City of Darebin Heritage Study Volume 1 Draft Thematic

VOLUME 2: THEMATIC ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORYPREFACEAs described in the Introduction, this environmental history provides an explanation of thethemes and activities that have been important in shaping the City of Darebin so as to providea context to assist with the identification of heritage places that illustrate its rich culturalhistory. It should be read in conjunction with the other local histories and heritage studiesprepared for the study area, which are listed in the bibliography to this report.The City of Darebin todayThe land that is now known as the City of Darebin is the traditional country of the Woiwurrung people, and specifically the Wurundjeri willam clan that occupied the Yarra watershedwhich includes the study area. They belonged to a larger affiliation of tribes known as theKulin Nation, who occupied the south-central portion of what would become Victoria. Thetribes of the Kulin Nation spoke similar languages and shared the same spirit ancestors.As shown in Map 1, in 2007 the City of Darebin covers an area of 53 square kilometres northof the Melbourne Central Activities District, bounded on two sides by the Darebin Creek andMerri Creek. The city’s suburbs are Alphington, Bundoora, Fairfield, Kingsbury, Northcote,Preston, Reservoir, Thornbury and part of Macleod.Darebin is close to central Melbourne and has a well developed transport network includingtrams, trains, buses and roads. Suburbs are mainly residential although there are pockets oflight industry and commerce. The main industry in the city is manufacturing, though this is indecline, retailing, property and business services, with a small but rapidly expanding hospitalitysector. The City of Darebin is the largest employer in the municipality.In 2007, there are over 128,000 people who call Darebin home, and they make up one of themost diverse communities anywhere in Australia. One in three Darebin residents was born in anon-English speaking country.Historical overviewBefore considering the content of this Thematic Environmental History it is important toremember that the City of Darebin is made up of two quite distinct municipalities whichmerged in 1994: the City of Preston and most of the City of Northcote. Small but significantareas from the former Cities of Coburg and Heidelberg were also included at the time of theformation of the City of Darebin. For this reason much of the Thematic EnvironmentalHistory refers to the separate histories of these areas, and while they have some shared history,they also have some differences.Interestingly, the early municipal history of the area shows that Preston and Northcote bothbelonged to the same shire until 1883, when issues over the effects of the area’s noxious tradeson Northcote’s suburban development led to the split into the two municipalities. The splithighlighted the different histories of the two areas, particularly in relation to the spread ofsuburban development, which occurred later in Preston. However there have been somesignificant aspects of shared history, particularly in relation to industries and the culturalbackgrounds of Darebin’s people.Chapter 1 describes the creation of the physical landscape of the City of Darebin from bothEuropean scientific and Indigenous perspectives. It discusses the geomorphology, flora andfauna and the two waterways that form the area’s natural boundaries on two sides. TheIndigenous perspective is given in a Woi worung creation story.5