Burwood East is a suburb of Melbourne located 17 km east of
Melbourne's Central Business District. Its local government
area is the City of Whitehorse. At the 2011 Census, Burwood
East had a population of 10,141. Burwood East is
bounded by Springvale Road to the east, Middleborough Road
to the west, Eley Road and Hawthorn Road to the north and
Highbury Road to the south.
History
The Wurundjeri Aboriginal clan, one of four Koorie clans
that inhabited the Port Phillip region, were the original
occupants of the area now occupied by East Burwood. To the
east of present-day Middleborough Road, much of the land was
initially not very attractive to European squatters for
settlement and parts were mostly covered with open forests,
consisting of Red Stringybark, Red Box, Long Leaf Box, Candlebark and Manna
Gum. Highbury Park contains some of the few remaining stands
of remnant vegetation, including the locally uncommon Shiny
Wallaby-grass (Austrodanthonia induta).
By the mid 19th century, East Burwood and the surrounding
districts were under cultivation and local horticulturists
were supplying Melbourne's markets, including the Victoria
Markets, with cut flowers and produce. Jonquils and
Daffodils were harvested in the area well into the 1950s.
Apple, cherry and pear groves covered the hill slopes for
close to a century. Local orchardist Walter Mock developed
the Red Williams’ pear variety in East Burwood during the
1930s. The 'Reds' found favour and the variety was exported
to Europe and North America. However little more than thirty
years later, the last of the orchards located in East
Burwood had been ripped up or relocated in one case,
to Bacchus Marsh.
Commercial activity
Burwood East is notable as the site of the
first Kmart department store in Australia. The Kmart Plaza
store opened in 1969, at the intersection of Burwood
Road(now Highway) and Blackburn Road. It was the first
24-hour Kmart store and proved very popular with locals,
frustrated with the limited shopping hours on offer at the
time. Burwood East Kmart is the second largest in
Australia, with a gross leasable area of
8,444 m2 (90,890 sq ft).
The Tally Ho Business Park, on the corner of Burwood Highway
and Springvale Road, hosts the headquarters of many
corporations and organisations, including theCountry Fire
Authority and a regional headquarters of VicRoads and Yokogawa.
The site of the Tally Ho Business Park and its surrounds was
previously occupied by the Tally Ho Boys' Home, which was
established on land provided at a reduced price to the
Methodist Church by Abel Hoadley, the inventor of the Violet
Crumblechocolate bar. The Violet Crumble was supposedly
manufactured in a Cottage where the ABC now stands.
On the north side of Burwood Highway, there are additional
business buildings including a HP building, expanding the
business park beyond the boundary of the original Tally Ho
Boys' Home. Vision Drive (located adjacent to the Tally Ho
Business Park) is the current location of World Vision
Australia's National Office, The GPT Group and the National
Archives of Australia (Melbourne Repository.
Transport
Burwood East is serviced by public transport:
 |
703 Middle Brighton – Blackburn via Bentleigh
Station, Clayton, Monash University, Syndal
Station (every day). Operated by Ventura Bus
Lines. |
 |
732 Box Hill – Upper Ferntree Gully via Vermont
South, Westfield Knox (every day). Operated by
Ventura Bus Lines. |
 |
735 Box Hill – Nunawading via Forest Hill
Chase (every day). Operated by Ventura Bus
Lines. |
 |
736 Mitcham – Blackburn via Vermont South, Glen
Waverley Station, Forest Hill Chase (every day).
Operated by Ventura Bus Lines. |
Burwood Highway is part of Melbourne's Tram Network. Tram
Route 75 originally terminated at the intersection of
Blackburn Road and Burwood Highway until July 2005, with the
completion of the 3 km line extension to Hartland Road in
Vermont South. Also, with the introduction of the new myki
ticketing system, the tram zone boundaries have also been
extended. This is good news for Route 75 passengers
travelling across Zone 1+2, as they now only need to pay
Zone 1 fares.
Sport
Burwood East is home to the Nunawading Basketball Centre,
Nunawading Velodrome, East Burwood/Bennettswood Cricket Club
and East Burwood Football Club, on Burwood Highway.
Football has been played in Burwood East since 1915 and
local fruit and flower growers produced an abundance of
footballers. The club has built a family tradition and
families names such as Fankhauser, Tainton and Mullens. Today
the club competes in the Eastern Football League.
Education
Schools in the suburb include:
A
part of Burwood East is in the Mount Waverley Secondary
College School Zone.
 |
Forest Hill College |
 |
Burwood East Primary School |
 |
Burwood Heights Primary School |
 |
Blackburn English Language School |
 |
Burwood East Special Developmental School |
Local
churches
 |
Burwood Heights Uniting Church |
 |
Anglican Church of the Ascension |
 |
Crossway |
Current and
future developments
The State Government has declared the Burwood Heights area
as a 'Major Activity Centre' because of the easy access to
public transport, current uses and the potential for
significant development. In March 2008 Whitehorse Council
approved a development plan that will see housing for up to
1000 residents at the old brickworks site in East Burwood.
The development will comprise over 25,000sqm of retail
floorspace, multiscreen cinemas, up to 700 dwelings, leisure
and entertainment and community facilities, all based around
"main street" retail/entertainment precinct and urban plaza.
The project is scheduled for completion in 2015. Details of
the Burwood Heights Activity Center Project are listed .
However, the progress of the project is stalled or very
slow.
Kmart Plaza has also undergo a facelift, with renovations
scheduled to start early 2010. The owners of the Kmart
Plaza, also known as the East Burwood Plaza, will double the
size of the complex, on the corner of Burwood Highway and
Blackburn Road, from 15,000 square meters to 30,000 square
metres. The new leasing floor plan can be viewed here.
Pomeroy Pacific development manager Paul Chiodo said the $35
million extension will add about 30 specialty shops, a 5,500
square metre Coles Supermarket, a 333-seat restaurant,
gymnasium and a First Choice bottle shop. The extension will
be built over an existing car park, on the western side of
the 6.3 hectare site.
German discount supermarket chain Aldi has leased the 2,981
square meter supermarket space currently occupied by Coles.
Kmart, which occupies about 8,444 square metres of space and
trades 24-hours a day, will not relocate. Construction work
is currently underway, with stage 1 completed in 2011 and
the centre is named to be 'Burwood One'. RSPCA (Royal
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Burwood
East is the largest RSPCA animal shelter in Victoria and
features an animal adoption centre, animal shelter,
veterinary clinic, animal behaviour training, grooming and
education centre. Animal ambulance services also operate out
of the Burwood East location. The site is undergoing a
substantial re-development, scheduled for completion is
mid-2013.