.

Previous garden histories are available:


Advocacy Update – AGHS Vic Branch, March 2024

 The Gong & Buninyong Botanic Gardens Masterplan, Buninyong
Since formally adopting their Masterplan in June 2023, Ballarat City Council has not yet provided a schedule for commencement of their proposed works at The Gong and Buninyong Botanic Gardens.  Friends of the Buninyong Botanic Gardens and the community Stakeholders Advisory Group has proposed an alternative scheme proposing creation of environmentally managed wetlands that:

  • leave existing dam wall and vegetation intact, thus avoiding breaching of the Gardens’ Heritage Victoria listed values.
  • manage the water volume and flow into The Gong via a series of small wetland ponds above The Gong, to its east.
  • allows for retention of fishing activities in The Gong, provision of habitat for bio-diversity, increased vegetation cover for shade and cooling, and management of invasive species; and
  • facilitates implementation of a strategic corridor through to outlying remnant bushland.

This alternative proposal will be submitted to Heritage Victoria when the City of Ballarat formally submits its plans for approval to proceed with their works which “… will have detrimental impacts on the cultural heritage significance of the Buninyong Botanic Gardens” ref: Context – GML Heritage Consultants, Heritage Impact Statement, August 2020.

 HV McKay Memorial Gardens, Sunshine
The construction of the Airport Rail Link Project by the state government remains on hold since May 2023. This affects the Gardens as preliminary works in the vicinity of the Gardens had commenced. New planting in the garden bed alongside the railway tracks is now suspended indefinitely and the pedestrian bridge over Anderson Rd which impacts the northern access to the Gardens is closed. A request made from the HV Memorial Gardens Management Committee to open the bridge to facilitate access to the Gardens was denied.

The new Horticultural Implementation Plan being prepared by Brimbank Council for the Gardens is also on hold, pending the reorganisation of their Parks, Urban Design and Engineering Departments. The Management Committee, of which AGHS is currently a member, may also be impacted by the restructure, so future meetings are on hold until further notice.

Meanwhile, despite the above problems, the Gardens are looking very attractive at present and will provide an excellent venue for the Community Festival organised by the Friends of HV McKay Gardens, to be held on the afternoon of Sunday, 17 March.

Carlton Gardens
Measures to protect trees in Carlton Gardens will enable them to be suitably secure for the annual Melbourne International Flower and Garden Festival, held there in March. Planning requirements vis-a-vis tree protection are required by Heritage Victoria on an annual basis. The popular festival is now well-regulated with stands on hard surfaces and annual remediation of disturbance to grass areas.

Working with National Trust (Vic)
AGHS is now represented, through the Advocacy team, on National Trust (Vic) Landscape Reference Group which meets annually.

OpenAustralia Foundation
Advocacy team note the difficulty of keeping abreast of planning proposals that may affect significant gardens and cultural landscapes in each local government area (LGA), requiring constant vigilance. PlanningAlerts is a free service run by the independent charity OpenAustralia Foundation.

We are grateful to all AGHS members not on the current committee who are active as stakeholders, in community and resident groups, in their individual LGAs and as previous submitters of applications to Heritage Victoria and other planning bodies.

Queens Avenue row of trees in Glen Eira City Council area, is case in point. Members in this LGA have assisted by making views on environmental, heritage and canopy etc. values for tree retention, compatible with cycleways and the Level Crossing Removal Authority plans. Social media fora and lobbying of GEC Councillors by individuals has been an opportunity to raise AGHS’s profile as an organisation committed to those values.

Yantaringa Gardens Project
In August 2021 the Victorian branch of the Australian Garden History Society (AGHS Vic) was approached by a resident of the Yantaringa Court apartments in Ivanhoe in search of advice on how to renovate their garden. The garden in question is a portion of what was established a century ago by local identity Sir Herbert Olney. Despite various stages of development since the early 1920s the remnant infrastructure of the garden continues; the planting schemes however, have taken many paths over the years.

AGHS (Vic) has assisted in this effort to evoke the earlier years of the garden’s glory days more closely through two stages.

Firstly, in May 2022, the Branch undertook a working bee at the site, focusing on removing overgrown elements to reveal the full impact of the hard landscape elements. Working bees have been a part of Branch activities for the past 25 years, and this event had a transformative effect on this garden. To see clearly what had been created and captured in early images was exciting for the residents.

The second stage is the subject of this report, and deals with the plantings as they are at present. It also describes how plantings and some hard features could be modified to recapture the intent at the establishment of the apartments, with some reference back to the very early era when Yantaringa was one integrated establishment, incorporating generous house, extensive gardens and bowling rinks.

This report has been put together for AGHS (Vic) by Barrie Gallacher, Landscape Architect specialising in Landscape Heritage Projects. It is fully detailed in relation to the garden layout schematics, existing plant conditions, recommendations for replacement plantings, and suggestions for some hard landscaping alterations. Residents can confidently address the project over time with such detail in hand.

AGHS (Vic) wishes to acknowledge the assistance of the Heidelberg Historical Society, who held a series of images of the property from the Olney years and the following period of establishment of the apartments. These images have been of great value in understanding the stages of the garden over these years.

Trevor Pitkin
AGHS (Vic) Projects
December 2023

 

 


Branch Committee

We usually meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month from 4.30 pm - 6pm at the  Burnley Gardens in the Administration Building.  You are welcome to join committee meetings at any time.

If you wish to discuss opportunities for greater involvement, please contact Wendy Dwyer on aghsvicbranch2@gmail.com,  or contact one of the committee members.

Chair: Wendy Dwyer
Vice Chair: Lynda Entwisle
Secretary: Wendy Dwyer
Treasurer: Anna Long
Working Bee Coordinator: Diana Ellerton
Newsletters/Publicity: Lynda Entwisle
Bookings: Robin Teed
Projects: Trevor Pitkin
Advocacy: Michaela Hill/ Ros Savio
NMC Representative:Michaela Hill
Catering Coordinator: Annie Woodside
General Committee: Carol Beaumont, Sue Foran