4. Pattern of Subdivision
- The Look of the Area in 1946
- Demographic Change
- Planning the New Suburb
- The Pattern of Subdivision
- Education and Community Facilities
- Industry
- Shopping Patterns
- Roads and Perennial Roadworks
- Reafforestation
- Endnotes
Owner Builders
Owner builders made an important contribution to the post-war building boom. Houses went up piecemeal as materials became available and once a certain stage had been reached, the builders lived in the house and completed it around them. Until the mid 1950s, as many as 40% of new houses were put up by owner builders. They often preferred weatherboard to brick, because it required less specialised skills [9]. Mulgrave had its share of this sort of builder. Later, they pictured themselves as latter day pioneers, as indeed they were, pioneering the post-war suburb.
B.P. Hanrahan wrote to the editor of the Progress Press in December 1963, looking back over his ten years in the district and finding himself 'more than pleased at the rate with which the services are now being supplied by the Council and the Board of Works.'
Ten years before, he recalled, there were no street lights in Mount Waverley and no footpaths. Among the few roads were the concrete streets on the 30 year old Glen Alvie estate. Up until five years before (1958) he recalled that streets were formed and maintained by residents. Streets had committees to organise the collection of money for road making. Until eight years before (1955) mail was collected from a box on the corner of the street, or even from the local newspaper-cum-grocer shop. Refuse bins also had to be carried to the nearest main road. Earlier still, refuse had to be burned or buried.
'Most of us were amateur home-builders, perforce, but there was a distinct esprit-de-corps between the men - and the women, too, as theirs was the harder lot.'[10]. Many houses in Clayton and Oakleigh were also built on this system.
Jordanville and the Housing Commission
It has been noted that the human structures in the landscape of Oakleigh were generally small in scale -small houses, small churches, small schools, small public buildings. The pattern of small subdivisions, developed piecemeal, often by owner builders, maintained this scale. But after 1945, the pattern began to change. There were small subdivisions in Mulgrave, and owner builders, but perhaps more characteristic was the substantial housing estate.
The Housing Commission began buying land at Jordanville in 1947, but it was 1951 before acquisition was complete, at least partly because they had to buy up a number of existing subdivisions. Between 1949 and 1962 the Commission built 1,785 homes, of which only 120 were flats, on land between the Jordanville station and they're concrete housing factory at Holmesglen. Most of the Jordanville houses (1,539) were built from concrete sections poured at Holmesglen. Roads went in at the same time as the houses, and so did electricity and water, but not always sewerage.
Like all Housing Commission estates of this era, it was planned and laid out by a panel of architects, with care to vary house designs and street alignments, but until 1957 it was remarkably bare of vegetation. That was the year the Commission planted 1,319 street trees. However, making and looking after gardens were among the obligations on tenants, and the Commission offered prizes for the most productive gardens.[11]
The Commission also built smaller estates in the area. Houses on the estate on North Road, Oakleigh, were offered for sale to 100 tenants in 1952.
Tony Dalton has argued that the members of the architects' panel had little freedom in their designs. Partly this was because of the overriding constraints of speed and cost of construction. The Commission was charged with producing enormous numbers of houses while building materials were still in very short supply. There was great pressure to produce houses quickly. The waiting lists were unmanageable on a priority basis and the Commission resorted to public ballots in the Melbourne Town Hall. Even then, the few lucky winners might have to wait two to three years for a house.[12]
The development of the concrete housing factory in the old munitions factory at Holmes glen was designed to try and overcome the problems of speed, cost and materials shortage. Pre-cast concrete panels had been used in Commission housing pre-war, but they were cast on site. From 1946, the concrete wall sections, with gaps for windows and doors, were cast at Holmesglen.
In this context, architects' design discretion was severely constrained. '...at one stage (it) was reduced to a consideration of changes to the surface of the concrete panels. Different types of coloured aggregates were used in an attempt to disguise the fact that dwellings were constructed with concrete panels.'[13]
The freedom that the architects retained was over the design of estate layouts - with an emphasis on open space and the latest ideas on road networks to reduce through traffic and provide visual variety. Despite this, Dalton has argued that the Commission became engineer driven. Technical problems and their solution were given priority over aesthetic considerations.[14]
Project Housing
The key elements were the building of display houses from which customers could chose the model that suited their lifestyle and pocket. House and land packages were then pre-sold on estates where roads and all other services were included in the price. Tours to view the latest display homes became a popular Sunday activity.
