The jacarandas and bougainvillea of Ashburton are out in full bloom so it must be December! Time for my final post of the year: the Retrospective of 2024.
It’s been a tumultuous year across the world and our suburb was not immune. My thoughts are with the families who suffered unimaginable loss this year and those finding the economic climate difficult.
For this annual post, I try to round up all the good/positive/neutral news of the neighbourhood that we don’t tend to see anymore. If I’ve missed something (and I probably have), email me and I’ll be happy to include it.
For ease of reading, I have broken it down into sections:
HOUSING
It was a busy year for Ashburton’s realtors with over 130 properties sold during the year. Several streets saw multiple houses turnover this year, including:
Nine properties in Ashburn Grove: 4 units, 2 sub-divisions and 3 houses
Eight properties in Gloucester Road, with six between #33 and #59. This street is now a mix of large, standalone houses; former Commission homes; and townhouses. The stand out sale was Number 48 in May for $3.235 million, the rest all came in under $2 million.
Over on the east side, Highgate Grove, Maxwell Street and Nicholas Streets all saw four houses sell for around $2.5 million.
The beautiful Tower House at 148 High Street (pictured above) went up for sale this year but failed to sell at auction. It is now off-market but it was really lovely getting a chance to see inside!
A full list of properties sold in 2024 is available for download below.
INFRASTRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT
Most of Ashburton's facilities stayed the same, with some exceptions.
Ashburton Park reopens
In 2024, Boroondara Council’s major upgrade of the surface of Ashburton Park oval opened in time for the centenary of its purchase as council land. Lower yearly rainfall helped the Park avoid its recent trend of turning into a swampy wasteland. At time of writing, the grass has grown in nicely. Later in the year, Solway Ward councillor John Friend-Pereira announced Council will install an electronic scoreboard at the Park.
No news yet on whether Council will upgrade the 45-year-old “pavilion”. This seems long overdue considering the much younger Ferndale Park pavilion is scheduled for upgrade.
Pedestrian/Cycle Bridge at Hartwell plan dropped
The 15-year-old proposal to build a pedestrian/cycle bridge across Toorak Road continued to cause community controversy during the year. Supporters of the plan to bridge this small piece of the Outer Circle Linear Park/Anniversary Trail said it would increase safety for pedestrians and cyclists by circumventing the sharp turn and need to cross busy Toorak Road to re-join the Trail. Critics argued it was too disruptive and expensive. Initial proposed cost estimates were $6 million. This ballooned to $30 million, not including the cost of closing the railway line next to it.
All of this came to a head in early December when the Victorian Government dropped the plan once and for all. They cited the high cost and complexity of the project. The Bicycle Network reports that instead of the bridge, the Government will investigate new traffic signals at the road level.
The Dion Rail Link upgrade completed
In happier news for cyclists and pedestrians, much needed safety works to the Dion Rail Link were completed in late November. The works included a raise in the crossing to help motorists slow down and cyclists cross safely.
Holmesglen Bridge makes its move in Annual Truck Eating Competition
After nearly a century of benign and faithful service to the Holmesglen area, the Holmesglen Bridge made a concerted run for the annual title of Truck Eating Bridge of the Year (Melbourne Division) this year. In 2024, several trucks managed to impale themselves on its pillars or fail to heed the multiple height clearance signs that bedazzle its exterior.
Observers speculated that the Bridge’s success in the Truck Eating Competition came from somehow magically lowering itself to trap unsuspecting truck-drivers or flinging off its warning signs with wild abandonment. Subsequent inspections revealed there to be no structural deficiency with the bridge. The same can not be said for the trucks (and the drivers) it devoured.
The Holmesglen Bridge was not available for official comment. However, it was heard to mumble, “I’ll get you next year Montague Street, just you wait and see.”
ON THE HIGH STREET
Ashburton’s High Street continues to weather the financial storms of rising costs of living and rents to maintain its fierce independence from franchises and supermarket duopolies.
