Victoria

Event Calendar

• Lecture (in person and via Zoom): Mildura’s Cultural Landscape

  6 November @ 6:00 pm AEDT

  In Heritage Practice: Exploring the Rich Patterns and Textures of Mildura’s Cultural Landscape...

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.

Forthcoming working bees:

• Sunday 25 October – Olinda
• Sunday 29 November – Surrey Hills

Please reply to Fran Faul by the Thursday before the date so the owners know catering numbers.  Also please indicate if you require transport or, if you have your own transport and are willing to drive others and require directions to the properties.

Please wear appropriate clothing and bring any garden tools you like to work with. Lunch and morning tea will be supplied.

Email Fran Faul (franfaul@gmail.com) for all enquires and details.

Oral History Update

The Branch conducts oral histories from time to time. These are added to the AGHS National Oral History Collection and lodged with the State Library of Victoria as historical records. We thank the people who gave up their time and recollections to provide a wealth of knowledge for garden historians and interested parties.

If you know of any prominent Victorians in the garden history world, including non-members, whom you think should have their history recorded, please contact the branch.

Historic Gardens in Victoria

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

The following garden histories are available under “Shop” on the website for free download or purchase:

• Harbury
• Goronga
• Umina
• Longacres
• Titanga
• Belmont
• Bishopscourt
• Buda
• Burnley Gardens
• Claremont
• Murndal
• Turkeith and Mooleric
• Wombat Park

Articles and snippets of information about historic gardens in Victoria:

• A new Edna Walling garden?

Advocacy Update – AGHS Vic Branch October 2026

Warrawee, Riversdale Road, Camberwell
In May, the branch received an enquiry about Warrawee, a property in Riversdale Road, Camberwell. The owners had applied to Boroondara Council for a permit to extend the house. The property is protected by a Heritage Overlay in the Boroondara Planning Scheme. The house and garden date from 1885, and the garden contains significant trees.

The branch was asked whether it had documents confirming that the garden was designed by William Guilfoyle. The garden had been attributed to Guilfoyle in the 2004 Open Gardens Scheme booklet. Although the garden may have been established during the period when Guilfoyle was active, the branch could not find evidence confirming that he designed it.

The permit application stated that the existing trees would not be removed and that the owners supported the garden.

The branch did not make a formal objection to the permit. However, it wrote to Boroondara Council to note that Guilfoyle may have designed the garden, even though the evidence for this connection is currently weak.

HV McKay Memorial Gardens, Sunshine
Stage 1 of the Melbourne Airport Rail project (MAR) project is under way. It covers the section between West Footscray and Albion stations. The project will separate rail lines near Sunshine Station to improve connections and make room for new rail lines to Melbourne Airport. It will also upgrade Sunshine Station, which will be renamed Sunshine Superhub, as well as Tottenham and Albion stations.

The Friends have been advised that the Gardens will not be affected, apart from limited work at the northern end of the eastern boundary. This work is next to the Bendigo rail line and will allow the aviation fuel line beside the boundary to be decommissioned. The area will then make room for the new airport rail lines.

Brimbank City Council has designated the section of the Gardens’ eastern boundary owned by VicTrack as an Exclusion Zone. Replanting in this area, which has been needed for several years, has been put on hold.

It is still unclear why the Exclusion Zone was needed. The Strategic Management Committee, which includes a branch representative, has been advised that decommissioning work will be completed by the end of 2026. Replanting can then go ahead.

House and Garden, 160 McLeod St, Bairnsdale
Following an urgent request by a distressed member of the public, who had contacted other heritage groups, and possibly also required legal assistance, the Branch provided a carefully worded letter of support to the applicant and copied it to Heritage Council, Victoria and the Planning Department of East Gippsland shire for an Interim Heritage Protection order and a stay on further re-development action for house and land at this site. The property is an example of domestic country-town homestead garden.

DEECA, Victoria – Electric Line Clearance Regulations
After DEECA reviewed responses to its survey earlier in 2026, the new Electricity Safety (Electric Line Clearance) Regulations 2026 came into effect on 24 June 2026. These regulations set the rules for managing trees and other vegetation near powerlines. They also allow trials of reduced minimum clearance distances in areas with a low bushfire risk. The final consultation summary has been released.

Calder Woodburn Memorial Avenue
Location: Goulburn Valley Highway, Kialla West (City of Greater Shepparton and Strathbogie Shire).

The Calder Woodburn Memorial Avenue is Australia’s longest Eucalypt memorial avenue. It extends for almost 20 km and contains about 2,450 trees. The avenue is now listed on the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR).

John Patrick Landscape Architects prepared a Conservation Management Plan in 2001 for VicRoads. The avenue had been declining for several reasons. These included the spread of competing species, the removal of trees because they had reached the end of their life, and the need to provide access to adjoining properties.

In 2017, Greater Shepparton City Council established an advisory committee. The committee includes representatives from local and state government and the community. Its role is to increase community awareness of the avenue and seek funding for its restoration.

An arborist report was prepared in 2021. It documented the health of the trees and made recommendations about replacing and maintaining them. The report suggested that, where appropriate, regrowth trees could be replaced with new trees. This would help improve the long-term survival of the avenue.

Some planting and maintenance work has already been carried out in small areas. This includes work near Kialla West Primary School with students, around the main Calder Woodburn tree, and at the Calder Woodburn rest area.

Maintenance and new planting are very expensive because traffic management is required on a major highway. A recent application for a $70,000 grant was unsuccessful. Much more work is still needed, depending on the availability of funding.

In July 2026, a submission was made to HV with provisional support for the Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) prepared by GLM Heritage.

Projects

Relationship development with Trust for Nature, TFN (Memorandum of Understanding signed June 2023)

The foundation event for this relationship was held at the Heathmont property ‘Uambi’ in July 2024. An AGHS representative spoke about the cultural history of the landscape followed by a TFN representative leading the group through the bushland reserve, highlighting ecological challenges, specimens and plant group relationships. Research is underway to support the publication of a history of this cultural landscape in 2026.

A similar style event was held in October 2025 with TFN, at Harbury in Pakenham Upper. This property has a close relationship to nearby Goronga, for which AGHS has published both a written history and pictorial essay. The research effort for this property has produced a booklet "Diana Craig and Harbury Reserve" which was published in November 2025. This publication, setting out the background of the creator of Harbury (Craig) and the cultural landscape, is available in digital format (free to members) or in hard copy for purchase ($20 for members, $30 for non-members).

Further cultural landscape histories are planned as the relationship between the two organisations develops. The plan is for both AGHS and TFN to mount these publications on their respective websites, in accordance with the mutual benefit provisions of the MOU.