Bundoora

When we first moved to Bundoora I always felt it was a bit of a nowhere place, an outer suburb which has been developed only very recently to cope with Melbourne's expanding population.  Its size, shape and politics gives one the impression that Bundoora is simply the space left behind when all the other surrounding suburbs were created.  It does not therefore contain the depth of history, variety of architecture or cultural significance of some of Melbourne's older inner suburbs.  Bundoora is governed by 3 separate municipalities, Darebin to the south, Banyule to the east and Whittlesea to the north and as such Bundoora has no obvious town centre or focal point in which its population of approximately 26,000 can congregate at or feel proud to be a part of.

But maybe I am being to harsh on the suburb I have now chosen to call my home, I have recently been doing quite a bit of research on the history of Bundoora and it seems there is still a great deal that Bundoora has to offer.  If the three opposing councils can stop competing and work together, then Bundoora looks like it might have quite a bright future after all.

Geography
Located 16km north of Melbourne CBD, and covering an area some 15km2 lies the suburb of Bundoora.  The southern border is marked by the Bundoora campus of La Trobe University and its northern border by Bundoora RMIT.  It's east and western edges are in part bordered by the Darebin creek and Plenty river respectively.  The main access to Bundoora is via Plenty road which runs north to south and is the route of the 86 tram and the Northern ring road which crosses Bundoora east to west.  Bundoora is a very green suburb and a lot of its area is given up to open parkland, golf courses and wildlife reserves, perhaps the most significant of these is Bundoora park which encompasses an area some180 hectares included in which is Mount Cooper a long extinct volcano and claimed to be the highest point in the metropolitan area of Melbourne.  Whether this is true or not I do not know, but it does give one an incredible view of the city.


View from Mount Cooper

History


Bundoora Homestead

The area along the Plenty river was first settled by white people in 1839, in that time the area was mainly given over to farming due to the rich fertile soil found in that area.  The name Bundoora is thought to come from the aboriginal word meaning "a plain where Kangaroos live".  The first post office was built in 1863 on the corner of Plenty road and Grimshaw street, the present day site of Narai Thai restaurant.  The area of Bundoora park was used for breeding thoroughbred horses and the Bundoora homestead was built by John Matthew Vincent Smith in 1900.  By 1920 however Smith sold the homestead to the government to convert into a hospital for returned world war 1 veterans with psychiatric disorders.  Perhaps the most famous doctor to work there was Dr John Cade, an Australian psychiatrist who first discovered the effects of lithium as a mood stabiliser.  The rural isolation of Bundoora meant that this was not the only psychiatric hospital to be built in the area, the Janefield training centre also opened in 1920, and a third psychiatric institution opened in 1949, Larundel, an extension of Mont Park hospital.  The birth of psychotropic pharmacotherapy after world war 2 lead to a complete change in the way mental health disorders were managed and one by one each of these hospitals closed down.  Most of the Repatriation hospital was torn down, with only the old homestead being left intact, La Trobe built their campus on the site of the old Mont Park hospital and the RMIT on that of the Janefield training centre.


Facilities and recreation
There is a lot to see and do in Bundoora...if you like Golf.  There are two golf courses in Bundoora, one in Bundoora park and the other, Strathallan golf club located between the La Trobe nature reserve and the Gresswell habitat link.  For those who do not like golf however there is still a surprising amount to do. 
For shop-a-holics there is a factory outlet store at University hill a shopping centre near the RMIT and two other shopping centres at Bundoora square and Polaris. 
There are also plenty of restaurants to choose from, if you like Thai, Indian or pizza that is.  There is a 10 pin bowling alley and pool hall along Grimshaw street, but unusually for a University rich area there are not really any bars or clubs to go out at night. 
For those into culture, the Bundoora homestead is now open as an art gallery, it is free to enter and they have continually changing exhibits and a small café if all that art work gets you thirsty.
For kids there is the Cooper settlement, located in Bundoora park inside which you will find a heritage village, a petting farm and a small wildlife reserve, educational and fun.
For those more into nature then there are several wildlife reserves including one at La Trobe university and there is also a beautifully winding cycle track along the Darebin creek to explore.


Larundel, Main hospital building

Development
Bundoora is currently undergoing a mass of new developments some good, some not so good.  The old shopping centre at Bundoora square is getting old and tired, its design was never that attractive primarily consisting of a giant car park with a few ugly shops dropped in the middle.  Their attempt to brighten the place up with murals does little to improve the character of the place.  Two new shopping precincts are currently being developed.  The first to the north is University hill, located by the RMIT the plot encompasses a wide area that is now being developed.  The first stage is already complete and includes a large factory outlet store as well as some smaller retail outlets, the majority of the rest of the development will be given over to medium density residential properties.  Polaris to the south is a much smaller site and yet I feel it has a much greater potential.  Located just north of La Trobe university and to the east of Bundoora park, Polaris is being built on the old Larundel site.  What remains of the old psychiatric hospital which closed in 1999 has been extensively vandalised with several of the buildings completely unsalvageable, some however have been incorporated into the redevelopment of the site, giving the development the opportunity to mix old and new architecture and retain the history of the area for future generations to appreciate.  Combine this to its favourable location by Bundoora park and you can see why this is the development I am most excited about.


Polaris

Residential development is also exploding in Bundoora, not just at the Polaris and University hill sites, but all along Plenty road new apartments and townhouses are being constructed.  One which is probably less favourable amongst the current locals is being planned on the site of an old Smorgys restaurant that burnt down last year.  The site is located by the edge of Bundoora park, and approval has been gained for 5-6 apartment blocks, the tallest being 8 stories high.  As well as being higher than any other building in the area, its proximity to Bundoora park seems a little out of place and unsympathetic to its surroundings.
One area of development that still really needs to be looked at is transport, as previously mentioned the 86 tram runs up Plenty road.  This route is always slow and unreliable, trams frequently are late or break down and the journey into the CBD can take over an hour.  There are no train lines that run through Bundoora and buses are as much victims of the ever increasing traffic as all the other commuters.  If the population continues to boom as planned by all this development then improvements to transport links need to be seriously considered.

So all in all I guess Bundoora is not really that bad after all.  There is a surprisingly large number of things to see and do and It has quite a unique history which is being preserved, shopping facilities are improving and a lot of money is being invested in developing the area.  Transport links to the CBD and other suburbs are slow but they do exist.  Bundoora might not have the obvious class of Northcote, the hipster appeal of Fitzroy or the nightlife of St Kilda but it does have its own charm and I for one am proud to call Bundoora my home.