Alphington, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Alphington is a suburb in Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia, 7 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district
Melbourne city centre
Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...

. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Darebin
City of Darebin
The City of Darebin is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of , and as of 2009, has a population of 139,608...

 and Yarra
City of Yarra
The City of Yarra is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia, located in the inner eastern and northern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of 19.5 square kilometres, and at the 2006 census it had a population of 69,330...

. At the 2006 Census, Alphington had a population of 4,483. The price of houses in the area has increased dramatically over the past couple of years, making the area well known.

It is a primarily residential suburb consisting of mixture of 1970s brick veneer, recently-built townhouses as well as period weatherboards. There is also a major paper production plant in the suburb.

Alphington is bounded by the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

 in the south and the Darebin Creek
Darebin Creek
Darebin Creek is a creek that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River...

 in the east.

History

The genesis of Alphington was the Bridge hotel and Darebin Creek Bridge
Darebin Creek Bridge
Darebin Creek Bridge is a bluestone masonry arch & concrete road bridge on Heidelberg road Alphington over Darebin Creek. It was built for Heidelberg Road Trust to a design of John C Climie CE and constructed by contractor O. H. Willison in 1864, to replace an earlier 1852 timber bridge which had...

 on the Heidelberg road, both commenced in the 1840s, with a new stone arch bridge erected in 1864.

Alphington was named after Alphington
Alphington, Devon
Alphington is a suburb of the City of Exeter in southwest England. The ward of Alphington has a population of 8250 according to the 2001 census, making it the third largest in Exeter, with the village itself accounting for about a quarter of this figure...

 in Devon, England.

Alphington Post Office opened on 2 February 1858 .

Alphington was originally part of the Jika Jika Parish, bounded by Rathmines Street to the west, Darebin Creek
Darebin Creek
Darebin Creek is a creek that runs through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is the main watercourse of the Darebin Valley and a major tributary of the Yarra River...

 to the east, and the Yarra River
Yarra River
The Yarra River, originally Birrarung, is a river in east-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stretches of the river is where the city of Melbourne was established in 1835 and today Greater Melbourne dominates and influences the landscape of its lower reaches...

 to the south.

Parks and open space

Alphington has tracts of green open space, such as the Darebin Parklands and Alphington Park. The suburb also features the Latrobe Golf Club. The area around Alphington railway station contains a stand of River Red Gum
River Red Gum
The River Red Gum is a tree of the genus Eucalyptus. It is one of around 800 in the genus. It is a plantation species in many parts of the world, but is native to Australia, where it is widespread, especially beside inland water courses...

 trees, the oldest of which (closest to platform 1) likely pre-dates European settlement. These areas have been revegetated with indigenous plantings by local residents and Council beginning in the late 1990s and are now characterised by vigorous young Red Gum growth and the return of native fauna such as Tawny Frogmouth
Tawny Frogmouth
The Tawny Frogmouth is an Australian species of frogmouth, a type of bird found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and southern New Guinea. The Tawny Frogmouth is often mistaken to be an owl...

s. Sightings of Echidna
Echidna
Echidnas , also known as spiny anteaters, belong to the family Tachyglossidae in the monotreme order of egg-laying mammals. There are four extant species, which, together with the platypus, are the only surviving members of that order and are the only extant mammals that lay eggs...

s have been reported. The site's proximity to Darebin Parklands increases the likelihood of such habitations into the future.

A notable location in the part of Alphington to the south of Heideleberg road is the revegetated wetlands. This area abuts the Yarra river, and includes the disused modification to the river bank once referred to as the Alphington swimming pool.

The Darebin enterprise centre is located just to the north east of the train station and adjacent to the shallow valley of the Darebin Creek. There is no pedestrian access along the train bridge over the creek. Strangely, the Darebin creek bicycle path terminates beneath this same bridge - preventing what would otherwise seem to be a logical connection to the Yarra river.

