Why we love Cranbourne: the suburb that keeps growing
Cranbourne has come a long way since its country town days. There’s a racetrack, world-recognised gardens and sporting facilities for the kids — making this outer southeastern suburb a mecca for families.
Lifestyle
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Cranbourne has come a long way from being a country town on Melbourne’s fringe.
The outer southeastern suburb has a population of 97,040 and is located 43km from the CBD.
In 1836, the Ruffy brothers marked white settlement in the area and opened a pub — the Cranbourne Inn, named after a town in Berkshire in south east England.
Early settlement included mostly farmers, who grazed cattle and grew barley and wheat.
The suburb was briefly famous in the 1850s and 60s after several meteorites were found in the area. Today there’s even a monument of the meteorites you can visit today along the South Gippsland Hwy.
There’s confusion around how Cranbourne found its name — with reports suggesting it was after that Berkshire town, or Viscount Cranborne — the brother of the British Prime Minister.
Cranbourne was governed as a shire until it became part of the Casey municipality in 1994.
The next year the electrification of the rail grid, connecting Cranbourne to the Dandenong line, lured even more people to buy in the area.
Today housing continues to be in demand, with more housing estates around the suburb’s fringe, including in Clyde and Clyde North.
Here’s why more people are making the move to Cranbourne.
REAL ESTATE
Cranbourne is in high-demand for both buyers and renters, Harcourts Cranbourne director Andrew Cassimaty says.
“On the established homes sale front, there are great volumes of buyers and usually are first home buyers driven by the first homebuyer grant. This is accelerated by the new government incentives of 5 per cent deposits,” he says.
Cranbourne’s demographic includes older couples and families (aged 55-64), about 18 per cent of residents, followed by established couples and families (aged 45-54) and maturing couples and families (aged 35-44).
Mr Cassimaty says aside from Cranbourne attracting young families and first home buyers, more established families with children were also relocating to the area.
“Because of the price point, apart from the younger millennial purchases, we are getting established families with two kids buying properties here or relocating to ease the mortgage stress,” he says.
“They’re still able to work (outside of Cranbourne) and commute via public transport or the freeways.”
Cranbourne’s median house price is $491,500, according to realestate.com.au, but Mr Cassimaty says the figure was skewed and actually closer to $550,000 for a four bedroom, two living area, double garage property on a 400 sqm block.
“That figure is a blend of established, new houses and land on the market.”
Realestate.com.au lists the average rent per week around $350.
“We get a high volume of renters coming through our openings and that’s driving up prices — it’s not stagnating or lowering,” he says.
“There’s demand for what’s in the area, like schools and transport. Some renters are saving to go into the first homebuyer market.”
SCHOOLS AND HIGHER EDUCATION
There’s five secondary schools in Cranbourne, including three private like St Peter’s College, Casey Grammar and Lighthouse Christian College.
Lyndhurst, Cranbourne, Cranbourne East and Alkira Secondary College round-out the government offerings.
Cranbourne High may be one of the more popular government schools in the area, but in 2019 Cranbourne East Secondary College was one of the most improved schools for its VCE results.
Lighthouse Christian College Cranbourne and Casey Grammar School are two P-12 private schools in the area.
Cranbourne has 15 primary schools, with Cranbourne East enrolling the most students in 2018 according to My School data.
Chisholm Institute is the local higher education facility offering courses in building trades, business, art and design, engineering and electronics, hair, beauty and make-up among others.
PUBLIC TRANSPORT
There’s two train stations in the area on the Cranbourne line — Cranbourne, in the heart of the suburb, and Merinda Park station in Cranbourne North.
The commute into the city is usually 1 hour and 4 minutes, but some express services can get you into the CBD in under one hour during the peak.
Extra carparks at Merinda Park station have made it easier for commuters to nab a space early in the morning.
Peak-hour traffic on main roads like the South Gippsland Hwy, Thompson Rd and Hall Rd make getting around by car difficult at times, locals on website Homely said.
Car is the main mode of transport in the area, although there’s a well-connected bus network that can take you into the centre of town or to surrounding suburbs like Narre Warren or Dandenong.
CAFES
Boon Wurrung Cafe is found in the Royal Botanic Gardens, and does breakfast and lunch. Cafe Cibo Bar in Cranbourne West is a newly opened, while Racetrack Cafe is a stalwart. There’s also Joe’s Mochapot Cafe on High St and Urban Chill Cafe at Springhill Shopping Centre. L’Arte Central at the Cranbourne Library is another option, while chains The Coffee Club and Degani are in Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre.
