Milgate Park Estate

The Milgate Park Estate is a housing estate in Doncaster East, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The estate comprises 40 hectares of land situated around a section of Long Valley, a gully bed that no longer carries surface water, which flows northeast and into the Mullum Mullum Creek. The land was used for orchards from the 1860s to the 1970s when it was subdivided for residential housing. Land in the estate itself was released to the public in two stages, the southern area first, followed by the northern area.

The estate is listed on the Register of the National Estate for historical importance, it is a rare example of the implementation of the planning principles of the Radburn principle traffic separation idea (known as the planning scheme for "towns of the motor age") which served as a precedent for the car-free movement. It included communal ownership of community facilities and extensive community parkland. Facilities include; a playground, two tennis courts, a netball court, football ground and playing facilities. The facilities are owned by the residents through a Home Owners Association. There is no through traffic and only Landscape Drive is not a court.

Parklands

Milgate Park extends through much of the estate, Landscape Drive Reserve (formally a lake) adjoins the estate at the northern section of Landscape Drive.

Roadways

Many of the roadways within the estate were named after artists of the Heidelberg Arts School:

• Landscape Drive

Reddington Terrace

Lambert Place

Dowling Grove

Watling Terrace

Buvelot Wynd

Meldrum Close

Heysen Grove

McCubbin Terrace

Streeton Lane

Dobell Place

• Andersons Creek Road

Ramsay Close

Longstaff Court

Roper Place

Wiarondo Court

Criticisms

Although marketed and propagated as a progressively designed, environmentally friendly estate and native parklands, the estate is far from it. In addition, many ideas and concepts initially proposed were not seen through to completion:

• Most of the species of plant life within the parklands are non-native species.
• Initially intended to have no fences, all the houses are separated by fences on their boundaries and fences exist on most sites where each site borders the parklands.
• Introduced species such as cats and dogs are still prevalent on many of the sites and this necessitates the use of fences.
• There is no access to public transport except for an irregular bus service that runs down Andersons Creek Road.
• Private automobiles are the primary method of transportation.
• There is only one general store/milk bar and this does not cater to the commercial needs of the surrounding residents.
• Due to the lack of parklands in the housing immediately surrounding the estate, the parklands are frequently used by non-residents.
• All residences within the estate are single- or double-storey low-density structures; this increases each individual's carbon footprint. In addition, there was no emphasis placed on medium-density urban structures that incorporate commercial zones.

References

• Melway map 34
• Australian Heritage Database: Milgate Park Estate Conservation Area
• Australian Conservation website
• Doncaster East local parks