Industry

Adjacent to the wetlands to the west and near to the Chandler hiqhway bridge is the Amcor
Amcor
Amcor Limited is an Australian-based multinational packaging company. Its headquarters are in Hawthorn, Victoria ; and it is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange....

 paper recycling
Paper recycling
Paper recycling is the process of recovering waste paper and remaking it into new paper products. There are three categories of paper that can be used as feedstocks for making recycled paper: mill broke, pre-consumer waste, and post-consumer waste. Mill broke is paper trimmings and other paper...

 factory. Much of the Amcor site appears disused or to function only as storage for paper recycling items. Amcor have been found guilty of polluting Alphington's environment on at least three occasions in 2001 for odour, in 2007 for discharging paper pulp into the Yarra and in 2008, Amcor was convicted for releasing oil into the Yarra from its Alphington plant and fined $80,000. http://epanote2.epa.vic.gov.au/EPA/publications.nsf/2f1c2625731746aa4a256ce90001cbb5/58f1a95bb5f860a4ca2574fc007c64bb/$FILE/1253.pdf The company announced plans to move from the area. An EPA air monitoring station can be found next to the railway station just to the north.

Dan Murphy's
Dan Murphy's
Dan Murphy's is an Australian big box liquor supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Limited, who also owns BWS, another liquor chain with smaller stores.-History:...

 is headquartered here.

Education

Local schools include Alphington Grammar School, Alphington Primary School, and St Anthony's Primary School, however Alphington residents north of Wingrove Street are within the zone for Fairfield Primary School.

Transport

The area is serviced by Alphington railway station, on the Hurstbridge railway line, and the Melbourne 508 bus route.

Sporting clubs

Parkside Football Club
Parkside Football Club
The Parkside Football club is an Australian rules football club located 8 km north east of Melbourne in the suburb of Alphington. The clubs home matches are at Pitcher Park in Alphington....

, an Australian Rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 team, competes in the Northern Football League and are based at Pitcher Park.

Alphington Junior Football Club is also based in the suburb. http://www.alphingtonjfc.com/home/default.asp

Golfers play at the course of the Latrobe Golf Club on Farm Road, Alphington.

Notable residents

  • Paul Licuria
    Paul Licuria
    Paul Licuria is an Australian rules footballer, formerly in the Australian Football League. His father is Italian and his mother is Spanish.-Sydney Football Club:...

     - AFL player (Collingwood
    Collingwood Football Club
    The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed The Magpies, is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League...

    )
  • Anthony Rocca
    Anthony Rocca
    Anthony Rocca is a former Australian rules footballer who has played with the Sydney Swans and Collingwood in the Australian Football League...

     - AFL Player (Collingwood)
  • Lindsay Tanner
    Lindsay Tanner
    Lindsay James Tanner is a former Australian member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Melbourne, Victoria, for the Australian Labor Party, having first won the seat at the 1993 federal election. He was a member of the Australian Government from 3 December 2007, serving as...

     - Former federal MP for the Division of Melbourne
    Division of Melbourne
    The Division of Melbourne is an Australian Electoral Division of Victoria. It is represented by Adam Bandt of the Australian Greens.Created at Federation in 1900 the division was one of the original 75 divisions contested at the first federal election...

  • Rick Amor
    Rick Amor
    Rick Amor is an Australian artist and figurative painter. He was an official war artist.-Life and work:Rick Amor was born in Frankston, Victoria, Australia. He has a certificate in art from the Caulfield Institute of Technology, and Associate Diploma in Painting from the National Gallery School,...

     - artist

Filming locations

The main shopping strip was used to film the 2003
2003 in film
The year 2003 in film involved some significant events. Releases of sequels took place with movies like The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, Pokémon Heroes, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,...

 Australian movie, Take Away
Take Away
Take Away is a 2003 Australian comedy movie, written by Dave O'Neil, who also features as a minor character, and Mark O'Toole. It stars Vince Colosimo, Stephen Curry, Rose Byrne and Nathan Phillips...

 featuring Vince Colosimo
Vince Colosimo
Vincenzo Colosimo is an Australian AFI Award winning stage, television and screen actor. He has worked in both Australia and the United States.-Personal life:...

 and Stephen Curry. In 2011
2011 in Australian television
This is a list of Australian television events and premieres which occurred, or are scheduled to occur, in 2011. This year will be the 56th year of continuous operation of television in Australia.- Events :...

, the Australian television drama The Slap
The Slap (TV series)
The Slap is an Australian television drama series produced by Matchbox Pictures for ABC1, screening each Thursday night at 8:30pm in October and November 2011 - repeats air the following night each week on ABC2...

 was filmed on location in an Alphington house.

See also

  • City of Northcote
    City of Northcote
    The City of Northcote was a Local Government Area located about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of , and existed from 1883 until 1994.-History:...

    - the former local government area of which Alphington was a part.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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