RESTAURANTS
The Amazing Grace is located in an old St Agatha’s church from 1929 — but Cranbourne locals will remember it as the old Taco Bill next to KFC on the South Gippsland Hwy. The family-style restaurant has an impressive beer garden that’s perfect for snacking on chicken wings, pizza and burgers. Larger meals include pasta, burgers, parmigiana and steak.
Vue at Settlers Run Golf and Country Club is known for its expansive outdoor area overlooking the green.
Bear House is an iconic Cranbourne restaurant, and in 2020 it’s cooking Asian cuisine.
There’s no shortage of Asian restaurants in the area — there’s casual BYO restaurant White Jasmine Thai, Thai Cottage, Dumpling De’ Chef and Shanling Chinese Restaurant. There’s also Ajanta with Indian, which also does BYO wine, and Bonsai Bali for Indonesian.
BAKERIES
Lee Lee’s Bakehouse has been at Thompson Parkway Shopping Centre since the 90s. There’s also Rosa’s Bakery, which does hot pies and sandwiches, on Cranbourne’s main drag High St. Hot Daily Bread is at the Sandhurst Centre in Cranbourne West.
FAST FOOD/ TAKEAWAY
There’s plenty of choice when it comes to takeaway pizza in Cranbourne, including Bellissimo Pizza in Cranbourne East, Frankie’s Pizza on High St, Johnny Boys at Thompson Parkway and Zesty Parma Pizza and Pasta on Camms Rd. There’s also the bigger chains Pizza Hut, Dominos and La Porchetta.
Fish and Chip Shop at Cranbourne Place has a top rating on Zomato, followed by Shark Attack Fish N Chippery and Silver Mermaid Fish and Chips.
PUBS/BARS
Kelly’s Hotel is a well-known Cranbourne watering hole. The Kelly family ran the Cranbourne Hotel in 1917 and in 1923 they moved the pub to the Motor Club Hotel on High St, which was then renamed Kelly’s. Cranbourne’s other pubs include The Settlementand the Cranbourne RSL.
FACILITIES
Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre’s $110m redevelopment in 2015 was a big coup for the area. The centre has the two major supermarkets Coles and Woolworths, JB Hi-Fi home, Cotton On, Typo and Smiggle, as well as a Target, Kmart and plenty of smaller fashion stores.
The Cranbourne Racetrack also attracts a lot of interest from locals.
Cranbourne’s only cinema closed in 2005, and while there’s been calls to introduce another, locals usually visit neighbouring Fountain Gate Westfield’s Village Cinemas instead.
Night-life is lacking in the area, according to locals on website Homely.
PARKS AND RECREATION
Casey Fields is a 76 hectare site in Cranbourne East that’s home to the suburb’s many sporting clubs from different codes — like the Casey Demons VFL team.
There’s an athletics track for Cranbourne Little Athletics, a circuit for on-road cycling, netball courts and playgrounds and open spaces for the kids.
Across the road there’s Casey RACE Recreation and Aquatic Centre, which includes a pool, gym and is home to swimming club the Casey Tiger Sharks.
Casey Stadium is home to indoor cricket and netball, but also allows for badminton, volley ball and futsal.
The Shed is Cranbourne’s best indoor skate park and is found in the same precinct.
Bowland Cranbourne has 24 lanes of tenpin bowling for the kids and a licensed cafe and a games area for parents.
The Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne has 363 hectares of natural landscape.
It’s home to birds, wildlife and is well-known for housing The Australian Garden, a muse for landscape designer Jim Fogarty who won a gold medal for his recreation at the Chelsea Flower Show in London. There’s a 6km bike track that winds its way through the gardens and plenty of walking tracks that range from 400m to 5.4km in distance.
Cranbourne is also known for its racetrack and holds race meets throughout the year, including night race meets, between October and July.
Cranbourne also has a greyhound racing track and holds weekly meets on Wednesday nights.
The Cranbourne Cup is held on February 8 this year.
Cranbourne is also home to three golf courses including Cranbourne Golf Club, Settlers Run and Ranfurlie Range.
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HOSPITALS AND HEALTH
Monash Health has a site at Cranbourne Integrated Care Centre, but specialise in day procedures. Casey Hospital is a larger, 229 bed facility in nearby Berwick, while Dandenong Hospital has 573 beds. The largest medical facility is Monash Medical Centre in Clayton, with 640 beds, but is 30km from Cranbourne.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
The Cranbourne Cup is the horse racing meet celebrated widely in the community. It’s held annually at the Cranbourne Turf Club, and this year falls on October 11.
The Cranbourne GP run shuts down High St and lets the public farewell the riders travelling to the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix in Philip Island.
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