About the City

Its People

Photo of horse grazing at Yarra Flats, Eaglemont

Banyule City Council recognises the land's habitation by local indigenous people, the Wurundjeri willam. Sacred sites, traditional names and indigenous community contributions are important to our understanding of the region's past, present and future. The city also has a significant European cultural heritage associated with painters of the Heidelberg School, such as Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Frederick McCubbin, Charles Condor, Walter Withers, Jane Price, May Vale and Clara Southern, and architects and urban landscapers including Walter Burley Griffin, Ellis Stones and Edna Walling.

Banyule has close links with the birth of the Australian Art Movement and groundbreaking artists such as Albert Tucker, Sydney Nolan and Sunday Reid, who lived and painted in the area during the 1940s and 50s. Sydney Nolan's first art exhibition was held in Burgundy Street, Heidelberg.

Banyule has a diverse community of about 118,000 residents. The number of people living in Banyule is expected to remain stable for the next decade, but over time, Banyule's population is expected to 'age', with greatest growth in the over-60 age group.

Most of Banyule's residents are employed in health and community services, wholesale and retail trade, finance, property and business services, manufacturing, and recreational and personal services. A large percentage of Banyule's workforce is made up of local residents.

A Brief History

In 1836, Joseph Tice Gellibrand and a party of men from the Port Phillip Association became the first Europeans to explore the area now know as the municipality of Banyule.

Squatters with sheep and cattle followed, with plans to exploit the rich pastures in the valleys.

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Yarra Valley was home to aborigines from the Wurundjeri tribe for many thousands of years. They continued to live in campsites on river flats and swamps for some time after white settlement.

In 1837 government surveyor Robert Hoddle surveyed the area and created three Parishes extending from what is now Fitzroy to beyond Diamond Creek.

He named the central Parish, which now covers Ivanhoe, Heidelberg and Watsonia, the Parish of Keelbundora, an Aboriginal word for "round, brackish swamp". This was later re-named "Heidelberg" by the well-travelled Richard Browne because it reminded him of his "ever-remembered, ever-regretted" Heidelberg in Germany.

Life was far from easy for the district’s early settlers. Winter floods and summer bushfires frequently destroyed property, crops and stock. This was coupled with the ever-present threat of bushrangers and horse stealers. Feelings of isolation were made worse by the terrible condition of the roads. Home was often a tent, a shanty constructed from kerosene cans and hessian bags or a bark or wooden slab hut with an earthen floor.

The Growth of Villages

Villages began to appear to serve the farming communities, complete with schools, churches, hotels, post offices, general stores and police stations. some of these villages eventually supported small industries such as a flour mill, cheese factory, tanner and cider still, as well as blacksmith, wheelwright, saddlery and boot making shops.

Miners, labourers, trades people or small farmers settled in the villages, desperate for a place of their own.

Gold Fever

The discovery of gold in the early 1850s brought a huge influx of hopefuls to the area and the villages prospered. However, compared to the rich fields at Ballarat and Bendigo, finds were scant and scattered and soon petered out.

Inspiration for Artists

Picture of Arthur Streeton

Heidelberg acquired fame in 1888 when a group of artists including Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton and Frederick McCubbin came to the area on painting expeditions.

As advocates of the new style of Impressionist landscape painting, they painted in the open air, directly from nature.

Their group became known as the Heidelberg School of Artists.

The Beginnings of Banyule and the Development of Local Government

The "Heidelberg Road Trust" was established in 1841 and became the first form of local government in Victoria. Heidelberg was proclaimed a shire in 1871 and a city in 1934.

Throughout the early 1900s farms in the Heidelberg area gave way to residences, shopping centres sprang up along the main roads, and garden suburbs began to appear, particularly around Ivanhoe, Darebin and Eaglemont.

However, it was after World War II that development in the district exploded, pushed along by returning soldiers and British and European migrants.

West Heidelberg experienced tremendous growth with the Housing Commission estates completed in 1945 and the athletes’ village for the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Growth occurred in other areas, but at a slower rate.

The rise in population brought new schools, churches, health facilities and shopping centres and the beginnings of Banyule as we know it today.

