After my recent deep dive into how suburb boundaries came to be and the changing boundaries of the City of Brimbank, I found another curiosity – a house located in two suburbs.
Google Street View
Down the rabbit hole
The following line in Government Gazette G19 Thursday 10 May 2018, page 936, got me started.
Part of Keilor to Taylors Lakes
The south-eastern corner of Taylors Lakes is being amended to incorporate properties within Kangaroo Paw Court, the boundary will run along the north-eastern boundary of PS731295. All other boundaries remain unchanged
So where exactly is Kangaroo Paw Court? I took a look at Google Maps, and it’s a modern townhouse subdivision located in the middle of early-1980s suburbia.
But I did find something useful in the local Star Weekly newspaper.
New boundary for suburbs
26 February 2018Taylors Lakes’ suburb boundary is set to be extended.
The extension means a section of the boundary between Taylors Lakes and Keilor will be moved to incorporate all properties on Kangaroo Paw Court into Taylors Lakes.
Kangaroo Paw Court is a subdivision of 25 houses. The boundary between Taylors Lakes and Keilor currently divides the court, meaning three houses are in Taylors Lakes, 18 are in Keilor and the other two are partially located in both suburbs.
In December 2016, Australia Post wrote to the Brimbank council, advising that the current location of the boundary is confusing for residents and mail services. It requested the boundary be moved.
The Office of Geographic Names advised the council to address the issue by extending the boundary of Taylors Lakes to incorporate the Keilor subdivision.
At its October meeting last year, the council decided to hold a 30-day community consultation process on the proposal.
No submissions were received during the consultation period.
Following the consultation period, the council determined to move the Taylors Lakes boundary and lodge its proposal with the Registrar of Geographic Names for endorsement and registration.
Not one, but two houses located in two suburbs. 🤯
So how did it come to be?
I opened up VicNames and had a look at the current boundary between Taylors Lakes and Keilor – it clearly skirts the development of Kangaroo Paw Court.
VicNames
But in Google Maps the boundaries are different – one can clearly see the boundary cutting the subdivision in half. Looks like they’re using old data!
Google Maps
So why did the boundary follow that line, and not the current one? I got into my time machine (aka Google Earth) and stepped through old aerial imagery to find this scene in 2014.
Google Earth
Kangaroo Paw Court didn’t exist: the frontage to Wanaka Drive being two detached houses, and the land at the rear being one big country homestead – located beneath 500 kV high voltage power lines!
I then jumped back to the modern day, and it all made sense.
Google Earth
Someone bought the big country homestead at the end of Denbigh Court in Keilor, and extended the street west to allow the strip of land between the power lines and the creek to be subdivided into residential blocks, called “Keilor Valley Estate”.
Real estate advertisement
While the pocket of land on the southern side of the power lines was sold separately, with the houses at 42 and 44 Wanaka Drive, Taylors Lakes purchased to provide access to the otherwise landlocked development site.
VicPlan
And the rump bit in the middle with 500 kV high voltage power lines running over the top?
It’s up for sale – 1.64 hectares of residential zoned land for the bargain price of $1.1 million!
Real estate advertisement
At least the real estate agent is honest.
Measuring at 4.05 acres and positioned in a corner pocket of Keilor offering an opportunity ideal for contractors to store materials, hobbyists that enjoy outdoor activities and many others alike.
Please Note: Powerlines run across the land and restrict the use of a large portion. Research into these restrictions through the relevant authorities is highly suggested.
Footnote: digging a bit deeper
The consolidation of the three pieces of land into two development sites happened rather quickly:
- the big country homestead at what was then known as 7 Denbigh Court sold in January 2011 for $2,000,000,
- the connection via 42 Wanaka Drive was bought in February 2011 for $515,000,
- and it was enlarged after 44 Wanaka Drive was bought in March 2011 for $495,000.
Kangaroo Paw Court was the first portion to be developed, with the first townhouses sold in December 2014, presumably off the plan, with a check of Google Earth showing:
- house at 42 Wanaka Drive demolished by December 2014,
- concrete slabs poured by April 2015,
- some townhouses with roofs by August 2015,
- roofs all finished by February 2016,
- driveways started by March 2016,
- and all seemingly finished by February 2017.
The development of the rest of the land took some time: November 2015 saw Amendment C179 to the Brimbank Planning Scheme was advertised, cleaning up the zoning applied to what was then known as 7 Denbigh Court, Taylors Lakes .
Brimbank Planning Scheme Amendment C179
Adopted in April 2016, it removed the Urban Floodway Zone, and replaced it with the Neighbourhood Residential Zone 3 that applied to the rest of the parcel.
Brimbank Planning Scheme Amendment C179
Land sales at the new “Keilor Valley Estate” on Denbigh Court commenced in 2016, with three blocks already sold by February 2016.
Footnote: plans of subdivision
Plans of subdivision divide land into two or more new parcels of land that can be dealt with separately.
Looking at the VicPlan data, I noticed the ‘new’ subdivisions bore a “PS” prefix, while the ‘existing’ ones had a “LP” prefix.
There had to be a reason – and I found it in this “Principles of Re-establishment” guidance note for surveyors.
Plans pre-Subdivision Act 1988
• Lodged Plans LP
• Plans of Consolidation CP
• Registered or Strata Plans RP and SP
• Cluster Plans CS
• Letter Plans A-, B-, etcPlans post-Subdivision Act 1988
• Plans of Subdivision PS
• Plans of Consolidation PC
• Boundary Plans BP
• Title Plans TP
So the “Lodged Plans” that created the suburbs of Taylors Lakes pre-dated 1987, while the “Plans of Subdivision” came later.
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