Cranbourne, Victoria


Cranbourne is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 43 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Casey. At the 2016 Census, Cranbourne had a population of 20,094 and the greater Cranbourne area 51,340. The ever expanding greater Cranbourne area consists of Cranbourne, Cranbourne North, Cranbourne East, Cranbourne South, Victoria and Cranbourne West.

History

Prior to European settlement the Cranbourne area is thought to have been occupied by the Boonwurrung Aboriginal people. The first white settlers, the Ruffy brothers, arrived in 1836. They later opened the Cranbourne Inn.
The area was greatly opened up by settlers from the 1860s. Cranbourne Post Office had opened on 1 August 1857.
Progress in developing the land around Cranbourne was hampered by the Koo Wee Rup swampland. However William Lyall assisted in coordinating the draining of the swamp to make it usable as farmland.
Cranbourne was, from 1860 until 1994, the administrative centre of the Shire of Cranbourne,. The council building is still in existence, and is now used as a health care centre known as 'The Cranbourne Integrated Care Centre'. Prior to 1978, Council met at the Old Shire Offices, on the corner of Sladen Street and South Gippsland Highway.

Population

At the 2006 census Cranbourne had a population of 14,750. At the 2016 Census, Cranbourne had a population of 20,094.
62.3% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were India 5.4%, England 3.3%, New Zealand 3.1%, Afghanistan 1.9% and Philippines 1.4%. 68.5% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Punjabi 2.6%, Hazaraghi 1.2%, Samoan 1.2%, Hindi 1.2% and Dari 1.1%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 28.8%, Catholic 21.3% and Anglican 10.2%.

Places

In the south of Cranbourne is the Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, and the Cranbourne Racecourse & Recreation Reserve. Cranbourne also contains the Cranbourne Golf Club, the Amstel Golf Club, the Ranfurlie Golf Club and an indoor swimming pool.
Some schools are :
FReZza or Spectrum Entertainment run occasional youth programs including All Ages music events, charity programs and other youth services. Over the years a number of local artists have emerged that have featured at many of Spectrum Entertainment's live events. These include bands such as Josh Wins Again, Arpejio, Closure in Moscow, Ellora just to name a few who have all hailed from Cranbourne or the City of Casey

Shopping

Cranbourne has two major shopping precincts. In the north of Cranbourne, on the corner of Thompson Road and the South Gippsland Highway is the Thompson Parkway Shopping Centre and Cranbourne Homemaker Centre complex with JB Hi-Fi Home, The Good Guys, Officeworks, La Porchetta, Hungry Jacks and more major stores. This complex has largely developed around the Bunnings Warehouse located on the corner.
In the centre of town is High Street and Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre, anchored by a 17 aisle Coles Supermarket and an 8 aisle Woolworths supermarkets, and Kmart Australia, Target Australia, JB Hi-Fi Home, Harris Scarfe, Manchester and More, Best & Less, Reject Shop, and Priceline. The centre previously included a 5-cinema complex.
Smaller shopping centres include the Sandhurst Shopping Centre anchored by an 11 aisle Coles Supermarket in Cranbourne West, Springhill shopping centre including coles and Urban Chill Cafe located Thompsons Road Cranbourne North and Hunt Club Village Shopping Centre in Cranbourne East with Woolworths, Aldi and 17 speciality stores.
Other supermarkets include an Aldi Supermarket in Bakewell Street and Ritchies Supermarket in the High Street Retail area.

Churches

Cranbourne is home to several churches. These include the , , the Anglican Regional Church Cranbourne, Cranbourne Regional Uniting Church,, , , , Life Community Church, TurningPoint Church and the Cranbourne Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Cranbourne North has .

Sports facilities and clubs

Australian Football/Cricket
Casey Demons, a team in the Victorian Football League, plays its home games at Casey Fields. The Casey Demons, formerly the Casey Scorpions, were formerly the Springvale Football Club.
There are 9 Australian football/cricket ovals available at J&P Camm Reserve, the Donnelly Recreation Reserve, the Clyde Recreation Reserve, the Lawson Poole Reserve, the Junction Village Reserve and the Glover Recreation Reserve. Eight of the nine ovals each have a synthetic centre cricket wicket. The Cranbourne Cricket Club was established in 1881 with the Cranbourne Football Club established in 1889.
There are 2 rugby fields at the Lawson Poole Reserve and the Clyde Recreation Reserve.
Sports reserves
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Outer East Football Netball League.
Football
Casey Comets Football Club were founded in 1975 as Cranbourne Comets Football Club and changed to Casey Comets Football Club in 2007. Casey play at Comets Stadium on O'Tooles Road in Cranbourne. As of 2020, the Men's senior teams compete in the Football Federation Victoria State League 1 South-East league, and the Women's senior team compete in the Football Federation Victoria State League 1.
Basketball and Netball
There are 6 basketball courts available at the Terry Vickerman Centre at the Casey Indoor Leisure Complex. There is a netball court the Glover Recreation Reserve.
Tennis
There are 32 tennis courts available at Cranbourne Tennis Club, Cranbourne Racecourse & Recreation Reserve and Casey Fields ; the Clyde Tennis Club, Clyde Recreation Reserve ; the Devon Meadows Tennis Club, Glover Recreation Reserve ; and the Cranbourne South Tennis Club, Morning Mist Recreation Reserve. There are an additional 8 courts available inside the Terry Vickerman Centre at the Casey Indoor Leisure Complex.
Golf
There are two golf courses privately owned and managed:
Horse Riding and Racing
Club-based horse riding is available at the Morning Mist Recreation Reserve in Cranbourne South around 15 minutes from the city centre. Both Cranbourne greyhound and harness racing clubs are on Grant Street.
Cranbourne has a horse racing club, the Cranbourne Turf Club, which schedules around 22 race meetings a year including the Cranbourne Cup meeting in October.
Cranbourne Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the town, and the Cranbourne Greyhound Racing Club holds regular meetings.
Lawn Bowls
Two lawn bowls club facilities are available at the Cranbourne Bowls Club and the Cranbourne RSL Bowls Club.
Shooting
Shooting facilities are available at the Cranbourne Dandenong Pistol Club. The Cranbourne RSL Gun Club was demolished in late 2006, the Victorian Deer Association now meet at Akoonah Park in Berwick.
Skating/BMX
There are skating and BMX facilities available at the following locations:
The is held each year on the Saturday of the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
The terminus of the Cranbourne railway line is at Cranbourne railway station. The Cranbourne line is part of the South Gippsland Railway, which is currently disused between Cranbourne and the start of the private South Gippsland Tourist Railway in Nyora. The Cranbourne Line was to be extended by 2 km to Cranbourne East by 2015, as stated in the Victorian Transport Plan, but nothing has been done so far to show progress of the line extension.
The restoration and reopening of the disused line was proposed by the Victorian Government in 2001, at which time the government described the line as being in a state of significant disrepair. By 2008, a report had concluded that the rail service to Leongatha would not be restored due to the high cost in returning services. Instead, extra money will be spent on improving road coach services.
Cranbourne also has many bus services that help commuters travel to its surrounding suburbs.