Forest Hill, Victoria

History

The area was originally covered by forest before being gradually cleared and cultivated by European settlers beginning in the late 1850s. The Forest Hill Post Office opened on 1 March 1874 in the then rural area. Substantial residential development commenced in the early 1950s, spurred by a post-war population increase.

Until 1994, Forest Hill was a part of the City of Nunawading local government area, but in December 1994 became part of the City of Whitehorse following the amalgamation of the former cities of Box Hill, Victoria and Nunawading.

Mount Pleasant Estate

The first modern, medium-density subdivision in the area now designated as Forest Hill was the Mount Pleasant Estate. This created 380 lots in and around Betula Avenue and Eugenia Street, all of which were sold by 1960.

Parkmore Estate

The largest residential subdivision in Forest Hill was the Parkmore Estate. Land sales began in 1957, and by 1960 over 500 homes had been built in the area between Jolimont and Canterbury Roads. The project, which was touted as Australia's most advanced, was a joint venture between a private subdivider and the Southern Construction Company, which worked with several local real estate agencies.

Parkmore was the first housing estate to have made roads and drainage in Forest Hill, and buyers could chose from five initial brick home designs priced upwards from £4,000**.** Also on the estate was the Parkmore Shopping Centre (now Brentford Square), which began trading c. 1959–60 as the first modern American-style shopping centre in Nunawading. A smaller strip of shops was located on Springvale Road.

Forest Hill Shopping Centre (Forest Hill Chase)

Main article: Forest Hill Chase

Announced in 1957 but delayed until 1964, the Forest Hills Drive-In Shopping Centre (Forest Hill Chase) at Canterbury Road was a landmark development for the area, and in 2025 has around 200 shops and three levels of retail space.

It includes a number of major retailers, such as Coles, Target, Harris Scarfe, Rebel Sport, TK Maxx, Aldi, Woolworths, Hoyts Cinemas and a number of restaurants. There is also a Zone Bowling centre (formerly AMF) and Timezone arcade.

Demographics

In the 2016 census, the population of Forest Hill was 10,626, approximately 52.5% female and 47.5% male.

56.6% of people living in the suburb of Forest Hill were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were China (excludes SARs and Taiwan) 9.8%, India 3.4%, Malaysia 2.8%, Vietnam 2.4% and England 2.2%.

In Forest Hill 57.4% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 11.0%, Cantonese 6.8%, Greek 2.9%, Vietnamese 1.7% and Italian 1.7%. 47.6% of Forest Hill households spoke a language other than English.

The religious makeup of Forest Hill is No Religion, so described 33.1%, Catholic 20.2%, Not stated 7.6%, Anglican 7.5% and Buddhism 6.2%. Christianity was the largest religious group reported overall (50.8%) (this figure excludes not stated responses).

Industry

Fremantle Media's Melbourne production facilities are located on Hawthorn Road in Forest Hill, where the soap opera Neighbours was produced.

Education

Forest Hill has one school located within the suburb, Parkmore Primary School. Nearby public and private schools are Burwood Heights Primary School, Mount Pleasant Road Primary School, Forest Hill Secondary College, Emmaus Catholic College and St. Timothy's Catholic Primary School.

Sport

Aqualink Nunawading in Fraser Place has an indoor, Olympic-size swimming pool, children's pool and gym and is the home of the Nunawading Swimming Club which has produced several Australian representatives. The Forest Hill Cricket Club and Forest Hill Football Club are located at Forest Hill Reserve in Fraser Place. The Nunawading Cricket Club, Nunawading Football Club (soccer), 1st Tally Ho Scout Group, table tennis club and badminton club are located at Mahomeys Reserve in Mahoneys Road.

References

References

1. [http://www.postcodes-australia.com/areas/vic/ferntree+gully/forest+hill Postcode for Forest Hill, Victoria (near Melbourne) – Postcodes Australia]
2. "2021 Census QuickStats Forest Hill".
3. "Melbourne's most liveable suburbs ranked".
4. Phoenix Auctions History. "Post Office List".
5. Sydenham, Diane. (1990). "Windows on Nunawading". Hargreen Publishing Company & City of Nunawading.
6. [Brochure] "Scope for Living: An introduction to the magnificent Parkmore Estate, Nunawading" ''Southern Construction Company''. 1957.
7. [Plan of subdivision] "Parkmore Estate Nunawading". ''W. White & Sons.'' c. 1960
8. "Global Television Homepage".
9. "History of ATV10 Melbourne".