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Kalkallo | |
|---|---|
 Region north of Kalkallo with volcano at Bald Hill | |
  Kalkallo Location in metropolitan Melbourne | |
 Interactive map of Kalkallo | |
| Coordinates:37°31′37″S144°56′49″E / 37.52694°S 144.94694°E /-37.52694; 144.94694 | |
| Country | Australia |
| State | Victoria |
| LGA | |
| Location |
|
| Government | |
| • State electorate | |
| • Federal division | |
| Population | |
| • Total | 5,548 (2021 census)[2] |
| Postcode | 3064 |
Kalkallo is an outer suburb ofMelbourne,Victoria,Australia, 31 km (19 mi) north of Melbourne'scentral business district, located within theCity of Humelocal government area. Kalkallo recorded a population of 5,548 at the2021 census.[2]
Located on theHume Freeway, Kalkallo had, until the 2010s, a few streets, aservice station and apub. It was formerly surrounded byfarms that were not yet consumed by theurban sprawl of Melbourne. The majority of the suburb is being developed by Cloverton Estate.[3]
The Kalkallo area is located on the traditional lands of theWoiwurrung people. It is believed that the clan which occupied land including theSouth Morang area, was theWurundjeri-willam. The name Kalkallo originates from the language from theindigenous people, but its meaning is obscure.
European colonisation began in Victoria in 1835, and there were land sales in the Parish of Kalkallo in 1840.[4] An example of an early rural town settlement, Kalkallo, originally called Kinlochewe and then Donnybrook,[5][6] has many natural and cultural heritage sites of significance, including churches, hotels, monuments, bridges, waterways and grasslands.[7] In 1848, residents began requesting a post office for the township, and Kinlochewe Post Office was opened on 1 November 1850, located in the Robert Burns Inn on Summerhill Road andSydney Road.[8] In 1854, it was moved and renamed Donnybrook, then renamed Kalkallo in 1874, before eventually closing in 1971.[9]
During thegold rush years of the 1850s, the township boomed as travellers made their way along theSydney Road and there were seventeen accommodation houses, a police station, jail and court house. In the 1870s, the opening of theNorth East railway line saw a decrease in passing road traffic and the town's population declined.[10]
Kalkallo is located amongst the large Gilgai plain.[11] Located near Donovans Lane, north-west of the town centre,[12] is the Bald Hillvolcano that last erupted over a million years ago.[13]Merri Creek runs through Kalkallo, to the east of the area. The Kalkallo Grasslands are remnants of a large area of grassland which is home to many threatened species of plants, amphibians and reptiles.[11]
Kalkallo has been a focus of a number of town planning ideas since colonisation, but remained largely undeveloped until the 2010s. Since then, a number of housing developments have been planned and built.[3]
As part of the publicationWe Must Go On: A Study of Planned Reconstruction and Housing,Oswald Barnett, along with Walter Burt and Frank Heath, focused on improvement of housing in Australia and Melbourne afterWorld War II. Barnett and Burt played a significant role in the Housing Investigation and Slum Abolition Board, set up in 1936, and thegarden city movement was a key concept in plans to solve the slum problem in Melbourne. Frank Heath, an architect, produced town plans based on garden city principles, and plans for Kalkallo as a garden city were printed inWe Must Go On. The book did not detail the motives for the plans and they were never implemented. As a result, Kalkallo remained a small township.
In 2010, Melbourne'surban growth boundary was extended to include Kalkallo.[14] In 2012, it was designated as part of the Urban Growth Zone.[15] Urban sprawl is a divisive topic in Melbourne, as it is claimed to ease housing affordability, but can have significant impacts on the environment, as well as social impacts such as isolation due to a lack of transport infrastructure. TheVictorian State Government has expanded the Urban Growth Boundary several times since 2002 as a result of theMelbourne 2030 plan (later known as Melbourne@5million).Melbourne 2030 introduced the notion of creating a limit on urban expansion. However, since the implementation of Melbourne 2030, the boundary has been extended, which is contradictory to a key objective. Plan Melbourne, established in May 2014[16] highlighted the need for the Metropolitan Planning Authority to establish a permanent urban boundary to replace the urban growth boundary, and restrict further expansion.
Until the 2010s, Kalkallo was a small town serving the highway trade and surrounding agricultural district.[4]
Current community infrastructure includes:
As a result of the urban growth boundary expansion, there have been a number of new housing developments established:
Twobus routes serve Kalkallo:
The nearest railway station isDonnybrook station, served by regionalV/Line trains on theSeymour andShepparton lines.
Kalkallo has three primary schools:
