Heatherton is a suburb in Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, 20 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district

Melbourne city centre

Melbourne City Centre is an area of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. It is not to be confused with the larger local government area of the City of Melbourne...

. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston

City of Kingston

The City of Kingston is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, its northern boundary lying approximately 15 km from the Melbourne city centre along the north-eastern shorelines of Port Phillip...

. At the 2006 Census, Heatherton had a population of 2,253.

The suburb has a surprisingly low population for a metropolitan suburb. It is predominantly open space: market garden

Market gardening

A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...

, golf courses (the Kingston Heath Golf Club

Kingston Heath Golf Club

Kingston Heath Golf Club is one of the premier golf clubs in Australia located in the world-renowned sandbelt region in the south east suburbs of Melbourne....

 and the Capital Golf Club) and a large park Karkarook Park

Karkarook Park

Karkarook Park is a recently developed metropolitan park in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. An artificial wetlands and lake created by extracting sand between 1997 and 2001, it is located on Warrigal Road in Moorabbin. Fishing is possible, with redfin perch and rainbow trout reported.-References:...

).

History

As part of the Melbourne sandbelt, the area has been subject to significant sand mining in the past, though many extraction sites have now passed to other uses. Heatherton Post Office opened on 6 May 1885, but closed in 1973.

Today

The Kingston Centre, a major regional Aged Care and Rehabilitation facility, is located on Warrigal Road

Warrigal Road

Warrigal Road is a major inner urban road in southeastern Melbourne, Australia. On weekdays, it is usually congested as it runs through many major suburbs along its route, traversing Melbourne's inner eastern and south-eastern suburbs. This includes suburbs such as Chadstone, Oakleigh, and...

. The site was originally the Melbourne Benevolent Asylum (where construction began in 1909). A 2 foot (610mm) gauge tramway was constructed from the railway at Cheltenham

Cheltenham, Victoria

Cheltenham is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, located 19 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston to the eastern side of the area's metropolitan railway line and Charman Road north, while the City of Bayside resides over...

 to the building site. A large proportion of the grounds of the Kingston Centre were sold in the 1990s to the developer Mirvac, who built the 500 homes of the Heath estate between 2000 and 2006.

Population

Year	Total	Male	Female	Households
2001	1,357
2006	2,253	1,265	1,258	799

Sport

The suburb has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Southern Football League

Southern Football League (Victoria)

The Southern Football League is an Australian rules football league, based in the south and south eastern suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria, for both seniors and juniors....

. The Heatherton Football Club ("The Tunners") was formed in 1913 and currently play at the Heatherton Recreation Reserve on Ross Street.

Golfers play at the course of the Kingston Heath Golf Club

Kingston Heath Golf Club

Kingston Heath Golf Club is one of the premier golf clubs in Australia located in the world-renowned sandbelt region in the south east suburbs of Melbourne....

on Kingston Road or at the Capital Golf Club on Ross Street.