Kingsbury, Victoria

Kingsbury Melbourne, Victoria
Kingsbury
Coordinates	37.715°S 145.034°E / -37.715; 145.034
Population	3,780 (2016)
• Density	2,910/km2 (7,530/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	3083
Area	1.3 km2 (0.5 sq mi)
Location	14 km (9 mi) from Melbourne
LGA(s)	City of Darebin
State electorate(s)	Bundoora
Federal division(s)	Cooper
Suburbs around Kingsbury: Reservoir Bundoora Bundoora Reservoir Kingsbury Bundoora Reservoir Reservoir Bundoora

Kingsbury is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 14 km north of Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government area is the City of Darebin. At the 2016 Census, Kingsbury had a population of 3,780.

The suburb was named after Bruce Kingsbury VC, who died in Papua New Guinea during the Second World War.

Residential layout

Kingsbury is an established suburb with the majority of homes established in the 1960s from either weatherboard or brick. During the 2010s, there has been an increased number of new housing developments in the area with Kingsbury following close trend from neighbouring suburbs Reservoir and Preston largely due to the large block land size and close proximity to public transport and Melbourne CBD.

The suburb of Kingsbury previously had a golf course running through it before being built over in the 1960s for new housing developments. One side of Kingsbury's street names are made up of golfing terms; Green Avenue, Eagle Avenue, Flag Street, Bunker Avenue, Club Avenue, Golf Avenue, and The Fairway. The other half of Kingsbury's street names reference famous poets from across the world; Lowell Avenue, Whittier Street, Scott Grove, Bradshaw Street, and Keats Avenue.

Public transport

The nearest train station is the Reservoir railway station, on the Mernda railway line. The suburb is also served by the bus route 561 from Macleod railway station on the Hurstbridge railway line, and tram route 86 which runs down Plenty Road between Docklands and Bundoora RMIT, which touches Kingsbury between Stops 56-60.

Education

There are currently two primary schools and a University in Kingsbury; Kingsbury Primary School, Our Lady of the Way Catholic Primary School and La Trobe University. In 2011, Kingsbury Primary School named its new building the Isurava Centre for Learning after the field in New Guinea in which Bruce Kingsbury fell.

Parks

Kingsbury has both reserve parkland and playgrounds available throughout. Kevin P Hardiman Reserve which carries through it the Darebin Creek bike trail the reserve also has a children's playground. C.W Kirkwood reserve and Link Playground are also located in Kingsbury. Bundoora Park is also located in close proximity to Kingsbury. Bundoora Park is a 180 hectare parkland set in natural bushland beside the Darebin Creek. The public parklands at Bundoora Park provides a number of playgrounds, waterways and free BBQ facilities.

Demographics

The most common ancestries in Kingsbury were Australian 16.5%, English 13.3%, Chinese 12.5%, Italian 8.1% and Vietnamese 5.8%. 46.3% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 11.5%, Vietnam 6.2%, India 4.6%, Italy 4.3% and Malaysia 2.5%.

Religion

According to the 2006 Census, the majority of Kingsbury's population are Catholics. Our Lady of the Way Catholic Church is the local Catholic centre. For other religions, the nearest Buddhist Temple is Linh Son Buddhist Temple located on Radford Road, Reservoir and the Mosque located in nearby Preston.

Projects

There is currently a bronze statue of Bruce Kingsbury located at the Kingsbury Bowls club, the statue is one of three in existence.

Sport and leisure

Kingsbury has a wide range of sporting facilities within the area and nearby. It holds two football/cricket grounds one of which is home to the Camera Cricket Club on Dunne street , a tennis club with four courts, basketball facilities which is home to the 'Kingsbury Comets', a lawn bowls club and boxing gym which is home to Brizzy Brothers boxing which has operated in Kingsbury since 1989. Within close proximity is the Reservoir Leisure Centre, the Reservoir Community Sports Centre which includes basketball, netball and hockey, La Trobe University Sports Centre and several other multi-purpose sporting grounds. The Kingsbury community market has been running for over 30 years every Sunday from Kingsbury Drive at Latrobe University. The market is popular for selling plants, produce, handcrafts, bric-a-brac and much more.

See also

• City of Preston - A former local government area of which Kingsbury was a part