The biggest project house builder in Waverley was AV Jennings. Jennings began his career as a builder and developer just outside the City of Monash, in Glen Huntly. The firm he founded grew rapidly during the 1930s, building high quality medium priced houses, first in the Caulfield area and later in Ivanhoe.[15] Private house construction was halted by World War 2 and the firm turned to government contracts. Growth continued to be very rapid and by the end of the war, Jennings was in a position to take up major government contracts in several states, including building at Heidelberg for the Victorian Housing Commission.
From the earliest years, there were moves to vertical integration. Burwood Timber Mills P/L was purchased before the war and later, elements of houses were prefabricated in the company's yards at Heidelberg, Canberra, Burnie and Moe. By the 1950s, the company could boast 'an unbroken chain from the Forest to the Completed Home.'[16] Jennings had its own timber mills and elements such as roof tiles, plaster sheets, cornices and windows were produced by company subsidiaries.
Unlike the Housing Commission, however, Jennings was not run by engineers. Design was always vitally important and Don Garden has argued that General Motors Holden had a particular impact on Jennings' marketing strategy.[17] Certainly echoes of the GM philosophy of a car for every price and every pocket and annual model changes can be found in the range of house models offered by Jennings during the 1960s. There were particular links between the two companies at the Mount View Estate, which includes Howell Drive, Birdie Street and Wagstaff Street. At the time, GMH were transferring staff from Sydney and Adelaide to their new plant at Dandenong and they needed housing. Jennings representatives went to Sydney and Adelaide and helped arrange finance.
The Mount View estate was thus an early indication that the expected pattern of white collar commuting from Mulgrave to the City was not by any means universal. It was also an exception to Jennings estates in that it was built with septic tanks. The MMBW could not provide connections at the time. As late as 1964/5 the Cooinda estate was built with its own sewerage plant, for the same reason. This was connected to the MMBW network when they caught up in 1970. Other 1950s Jennings estates were connected, although the Springwood estate, south of Wilson Road, was built with water tanks because there was no piped water. Glenvale, Eastern View and Parkwood were other 1950s estates, but the biggest was probably Pinewood. Here, Jennings went a stage further in setting their mark on the landscape, developing the shopping centre as well as the houses and roads. Valewood was another substantial estate, begun in 1963.
Jennings' impact on industrial development in the area is discussed later, but even without the factories, when the company moved its HQ to the comer of Springvale and Wellington Roads in 1965, executives could already survey the enormous impact that AV Jennings had had on the landscape.
However, Jennings was not the only builder of project housing in Waverley and although Jennings houses had an enormous influence, other ideas came to prominence in the late 1960s.
In 1965 Lend Lease Homes commissioned Robin Boyd to design six brick veneer houses. They were built as a display village at Appletree Hill, 'an estate planned to harmonise without light poles and front fencing'. Prices ranged from $17,900 to $21,000. Boyd's houses had the advantage of surrounding mature trees. In his book The Australian Ugliness, he had complained about both 'arboriphobia' or the cutting down of trees to make way for housing, and the pollarding of street trees to prevent interference with electricity and phone wires, hence the under grounding of services to Boyd's houses.[18]
The display homes were sold and the rest of the land was sold to private individuals 'the Robin Boyd concept being adopted by the people who have built there.'[19] Ann Gartner has argued that the houses for Lend Lease were a financial failure. They do not seem to have been a financial failure for those who bought them. Houses on Appletee Hill appear to have been selling at something of a premium by 1971, with prices up to $30,000.[20] In that year new four bedroom homes with two bathrooms, heating, polished floors, rotary hoed gardens and concrete drives at Wheelers Hill could be bought for $22,000.[21] Possibly the Boyd designs were ahead of their time and their popularity (and value) took a while to establish.