Shops sold
Several commercial buildings sold during the year, including:
201 High Street (Sergios Pizza and Bistro)
237-239 High Street (Chicken Central and Anne’s Pantry
200 High Street (Ken Ross Jewellers)
205A High Street (Commonwealth Bank-7 December 2023)
45a Karnak Road
49 Karnak Road sold (vacant possession)
J & T Electrical Services closes
This year, one of the longest running businesses in Ashburton closed its doors for the last time. Opened by Peter “J” Jones and Wes “T” Thomas in 1978, J & T Electrical Services began life as the repair arm of E & S Trading. In recent years, it moved into the business of Kitchen Aid repairs. “Peter and the family are heartbroken that we had to close Ashburton,” Peter’s son Lee told me in May. “It became apparent that it was no longer financially feasible and was operating at a loss even with the enormous work load of repairs.”
Shake-up in the jewellers
Ashburton’s three independent jewellers have survived decades of challenges over the years but sadly, time marches on for their owners. Late last year, John Adams Jewellers closed its doors for the last time. Ken Ross Jewellers, first opened in 1954 and now operated by Ken’s son Glenn, shifted its operations to 253A High Street to focus on jewellery repairs. Ashburton Jewellers continues to maintain its operations.
Chadstone Village redeveloped
New shopping opportunities for residents opened this year with the refurbishment of Chadstone Village. The latest round of major renovations at Chadstone Shopping Centre hastened the re-development of this previously vacant retail space to include a Coles, Aldi, Kitchen Warehouse and new food outlets. Even the derelict old Hogs Breath Café received a major facelift and became a Grill’d.
The new development met with immediate success as residents and motorists sighed with relief at not having to battle for a parking spot at Chadstone Shopping Centre.
New artwork coming soon
Bob Stensholt reports that after some drama, the Ashy Dasher sculpture planned for installation at the Ashy Op Shop in 2023 will finally pull into the station in 2025. “Its frame is made and the sculpture is being manufactured,” Bob says. Now the Traders Association are waiting on Boroondara Council to come up with a leasing agreement.
Lucas House and Garden will be installing it when it finally arrives.
AROUND THE COMMUNITY GROUPS
Many of our community groups continued to quietly go about their business supporting us. Unfortunately, the Ashburton Probus Club, first formed in 1993, closed this year due to declining membership numbers. They donated a laptop, data projector and $5,000 to the Ashburton Senior Citizens Centre.
Ashburton-a-Fair, the quarterly creative community event supported by the Ashburton Community Centre and Rotary Chadstone/East Malvern continued to showcase the creative expertise of residents. The Ashburton Artisan Market, organised by the Ashburton Community Residents Association, attracted a range of new artists with beautiful handmade products for sale. There's a story there about how the neighbourhood ended up with two of these events but I don't think I want to touch it.
The Ashburton Country Women's Association (CWA) spent the year baking, decorating, preserving, brewing, and concocting a plethora of delicious treats to sell at Como House, South Yarra, the Melbourne Royal Show and Ashburton-a-Fair throughout the year.
I can confirm that whoever made that plum and rhubarb chutney they gave me for giving a talk about my book is a legend!
Ashburton Scouts Group
In their 80th anniversary year, the Ashburton Scout Group continued to produce several dedicated young community members. Four Cubs received their Grey Wolf Award, equalling the record set in 2023. This means they completed all the badges and organised and led a hike by age 11. In the Scouts, three received their Australian Scout Award, the highest honour a Scout can receive.
The Venturers successfully received funding from the Dick and Pip Smith Leadership Through Adventure Fund to explore New Zealand, where they are currently wandering through the mountains in a brisk 4°C.
The Scout Hall also made it on TV with a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo appearance in a super fund commercial.
Environmental groups
In 2024, Ashburton residents punched above their weight in spearheading and supporting Boroondara’s environmental protection movement.
Many Boroondara group leaders live in the area and work tirelessly at their stated goals. Everybody I spoke to for this section mentioned how their group runs “on the smell of an oily rag” so we may have to come up with a more environmentally friendly metaphor next time.
Lighter Footprints
This year, local environmental advocacy group Lighter Footprints dedicated itself to raising awareness of the environmental credentials of candidates standing in the Boroondara Council elections. Jenny Smithers reported they produced an environmental score card on each candidate’s standing on matters concerning climate change, sustainability and environmental awareness.
