Lower Plenty, Victoria

Lower Plenty Melbourne, Victoria
Population	3938 (2006)
• Density
Postcode(s)	3093
Area	6.9 km2 (2.7 sq mi)
Location	21 km (13 mi) from Melbourne
LGA(s)	City of Banyule
State electorate(s)	Eltham
Federal division(s)	Jagajaga
Suburbs around Lower Plenty: Yallambie Montmorency Eltham Viewbank Lower Plenty Eltham Templestowe Lower Templestowe Templestowe

Lower Plenty is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Banyule.

At the 2006 census, it had a population of 3938.

It is bounded by the Plenty River in the west until it joins the Yarra River, which forms the southern boundary. Fitzsimons Lane forms the eastern boundary and Airlie Rd north of Main Road (a continuation of Lower Plenty Road from the west) forms the northern boundary.

History

In February 1855 Hungarian immigrant Sigismund Wekey purchased 211 acres in what is now Lower Plenty, via The Victoria Vineyard and Garden Fruit Company of which he was manager, with a vision to start a wine industry in the new settlement of Melbourne.

In March 1855, Wekey held a meeting at the Bulleen Hotel and called for shareholders, each “according to his means”, for a proposed toll bridge, the first bridge ever built over the Upper Yarra, joining Lower Plenty to Templestowe, and replacing a punt being operated by the company. The bridge would cut five kilometres off the trip from Eltham township to Melbourne, it was claimed at the meeting.

A plan, backed by a group of Melbourne businessmen who would form the ‘Templestowe Bridge Committee’, attracted the necessary shareholders and the project was underway. Colonial Architect of the day, James Balmain did the design as a private commission, engineers and builders were Allott and Greenwood. The foundation stone, laid by John Hodgson M.L.C., on August 18 1855, concealed a manuscript giving details of the the ceremony.

The bridge would have a span of 43 metres and a width of eight metres. It would cost 2200 English Pounds ($US800,000 in today’s currency). It would be located at the end of what is now Bonds Road, Lower Plenty, the land for this road being donated by local landowners John Seymour and David Bell. And the Central Road Board agreed to level the road to the bridge on the Templestowe side through the estate of Henry Stooke.

Meantime Wekey conceived a plan for another bridge at Studley Park to improve and shorten the trip to the city even further. By September 21 the plan for this second bridge was underway.

A stoppage in the works of the Templestowe Bridge was explained by Wekey on September 22, as being a dispute between the Board and the contractors over payment when the foundation on the Lower Plenty side was found to be different than expected, causing a change in the design - the contractors were wanting more money to accommodate this.

Unfortunately in January 1856 the Victoria Vineyard and Garden Fruit Company was forced to sell its land. The sale was to Mr King for eight English Pounds an acre - the land had been acquired originally for 4.60 English Pounds an acre - but Wekey had been confident it would soon be worth 18-20 English Pounds per acre. The company was to be wound up shortly after.

It appears the Templestowe Bridge was operating by this time.

In March 1862, a deputation of Eltham residents approached the Commissioner of Railways and Roads, requesting the government buy the Templestowe Bridge then give it back to the Eltham District Road Board, as while its toll earning capability was not as “remunerative” as had been hoped, the bridge was a “great public convenience”. The request was denied.

In October 1863 there was a great flood causing the Yarra to rise 12 metres - it even flooded Elizabeth Street city. A number of bridges were washed away.

In March 1865 another deputation this time of Templestowe residents to the Acting Commissioner of Roads and Bridges, offered 600 English Pounds raised by them towards a new bridge to replace the Templestowe Bridge and requested a government grant towards the cost. The Acting Commissioner “promised to give the matter further consideration” though he did not see “from what fund a sum of money could be granted to them”.

POSTSCRIPTS The last ‘bits’ of the Templestowe Bridge, joining Bonds Road, Lower Plenty to Finns Reserve at Thompson’s Road, Templestowe, finally washed away in the 1960s.

In 1860 another bridge was built in what is now Lower Plenty but over the Plenty River. This bridge, bluestone blocks and steel, still stands today and is part of the Plenty River Trail close to the Heidelberg Golf Club and the Lower Plenty Hotel. It is possible that the Templestowe Bridge was similar in appearance to this. [Regretfully no picture has been found.]

Lower Plenty Post Office opened around 1902.

Today

Lower Plenty has a low density of urban dwellings compared to nearby suburbs, and is dominated by large homesteads that are built away from the main roads. These houses sharply contrast with the relatively undeveloped roads (some unsealed) and infrastructure of the area.

The major features of Lower Plenty are the Heidelberg Golf Club, the Lower Plenty Hotel, the distinctive radio masts that rise above Bonds Road, and the Christian Brothers "Amberley" Retreat Centre on Amberley Way, home of the Edmund Rice Camps.

Lower Plenty also has a primary school, on the main road, a squash and fitness centre, as well as a scout hall along Para Road. Also a baseball club is located at Glenauburn reserve.

Sport

The Lower Plenty Football and Cricket Clubs are located in Greensborough, adjacent to the Montmorency Oval, on Para Road. In the last decade or so, the Lower Plenty Football Club (the Bears) have played in the Diamond Valley Football League, after playing and winning a Premiership in the Panton Hill and District Football League during the 1980s. Having enjoyed a few years in division one, Lower Plenty are now in the DVFL second division.

Notable Residents

Mick "The Don" Gatto - Underworld Gangland Figure