Other architects with a similar philosophy to Boyd were also active in the area. Merchant Builders was set up by Faulkner, Gunn and Yencken. Yencken and Boyd were friends and admired each others work. Gunn in particular was interested in native planting and Merchant Builders employed Ellis Stones, who had worked with Edna Walling in the 1930s, to landscape the gardens.
Merchant Builders' first display site opened in 1965 at about the same time as Appletree Hill. It consisted of three designs, again built on a site with mature trees, in a landscape designed by Ellis Stones. The houses were built at the corner of Springvale Road and the Boulevard, Glen Waverley.[22]
A Change of Emphasis
The Brentwood estate was developed in the late 1960s by an Englishman, Herbert Swift. He named it for the area of Essex from which he came and where he had also acted as a developer. The final release of the 125 acre estate was advertised as having no power poles. The electricity was underground 'in order to maintain the quality of this prestige area'.[23] Robin Boyd at Appletree Hill may not have been the first, but he was certainly important in furthering a trend. Waverley electricity supply was going underground and trees, rather than poles and wires, were about to dominate the streetscape. It became council policy that all subdivisions east of Jells and Jacksons Roads have underground services.
In 1971 the Hooker Corporation began development of their 250 acre Legend Park estate, with a King Arthur theme (and above ground electricity and phone lines). A King Arthur Adventure Land was built for the children on 2 acres, while houses went up on Garwain Parade, Camelot Drive, Gauntlet Avenue and Crusader Crescent.[24]
Despite this, the predominant suburban fantasy of Waverley in the early 1970s seems to have been trees, plus the old standby from the 1880s of views. Phrases such as 'environmental harmony' became common in estate agents advertising. In 1974, even the War Service homes east of VFL park were built with underground electricity and phone cables. The new fashion that prevailed in development at Wheelers Hill is exemplified by the Wheelers Ridge development. A glossy brochure emphasised the trees. Power lines were underground and 'Not only was special care taken to preserve the existing gums, but hundreds of native trees were planted to supplement the landscape.'[25]
The fashion was not limited to developments east of Springvale Road. In 1972, for instance, residents on the Amstel Estate, including those on Stanley Avenue, fought to preserve bushland along Scotchman's Creek. An ecologist from Monash University was quoted to back their fight. 'Large national parks, while indispensable, are no substitute for a continuous skeleton of native bush throughout the country.'[26]
Individual Builders
Not all housing in Monash was on large estates put together by big developers. Individual owner builders have already been mentioned, but small firms of professional builders were also important. Murray Dance, for instance, was a versatile builder, his work including industrial, residential and commercial premises. George Dore concentrated on industrial buildings. He was a very well respected builder in the industry and a member of the building regulations committee.
Another extremely good local builder was Mackevicius. He built individual top of the range private homes. Early Mackevicius homes were in Mount and Glen Waverley and he was one of the first small builders to work in the Sheringham and Wheelers Hill areas. His homes set a standard which others attempted to emulate both in overall standard of construction and in the attention to detail in finish. They have been described as the 'Rolls Royce' and 'Mercedes' houses of Waverley.[27]
Medium Density
During the 1950s and 1960s, councils had very little control over the development of flats. Providing the buildings met the requirements of the uniform building regulations, developers could go ahead and build. For many councils, this was the era when they first employed a town planner whose job was to try and regulate development by using new or existing by-laws. Prahran, for instance, first appointed a town planner in 1960.
At this stage there was little pressure for higher density development in Waverley, but Oakleigh was different. Initially, Labor councillors favoured higher density building. especially near Monash University and the railway stations. By the late 1960s Labor support had changed to opposition. The pro-flat arguments were put forward by a group of councillors representing developers.[28]
During the 1960s, there was widespread and growing frustration in councils across Melbourne as flats were built against their wishes. In response, the Melbourne Metropolitan Planning Scheme, as finally approved in 1968, required multi-residential development to have a town-planning permit. Councils were to draw up their own town planning codes.
Although in theory this gave councils greater power to regulate development, in practice the views of local councillors were just one element in a series of complicated political battles. Developers could appeal to the Town Planning Appeals Tribunal. Following a series of successful appeals, and modifications to Oakleigh's town planning code, Oakleigh Council found it could refuse approval for flats, but the appeals tribunal would uphold appeals against refusals of approval for villa units.[29] The State Government was generally in favour of higher density development, while local councils were often divided on the issue, Oakleigh included.