In 1994, as part of a major re-organisation of Victorian local government, the former City of Heidelberg amalgamated with parts of the former Shires of Eltham and Diamond Valley to form Banyule City Council.

What's in a name

The name Banyule is an Aboriginal name meaning hill. In the late 1840s, Sydney explorer Joseph Hawdon built a large homestead on a 266-hectare estate now known as the Banyule Homestead. The two-storey pale building is one of the older homesteads in Victoria. Built of hand-made bricks, the building combines Romantic Gothic and Tudor-revival style architecture.

The first inhabitants of the area were members of the Wurundjeri tribe. They referred to the hill on which Banyule Homestead stands as banool.

After passing through several generations, in 1974, the State Government bought the estate, (now only one hectare - situated in Buckingham Drive, Heidelberg).

Between 1977 and 1985 the homestead operated as part of the National Gallery of Victoria and housed the Manton Collection, paintings by the original Heidelberg School Artists.

Banyule's Corporate Image

In 1996 the corporate identity of Banyule City was launched. You can see signage at our boundaries, municipal buildings and on stationery.

Our logo reflects the varied communities that live in the area and the wonderful lifestyle Banyule City offers its residents.

The Logo

The logo uses the brush stroke "B" in the shape of the "Welcome Swallow", a bird found in the area. The use of the brush stroke suggests festivity and liveliness and acknowledges the artistic heritage of Banyule. The tail drafted more formally suggests the dynamic energy and forward direction of the new municipality.

The arc reflects the name "Banyule" (meaning hill) and symbolises the built environment as well.

Culture and Heritage of Banyule

Banyule’s culture and heritage is rich and diverse and includes features of architectural, environmental, aboriginal, social and cultural significance. Banyule is known for its historic buildings - the Banyule Homestead, Ravenswood and Saxam - and the Heidelberg School of Painters including Roberts, Streeton, McCubbin Withers and Condor, impressionist painters who depicted the Australian landscape. It is also known for the Olympic Village which housed the 1956 Olympians, and Australian architect Walter Burley Griffin who designed Mount Eagle Estate and the Glenard Estate.

Banyule has always nurtured cultural activity, and artists have found inspiration from the unique bush landscape from the turn of the century to the present day. Some artistic groups have existed for more than two decades, including the Heidelberg Theatre Company, Heidelberg Historical Society, Heidelberg Brass Band, Ivanhoe Photographic Society, Ivanhoe Reading Circle, Diamond Valley Choral Society and the Diamond Valley Arts Society.

The Banyule Art Collection, owned by Banyule City Council, comprises more than 300 traditional and contemporary artworks and is one of Australia’s most significant local government art collections. It includes works by artists such as Clifton Pugh, Lloyd Rees, Mike Parr, Susan Cohn, Stephen Benwell, Jan Senbergs and Bea Maddock. Works are displayed in Council Service Centres and community venues.

Banyule is also renowned for its environmental and Aboriginal heritage. The Yarra and Plenty Rivers and the Darebin Creek wind through areas with unique fauna and flora. There are many significant sacred sites, canoe trees and scarred trees in the area.

Community Celebrations

The residents of Banyule have a lot to celebrate, living amid fantastic parks and gardens, talented visual and performance artists, and active community groups. And celebrate they do with a rich calendar of community events and festivals.

The year kicks off with 'Summer in the Parks'; a series of musical concerts, films, workshops and live performances in Banyule's parks. These are followed up by big family day festivals including the Banyule Festival in March and the Greensborough Manna Gum Festival in November.

Residents warm up with the 'Winter in Banyule' arts festival which promotes quality local arts and cultural diversity.

It's then time to get back outdoors again with Spring Outdoors, events and activities to encourage people to get outside to explore, enjoy and learn about the fantastic region.

Banyule's Yuletide offerings start about 10 days before Christmas day, with Carols on the Boulevard, a fantastic event where the community of Banyule celebrates the season together with entertainment, carol singing, a community BBQ and a visit from Santa Claus. Leading up to Christmas Day, thousands of people make the annual pilgrimage to The Boulevard in Ivanhoe to witness the magical display of lights and Christmas decorations.

The community of Banyule encourages visitors to join with them in their exciting calendar of events and celebrations.