Members undertook door-knocking activities in the area and reported that residents loved the parks, trees and quiet of Ashburton but were frustrated by the number of aggravated burglaries. However, according to Crime Statistics Victoria (as at June 2024), there has been a 2% increase in car-related theft in Boroondara but this still remains considerably lower than the last 10 years in Victoria. Hawthorn, Camberwell and Kew remain the main target areas of thieves.
In 2025, Lighter Footprints intends to extend its advocacy to the forthcoming federal election. It’s keen to engage younger members of the community and develop its social media competency.
To volunteer your time, visit the Lighter Footprints website.
KooyongKoot Alliance
The KooyongKoot Alliance had a successful year planting over 6,000 new plants in Boroondara and helping Council reach its biodiversity targets. Melbourne Water also proved forthcoming with financial assistance.
In Ashburton, the group focused on planting in Markham Reserve and continued to form allegiances with local Friends groups. KKA also helped lay out stepping stones in Kooyong Koot/Gardiners Creek, established a care program for the large trees along its banks, and extensively mulched around their new plantings.
Graham Ross reported KKA are thrilled with the community response to its efforts, particularly the generosity of sharing tools and resources and the emergence of new Friends groups in Ashburton keen to support them. He spoke of witnessing first hand the great benefits working on KKA’s projects had brought to volunteers’ health and wellbeing.
In 2025, he hopes to continue working with Council and look into projects with carbon accounting feasibility.
To volunteer your time, visit the KooyongKoot Alliance website.
Electrify Boroondara
Russell Williams reported the Group’s simple goal of encouraging homeowners off fossil fuels resonated with the attendees at its second Fair at the Hawthorn Arts Centre. Keen to save money while improving health and wellbeing, over 1,000 people passed through the event.
Electrify Boroondara is resolutely apolitical with members from all political parties and endorses Solar Victoria’s accreditation process. It understands that Boroondara’s houses emit up to 50% of local emissions. Bad insulation and burning gas inside remain major factors in its larger and older-style houses. Russell reported they are happy to send volunteers to your house to talk through options for going fully electric.
In 2025, Russell is personally testing out how the group’s goal intersects with the Council's permit process for houses under heritage overlay in the area. He hopes to reach working families who are concerned about environmental sustainability but lack the time to work out how to go about going fully electric.
To volunteer your time or find out more, visit the Electrify Boroondara website.
Community on Facebook
The Ashburton and Glen Iris Community Facebook page averaged around 4 posts a day during the year from over 5,200 members. They covered requests for recommendations on local service providers, items to give away or sought after, lost and found (including pets), and other miscellaneous information posts.
The much smaller local Buy Nothing Facebook group also did a brisk trade in almost any item you can think of from empty flower pots to large pieces of furniture.
The lessons from my review include:
if you have a good cleaner take care of them because they are worth their weight in gold
Moving boxes circulate through Ashburton like the latest Covid strain
Nobody ever knows what the weird noises are/or what the helicopters are doing
Crime isn’t nearly as bad as people think it is on Facebook
Ashburton and Glen Iris residents are a generous and supportive bunch.
POLITICAL REPRESENTATION
In 2024, the Electoral Commission abolished the Higgins Federal Electorate and redrew Ashburton’s federal electorate boundaries. Ashburton was absorbed into Chisholm (held by Labor’s Carina Garland) and the border with Kooyong moved to Highfield, Riversdale, Toorak, and Tooronga Roads.
In a move that will not surprise anyone with a passing interest in federal politics, a Voices movement has emerged to help support an independent candidate for Chisolm in the 2025 Federal Election. Voices for Chisholm don’t have a website yet but visit their Facebook Page if you're interested in finding out more.
There’s no election date set yet, so we won’t know who will emerge as running for local seats, aside from Amelia Hamer (Liberal) in Kooyong. It is anticipated that Monique Ryan and Carina Garland will both seek re-election.
At the local government level, Ashburton said goodbye to retiring Councillor Garry Thompson and elected John Friend-Pereira as the new Councillor for Solway. The battle for the Ward proved very close with John, a member of the Greens Party, triumphing on preferences. Cr Victor Franco retained Gardiner Ward and Cr Lisa Hollingsworth remained in Lynden Ward. They were two of only four Councillors who retained their Wards. Boroondara Council took a significant step to the left for the first time in forever, indicating change is afoot.
