To mark Dandenong Star Journal’s 160 years of publication, PHILIP SALAMA-WEST is taking a then-and-now look at the people, places and events that have formed Dandenong’s modern history.
This week, we’re looking back at the controversial merger of Dandenong and Springvale councils.
Below is the extract that appeared in the Journal on Monday 12 December 1994.
The last of the line
As Dandenong and Springvale councillors prepare to step down, The Journal puts on record its appreciation of their long-standing commitment, along with council staff, to the community.
The Journal welcomes the new commissioners and wishes them well in the challenging months ahead. We bring you the mayors’ final thoughts on their much-loved cities…
Mayor of Dandenong Councillor David Kelly will don his robes for the last time tonight to make way for council mergers and the commissioners.
Cr Kelly vowed to continue to represent his committees and clubs and urged people to get involved in their city.
“My real concern is that in 10 years time we may face a problem unless young people get involved in Dandenong,” he said.
Cr Kelly said he felt sure his fellow councillors would also continue to represent their old committees, if given the chance.
Mr Kelly said he considered Dandenong a city with a country outlook which “works together.”
“You only have to look at the hundreds of volunteers who worked within the city last year,” he said.
“It’s a pleasure to say thank you to them.
“I am a supporter of the amalgamation but I will be disappointed to not have such an active role.”
Mayor of Springvale Councillor Eric Mitchell said 1994 had been a challenging time for local government and one of the major achievements for Springvale.
“It has also been a year of great change which has been accelerated by council amalgamations and the introduction of Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT),” he said.
“Both the amalgamations and CCT have changed the face of local government and created a climate of uncertainty.
“Despite this, council is leading the way in local government and is positioning the City to be more responsive and positive to the changes.
“I wish to acknowledge and thank councilors and council staff for their significant contributions to our organisations throughout the year and the years gone by.”
He thanked all residents, community groups and businesses for their help.
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Once a part of Dandenong, the Shire of Spring Vale and Noble Park was legally constituted in 1955.
It was soon renamed to the City of Springvale.
The renaming was undertaken to reflect the increasingly suburban nature of the once largely rural area.
The City of Springvale was an independent local polity for almost 40 years, with its own council seated at the Springvale City Hall on Springvale Road and Grace Park Avenue, which still stands and is used for municipal purposes today.
The City of Springvale came to an end in 1994, when the Victorian Government under then-premier Jeff Kennett decided to massively restructure Victoria’s local government, dissolving 210 local councils to amalgamate them into 78 new, larger areas.
The City of Dandenong was amalgamated with the City of Springvale, creating the large City of Greater Dandenong which exists today, though parts of the locality were rezoned into the Cities of Frankston and Kingston as well.
The decision to amalgamate the City of Springvale into the newly created City of Greater Dandenong was an incredibly controversial one.
Originally the Local Government Board – who had been assigned by the premier with managing the local amalgamations – had intended to create a ‘super city’ consisting not only of Dandenong and Springvale, but also areas of Cranbourne and Casey.
The decision was eventually made to create a smaller municipal area more closely related to the original boundaries of the Shire of Dandenong.
Inhabitants of Springvale and Noble Park protested the change heavily, and for some time the phrase ‘City of Lesser Springvale’ was a popular mocking jab at the region’s new name of Greater Dandenong.
The naming of the area was just as contentious, as the Local Government Board decided to rename the enlarged area the ‘City of Heatherton’.
The decision had been made to reduce the feeling of Springvale locals that the suburb they had proudly called home for decades was being subsumed, but mostly failed to appease the people of Springvale and outraged Dandenong locals.
Finally, the outgoing councils and the Local Government Board decided on the name Greater Dandenong.