Waverley was more successful in preventing medium density development and operated a code that allowed for maximum site coverage of 40% in medium density areas and 34% in low density areas. By 1971 only 3.8% of Waverley's private dwellings were not separate houses, but the equivalent figure for Oakleigh was 13.4%. The 2,092 dwellings in Oakleigh that were not separate houses included 1.011 self-contained flats and 484 villa units. In the 1970s and 1980s, medium density development was particularly evident in west Oakleigh, in the area south of Kangaroo Road, and in Huntingdale. Generally, Oakleigh council did succeed in keeping down the number of flats, particularly in multi-storey blocks. There were only 38 flats of this kind by 1991, but 2,152 in one or two storey blocks. The 1991 census classified terrace/town houses rather than villa units and enumerated 1,928 for Oakleigh. Even so, separate houses remained dominant at about 78% of private dwellings.
In Waverley, the council remained more successful in restricting medium density development. In 1991, 92.9% of dwellings remained separate houses. Most of the remaining 7% of housing was terraces or town houses and only 1.6% of the total housing stock was flats.[30]
In 1986 the State Government brought in an important change to local planning powers. Under the dual occupancy regulations, a second dwelling could be built on a suburban block without local planning permission. The building simply had to comply with the building regulations. This reflected the government's desire to increase the density of housing in Melbourne and limit urban sprawl. There was also increasing awareness that detached three bedroom houses did not meet everyone's needs. There was a shortage of both smaller and less expensive accommodation. The housing needs of the elderly and of single people and childless couples were not well catered for in the existing housing stock. Changes in the Victorian Building Codes in 1992-3 were designed to reinforce the process and remove limitations on medium density housing from local government control. In fact in Waverley the trend under medium density provisions was to build houses that were neither smaller nor less expensive than the existing housing stock and that generally still required planning permission.
Increasing medium density development was evident in Waverley by 1989, especially in the area between Warrigal Road, High Street Road, Gallaghers Road and Waverley Road. This was generally the earliest part of Waverley to be developed and much of the housing was built in the 1950s and early 1960s. According to the changed regulations on dual occupancy, most of Waverley's residential allotments were big enough to accommodate a second dwelling without having to obtain a planning permit. The government was in favour of increasing the council's maximum site coverage requirement of 40% to 60%. One of the government's main arguments for increased density development in Waverley was that the population was declining as household size fell. More elderly people and smaller households led to greater demand for smaller houses. units and flats. The wider perspective remained a desire to limit urban sprawl.[31]
Whatever the political arguments, it was already clear in 1996 that 60% site coverage would mean fewer trees and a significant change in the environmental character of the area.
The Overall Housing Pattern
The flat areas around the Gippsland railway were developed first, with significant inter-war building, as well as post World War 2 estates and infill on existing estates. Rapid growth in the 1950s and 1960s was linked to industrial growth in the Oakleigh/Dandenong corridor.
The rolling hills around the Glen Waverley railway saw some subdivision in the 1920s and 1930s, but little building until the 1940s. After that, development was very rapid. Initial building was mainly weatherboard. brick veneer and concrete with two and three bedroom homes. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, three bedroom double and triple fronted brick veneer houses predominated. After about 1966 as the steeper areas east of Springvale Road were zoned for housing, a greater variety of styles appeared.
The under grounding of power lines and the preservation of existing trees were accompanied by a trend towards larger houses. This was as much the case in the Jennings and Jennings type houses as it was in the more adventurous architectural styles.
As development moved east of Springvale Road in the late 1960s, average house size rose to make room for family rooms and en suite bathrooms, bigger entertainment areas and double car ports. This was as much a function of rising affluence and changing lifestyles in Australia generally as it was a reflection of anything specific about Waverley. The suburban frontier reached the views from Wheelers Hill at the same time as rising affluence and the two car family made larger homes a long way from a rail station both affordable and practical.
While houses were getting bigger in the hilly areas to the east with their expensive views of the Dandenongs, homes were getting smaller in the flat areas to the south west as flats and units were built, especially in Oakleigh.