100 years ago
20 July 1922
Prince’s Highway
A correspondent (‘Roaster’) in Thursday’s “Argus” contended that the newly formed road between Oakleigh and Dandenong was being neglected and was being “tinkered“ with in a way of repairs by shovelling earth and bluestone into potholes. He also directed attention to an idle tar boiling plant at Springvale. Mr F W Fricke of the Country Roads Board on Thursday denied that there was any justification for complaint against the section from Oakleigh to Dandenong. He had travelled over the road on Saturday, and it was in a splendid condition, tarred throughout. The tar boiling plant at Springvale had been used last summer, but winter, when the roads were wet, was not the time of the year to undertake tarring.
50 years ago
18 July 1972
Social worker not expensive
A social worker in Dandenong would not be a costly expense to the community; in fact, it would cut down on expenses in many areas. This was stated by Mrs Margaret Whitlam, wife of the ALP leader Gough Whitlam, when she spoke in Dandenong last Wednesday night to the Labor Women’s Involvement Group. An audience of 300 attended the Windsor and was chaired by Jean Melzer, state secretary of the ALP. Mrs Whitlam wore a mid-length, grey-white-and-camel-striped frock with suede boots and belt.
20 years ago
15 July 2002
Arcade businesses facing financial ruin!
Dandenong’s near empty Vanity Arcade has been ‘raped’ by shopping centre developments on the other side of the city, says an angry trader. The trader, who did not want to be identified, said the arcade, which a council survey has found to have an occupancy rate of just 19.4%, faced a bleak future and businesses and landlords faced financial ruin. “Development on the eastern side of Lonsdale Street has raped the arcade. The council has blatantly shifted central business district to the eastern side of the city,” the trader said. “Centres like Palm Plaza kill strip shopping centres so just think what it has done to a small arcade like ours?” The trader slammed Greater Dandenong Council, claiming it had not done enough to rejuvenate or help secure the future of the city’s first arcade-style shopping centre.
5 years ago
17 July 2017
Electric truck takes lead
Australia’s first commercial electric vehicle hit the road in Dandenong South. SEA Automotive handed Kings Transport the keys to the first of nine SEA VE10 electric trucks on order on Wednesday 12 July. It can travel 200 kilometres on a single charge. “The quantum shift has now officially occurred,” SEA executive chairman Tony Fairweather said. “Wouldn’t it be fantastic to not hear the noise or smell the exhaust fumes from that large waste collection trucks that visit each of our homes at least once a week? This is not just possible now it’s inevitable. The technology is better and cheaper than ever and forecast to be substantially more efficient and one third of the current cost by 2020.”
Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society