SPORTS RESULTS
This is when I tell you I really miss the days local newspapers published sports results because it’s very difficult to work out how well teams did from their Association websites. This is put together from what I can find on public Facebook and club websites.
Alamein Football Club: The Club continued to build the skills of its players in the NPLW in 2024, with some solid victories across Melbourne’s soccer fields. Captain Sidney Allen, Alamein’s highest goal scorer, secured a spot in the NPLW Victoria’s Team of the Season. She also kicked an incredible Goal of the Week in an August match against Calder United.
The Club also attracted several new coaches in 2025, including Amy Crawford (U13s), Claudio Hermenjat (U17s) and John Kyrgios (Senior Head Coach). Local businesses have also stepped up to sponsor the Club. In 2025, its 10th anniversary year, Alamein will run a Development Squad Program for U11, U12, U14, U16 and senior players.
Ashburton Lawn Bowls Club: Liz Kortum and Grant Pickering won the Club Mixed Pairs final taking out the match 19-10. Liz showed her skills again with Peg McNally, David Mayson and Margaret Collard in a valiant game in the Indoor Bias Bowls Final, falling to Blackburn 1 in the Grand Final. David “Fletch” Fletcher emerged as the Men’s Club Singles championship with a cracking score of 27-18 and Morena Poropat took the Ladies Club Singles Championship with a 25-20.
Ashy Lightning (Basketball): In 2024, Ashy Lightning registered 32 teams in the Waverley Basketball Association. In October, the Grade 5/6 Girls made it all the way to the State Finals. I can’t find much else about how they went but great to see the Club so strong.
Ashburton Netball Club: A great year for the netballers with 10 of the 11 netball teams making finals in spring. Five teams made it to the Grand Finals in December, with the Ashy Storm (sub-junior) and the Ashy Sparks clinching victory.
Ashburton United Soccer Club: AUSC had a bumper season despite the challenges of delays in the refurbishment of Dorothy Laver Reserve and Ashburton Park. The Club is huge now (50+ junior teams alone) and it’s really hard to work out who won what when, so I’m going to pick out a few from the Facebook page. The Men’s Reserves clinched the runners up title with a thumping 10-2 win. In the Women’s SL5, AUSC won almost every match with victories of 7, 8 and 10 goals.
In 2025, Tom Karapatsos, a former NSL player will commence as Head Senior Men’s Coach and David “Gravy” Starr will take over as Head Coach for Senior Women. The Club will also be honouring former member Will Taylor with a scholarship in his name and the Will Taylor Charity Day. This will include a pre-season friendly match between AUSC and Mt Waverley Soccer Club.
Ashburton Uniting Church Tennis Club: The Tennis Club got itself a fancy new website this year and your friendly blogger thanks whoever organised it because its got lots of news on it! Their courts have undergone major repairs and upgrades, including the installation of LED lighting, new drinking fountains and key bog access for all entrances.
The Club’s small junior arm punched above its weight with Alexander Granzow and Jerry Shang battling hard in the semi-finals with skill and determination. The two senior teams both made it to through to the finals with the A Reserve team becoming Summer 23/24 Runners-Up.
Ashburton Willows Cricket Club (2023/24 season): Rain affected several matches over the season. The Men’s First XI finished second on the ladder by a whisker in the Neil Wright Shield. In the seven boys junior teams, AWCC Swift U10 showed great potential with several wins throughout the season. In the Under 12s, the Highmark U12As swept through a victorious season, only to be felled in the Grand Final by the Camberwell Magpies. The U14s Navy Blue Planning had better luck with a clean sweep of the season and a very close victory against Clifton Hill in the Grand Final. Congratulations also go to Emily Pugsley and Hanna Sahni who won the Stage 1 Girls Batting and Bowling Awards.
Ashy Redbacks (Junior Football Club): Australian Rules Football continues to be immensely popular among the local kids. The Ashy Redbacks fielded a massive 27 teams in the Yarra Junior Football League for the 2024 season. Thirteen teams played in the Finals. So far, the only results I have are that the U11 Red won their grand final by 1 point!
