Back to search results

MARKET GARDENERS TRAM PLATEWAY
CENTRE DANDENONG ROAD HEATHERTON, KINGSTON CITY

All information on this page is maintained by Heritage Victoria. Click below for their website and contact details.
Victorian Heritage Register
MARKET GARDENERS TRAM PLATEWAY SOHE 2008
MARKET GARDENERS TRAM PLATEWAY SOHE 2008
MARKET GARDENERS TRAM PLATEWAY SOHE 2008
MARKET GARDENERS TRAM PLATEWAY SOHE 2008
MARKET GARDENERS TRAM PLATEWAY SOHE 2008
1 market gardeners tram plateway centre dendenong road heatherton front view of road
market gardeners tram plateway centre dandenong road heatherton top view of plateway 1992
h00928 plan h0928
On this page:

Statement of Significance

The former Centre Dandenong Road plateway, installed in 1908-9 and used until the mid 1930s, was probably the last of a number of plateways which were laid along the semi rural roads on the outskirts of Melbourne after 1885. The plateways were designed to carry slow moving heavy vehicles over long distances, and thereby save wear and tear on the primitive road surfaces. The network of plateways beyond the Melbourne metropolis was considered to be the oldest steel wheelways of any considerable length in Australia. The remnants of the Centre Dandenong Road plateway are the only known surviving evidence of this once important network.

The Centre Dandenong Road plateway and the neighbouring branches of the track plateway along Point Nepean Road were of great significance not only to the market gardeners of Brighton and Moorabbin, but also to the wider metropolis. For at least 40 years, these plates provided a vital and efficient means of transporting garden produce to the city markets, and the means of moving the city's nightsoil to the various disposal depots in the sandy market garden areas to the south. The remnant plateway thus recalls the early methods, functions and way of life before the advent of smooth bitumen roads, rubber tyred motor vehicles and reticulated sewerage systems. The Centre Dandenong plateway is unique and technologically significant, because it used a new type of channel plate and construction method different from all earlier flat plate installations. This improved system, used in Germany, was more cost effective than those used previously. Although only half the original plateway is extant, and that has been relocated, that which remains has continued to be in evidence as an integral element in the road formation since the plates were installed more than eighty years ago.

Show more
Show less

    • Permit Exemptions

      MARKET GARDENERS TRAM PLATEWAY - Permit Exemptions

      General Exemptions:

      General exemptions apply to all places and objects included in the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR). General exemptions have been designed to allow everyday activities, maintenance and changes to your property, which don’t harm its cultural heritage significance, to proceed without the need to obtain approvals under the Heritage Act 2017.

      Places of worship: In some circumstances, you can alter a place of worship to accommodate religious practices without a permit, but you must notify the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria before you start the works or activities at least 20 business days before the works or activities are to commence.

      Subdivision/consolidation: Permit exemptions exist for some subdivisions and consolidations. If the subdivision or consolidation is in accordance with a planning permit granted under Part 4 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 and the application for the planning permit was referred to the Executive Director of Heritage Victoria as a determining referral authority, a permit is not required.

      Specific exemptions may also apply to your registered place or object. If applicable, these are listed below. Specific exemptions are tailored to the conservation and management needs of an individual registered place or object and set out works and activities that are exempt from the requirements of a permit. Specific exemptions prevail if they conflict with general exemptions.

      Find out more about heritage permit exemptions here.

Public contributions

Note: Developments may span multiple time periods
Timeline browser

< to 1849
< - 1849
1850 to 1879
1850 - 1879
1880 to 1909
1880 - 1909
1910 to 1939
1910 - 1939
1940 to 1969
1940 - 1969
1970 to 1999
1970 - 1999
2000 to >
2000 - >