My suburb is a hidden gem that I found after being driven out by development

Dust and noise drove us from our family home of 32 years in Burwood East. A 20-hectare, long-derelict brickworks site bordering our property had been sold for redevelopment and in a single day, a hideous machine with a giant claw removed all the trees, extracting them like teeth, before trampling them to the ground.

A tawny frogmouth landed on our back verandah, shivering in shock. Who knows how many small animals and other creatures were displaced? And then the relentless compacting of the ground started, a sound like machineguns firing that made our windows vibrate six days a week. A gritty spray covered our prized vegetables and fruit trees and a fine brown dust seeped through the house.

We needed an urban tree change. It was 2016, and we looked to the green wedge of Melbourne’s north-east, where we used to bring our children to ride on Eltham’s miniature railway and to the adventure playground on Wattletree Road in Eltham North.

We found our new home in Eltham North, a small suburb that shares a postcode with Eltham and is almost entirely residential. About 25 kilometres from Melbourne’s CBD, it has a population of around 7000. It’s in the shire of Nillumbik, a Wurundjeri description of the area that is generally known to mean “shallow earth”, due to its clay soils and the foliage that makes the area feel like the lungs of Melbourne. Our property is one of four generous-sized townhouses on 4000 square metres, and we now have distant views of the mountains that form the southern region of the Great Dividing Range. On clear evenings, one is rewarded by a magnificent night sky.

Here in Eltham North it doesn’t feel like a lot has changed since 1978, when resident Eric Stephensen wrote about a suburb forged by fires and floods, and that “shallow earth”. It was, he said, a “poor land with clay surface and practically no topsoil and would graze little more than one bandicoot to the acre”. The trees that do grow well here are wattles, and each year our streets are transformed by gold and yellow.

There is a rustic feel here with mud-brick homes and unsurfaced roads, likely old bullock tracks. We enjoy a rich variety of birds and other wildlife. Garden visitors include stunning king parrots, corellas and cockatoos, kookaburras, rainbow lorikeets and other native birds. We are a short drive to the remarkable vistas of the Yarra Valley that are revealed as one travels towards Yarra Glen via Christmas Hills. Our neighbour Jan describes Eltham North as “country living in the city – 20 minutes from every amenity, but tucked discreetly among the gumtrees”. She adds “there is so much to like about this area, but I don’t want everyone to discover our hidden gem.” Our neighbour Lesley moved to Ryans Road 50 years ago. “When I came here, the roads were not made and there were very few houses at that time. Opposite the land was pure bush and when you came out of Ryans Road onto Wattletree Road going toward Diamond Creek, it was just rolling hills with beautiful horses grazing.”

If you are a keen gardener you will likely find trying to grow exotic plants almost impossible in the rock-hard clay, although Australian natives tend to thrive. We have had some success with olive trees and grow varieties of citrus trees in pots. We welcome the blue tongue lizards and the occasional echidna, but fortunately have not encountered any snakes.

The hills are steep and gullies treacherous after rain, so shortcuts when walking can be ill-advised! Friends in Weidlich Road on the suburb’s western border, received an unpleasant surprise on Christmas Day 2011. An unexpected thunderstorm shattered the festive mood, unleashing huge hailstones and torrential rain. The street became a raging river. Their elevated garage was filled with water.

Progress Road links Eltham North to Eltham and St Helena. Locals know to be wary when driving, as it is a favoured spot for mobile speed cameras. Walking west, believing you are making good progress, you reach the crest of a hill only to find it dips and rises like a rollercoaster, before it bisects Ryans Road.

You won’t find many facilities in Eltham North apart from housing, schools, childcare centres and parks. There is just one cafe here, the popular Oregon Xpress, and even that is relatively new, converted from the local milk bar. We don’t have any shops or restaurants. But part of the appeal of Eltham North is its proximity to services nearby. The large Greensborough shopping complex is about 10 minutes’ away and if you intend to head further we are close to major arterial roads, including the North East Link and Metropolitan Ring Road. Buses are the main form of public transport, but the nearby Hurstbridge line train stations include Eltham and Montmorency, offering frequent services to Flinders Street.

The many little townships that are part of Nillumbik are charming to visit and often celebrate seasonal festivals or offer farmers’ markets, but also punch above their weight in contributing to the local creative arts scene. Tragically, many were impacted by the devastating bushfires of 2009. Bushfires remain a serious risk, and residents need to be proactive to maintain their property and ensure gutters are clear of leaves.

homeowners embrace the spirit of Halloween each October and are equally festive with their annual Christmas lights. In April and November, artists across Nillumbik open their studios, half a dozen of which are located in Eltham North. This is in keeping with an area renowned for its creative arts, and famous for the Heidelberg artists, particularly Walter Withers, whose grave is at St Katherine’s Church in the adjacent suburb of St Helena.

Many small parks and creeks, including remnant bush parks, are scattered throughout the suburb. We are fortunate to have a local council that is committed to its green wedge status. The Eltham North adventure playground, part of the Eltham North Reserve that roughly parallels Wattletree Road, is a short walk from the seven-hectare Edendale Community Environment farm. Sadly, the original playground was lost to an arson attack in late 2017, before a redesigned, woolshed-inspired facility was recreated in 2018 with a mural, The Gathering Circle, a tribute to Wurundjeri Culture.

The nearby Diamond Creek marks the eastern border of Eltham North, and the very popular Diamond Creek Trail runs along all the way from Lower Eltham Park (where it intersects with the Yarra Trail) and follows the creek through mostly bush track to Hurstbridge.

Eltham North is a suburb where people want to remain. A friend, Bev, originally moved here just after World War II, to a farm that straddled Allendale Road and included an old gold mine. Her parents’ property was eventually sold to a P&O captain who named local streets after ships he had captained. Bev still lives locally. After 10 years on our treed block, we have no plans to leave either.

Charlotte Chidell is a musician, writer and the author of This Still Hearth, a biographical novel about St Helena pioneer Katherine Beale.