In 2025, FMCG executive and former Richmond player Todd Menegola will commence with the Club as the Youth Girls Coach.
QUIRK ALERT
Ashburton residents can find some creative ways to pass their time!
The sidewalk battle over Mary Fowler
In February, a chalk warrior emerged onto the streets of Glen Iris and Ashburton to publicly declare his passion for Australian soccer star, Mary Fowler. Mary, a 21-year-old Queenslander who plays for Manchester City and the Matildas, has no discernable connection to Ashburton that anyone can ascertain. This did not deter her superfan, Andy L, who traversed the neighbourhood with his chalk declarations of admiration for her prowess on the soccer field throughout the year.
At some point, an unnamed antagonist emerged in retaliation. This person chalked the fine line recently between balancing respect for women’s soccer and noting Mary failed to score in the Matildas 6-0 victory over Chinese Taipei match in December. Had she scored, this would have been a tremendous feat considering she wasn’t playing in the team that day.
I don’t know - at least they’re getting some fresh air doing all this?
The Clown Swarm on High Street
In the early hours of 21 October, a swarm of red-wigged, yellow jumpsuit-clad Ronald McDonalds descended on High Street. The Ronald McDonalds were year 12s from Glen Iris school Sacre Coeur intent on a day out to celebrate the end of their school careers.
If you were sleeping, then you know for sure it really happened because their shenanigans soon went “viral” on TikTok, amassing tens of millions of views and over 8 million “likes”.
“Our school captains came up with the idea,” Lizzy and Bridget told Sammy J on ABC Melbourne. “They sent around a Google Form with suggested ideas for dress-ups and we collectively all decided to go as Ronald,” said Lizzy.
This involved months of buying up Ronald McDonald costumes on Amazon, eBay and other online suppliers.
After their visit to High Street, the Party Bus made a stop at a local McDonalds. This was not part of the original plan. “We wanted to, but party buses are notoriously known for not stopping. [Still? They were like that in the 90s too!] So we think the drivers were just hungry for some food,” Bridget explained.
The prank was well-received by the community for its wholesome good fun.
A new contender for most Prolific Letter Writer in Ashburton emerged
This year, fourteen Ashburton residents published Letters to the Editor in The Age (myself included).[1] The Age receives hundreds of letters every day, much more if there’s a particular topic that resonates with its readers. But they only publish 30 a day so this makes getting a letter published an artform. “It's great to see people with a passion for politics and their community writing in to our letters page”, Damien Nowicki told me.
Writers from previous years continued to find publication: Mike Pantzopoulos (6), Michael Doyle (7), and Brian Marshall (15) but it was Jenny Smithers who swept the field with a massive 41 (and counting) published letters to the editor.
Jenny’s secret? " Be snappy, topical and directly relate the letter to the previous days’ news," she told me. Here she is on 11 July: “If only Mother Nature had the same deep pockets to retain well-connected defence industry lobbyists.” And then again on 14 August: “To make our streets safe don’t just pick on the little-wheeled hire e-scooters – all mega utes and SUVs need to go, too.” Anthony Albanese was in her sights on 16 October: “It would be wise for Anthony Albanese to have neither Hawaiian shirts nor ukuleles in the wardrobe of his new ″clifftop perfection″ home.”
I tried to convince her a broader audience for her snappy witticisms lies on social media, but I'm not sure I succeeded!
Ashburton Stories
For me, it’s been an eventful year with the release of my third book, Ashburton Stories. If you still haven’t bought yourself a copy, I have around 165 left. The Community Centre is closed for the summer but I still have copies available (although they are diminishing) through my website and Leaf Bookshop have stock.
It's been wonderful hearing from people about how they enjoyed the book. I'm not sure there will be a second edition any time soon but I hope to keep up the Ashburton blog as I work on other projects.
I'll be off until late January so wishing all my readers a happy festive season and a summer free of freak weather events!
Footnotes
[1] They probably also wrote to The Herald Sun and The Australian but I don’t have a subscription for those papers to check.
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