Noble Park has a mixture of residential, commercial and industrial zones and is home to a highly multicultural population, with residents who have emigrated from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Africa.
History
The history of Noble Park as a suburb in Melbourne began in 1909. Allan Buckley nicknamed the land subdivision Nobel Park[3] after the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, as Buckley had used the estate to demonstrate Nobel's explosives, but the name was soon transformed to Noble Park by common usage.[4]
Early settlement was encouraged by building a community centre, church, school, postal centre and later, a railway station. The postal centre was opened in August 1910 and the railway station was completed in July 1912, but in the early days, the town's growth was relatively slow due to the lack of population growth in the area. In the early 1920s, the Railway Department set up a poultry farm and eventually a plant nursery was set up in the eastern part of the suburb. The focus of the small community was based around its local town hall.[3]
In the 1980s Noble Park became known for its infamous street gangs that carried out violent crimes against the community,[5] as well as the scene of a major shootout between members of the Victoria Police and Pavel Marinof, a burglar on the run.[6] Residential growth in the second half of the century saw an end to the grazing paddocks and market gardens. By the 1990s, 56% of Noble Park's population was born overseas, with the largest being from Great Britain and Ireland, followed by Bosnians, Italians and Greeks; and South and Southeast Asians (including Indians, Sri Lankans and Vietnamese), according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In recent years there has been an upsurge of migrants and refugees settled from North African countries, especially Sudan.[7]
Today
Recent years have witnessed substantial investment by local and state governments, including the Paddy O'Donoghue Community Complex which opened in 2006, the redevelopment of Noble Park Railway Station and the construction of the Aquatic Centre which is home to Melbourne's largest water slide. Public amenities include number of schools, as well as churches, temples and mosques. Noble Park's primary commercial district contains bakeries, cafés, restaurants and convenience stores. Noble Park has an active Rotary Club and an active Rotaract Club.
Being formerly market gardens, Noble Park has fertile soil and to this day still has many River Red Gum trees.
The suburb is characterised by similar social conditions to those across Greater Dandenong, including high levels of migrant settlement and cultural diversity, relatively low incomes, elevated rates of early school leaving, low-medium crime rates and a high density of flats. The 2011 Census recorded that 60% of Noble Park residents were born overseas, the same as for Greater Dandenong and nearly twice the corresponding metropolitan percentage (33%). Among the 121 birthplaces of residents were India, accounting for 9% of residents, Vietnam (8%) as well as others such as Sri Lanka, Cambodia, China, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Sudan.
Rates of migrant settlement are correspondingly high, with 7% of residents having arrived in Australia within the previous 2.5 years – the same as for Greater Dandenong. Languages other than English are spoken by about three-fifths of residents (61%) – twice the metropolitan average. Reflecting this diversity of languages, 13% of Noble Park residents have limited fluency in the use of spoken English, much the same as for the municipality, and over three times the metropolitan level of 4%. Patterns of religious faith are similar to those seen across the municipality, with 18% of residents adhering to Buddhism, 4% following Hinduism, and 9% Islam.
Contemporary educational outcomes are marked by a high rate of early school leaving, with 13% of young adults (20–24 years) having left school before completing year 11 – equivalent to the municipal average, but higher than the metropolitan level, of 10% Median individual gross incomes, recorded in the Census, stood at 68% of the metropolitan median - similar to municipal levels, which are the lowest in metropolitan Melbourne.
Among the 10,200 homes in Noble Park, a third are flats - twice the proportion of metropolitan Melbourne. Sixty per cent of homes in the suburb are owned or being purchased by their occupants - less than the corresponding metropolitan level of 71%.
Transport
Public transport
Trains
The new Noble Park station, facing southeast away from Southern CrossYarraman station, facing northwest towards the city
Route 979 Night Bus, night service on Heatherton Road from Dandenong railway station to Elsternwick railway station.
Bicycle trails
The Djerring Trail (Caufield–Dandenong Rail Trail), completed in 2018, is connected to the Noble Park railway station, as well as to Noble Park's skate park and aquatic centre.[11]
The EastLink Trail, after crossing the Princes Highway, closely follows the Yarraman Creek and crosses the Pakenham/Cranbourne line railway via the Yarraman station footbridge, before continuing on along the Mile Creek after the two creeks join each other.
Community facilities
Noble Park Public Hall, located on Buckley Street just off the shopping strip.
Giac Hoang Temple, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, is located in the suburb.[12]
The Yarraman Creek, a small urban stream flowing south from Noble Park North and the only tributary of the Miles Creek, forms the suburb's eastern boundary with the neighbouring Dandenong West. The creek, though small and often partly dry, has two groups of retention ponds along its course and is surrounded by linear parks and forested open space reserves, providing most of the ecological functions of the Miles Creek catchment. The Yarraman railway station servicing Noble Park East is named after this creek.
Noble Park has fertile soil and to this day still has many river red gum trees, including the oldest river red gum at Parkfield Reserve, which is classified by the National Trust of Australia.
Sport
The Noble Park Aquatic Centre, located just northwest of the town centre and the train station, is home to Melbourne's largest water slide. A former swimming pool of the Aquatic Centre, just off Heatherton Road, was converted into the Noble Park Skatepark.
Noble Park is also home to the Parkfield Netball Club, Noble Park United FC - Drina, and Parkfield Cricket Club.
Both Noble Park Tennis Club and Noble Park Community Tennis Club represent Noble Park in tennis.
Noble Park home to the Noble Park Skate Park located on Memorial Drive (off Heatherton Road). The skate park was designed and built by a team led by Noble Park resident and pro skater John McGrath.[citation needed] It is a unique skate park in Melbourne's south east and includes a plaza, snake-run and bowl. It is adjacent the Noble Park Aquatic Centre to the west on Memorial Drive, which currently has a 50 m (55 yd) heated outdoor pool, an indoor heated pool, a water slide and a water play area. The 50 m outdoor pool is partially shaded and provides ramp access, and is occasionally converted into two 25 m pools.
