Bend of Islands Bend of Islands

Bend of Islands is a rural locality, 30 km north-east of Melbourne in the Shire of Nillumbik.

It was gazetted in 2000 after a petition from local residents, having previously been part of Christmas Hills and Kangaroo Ground.

Before amalgamation this area of the Shire of Nillumbik was part of the former Shire of Healesville.

Upon amalgamation it was variously known as the southern part of Christmas Hills or as part of Kangaroo Ground. Residents created a petition to be gazetted Bend of Islands and achieved Gazettal in 2000.

The area share the same postcode as Kangaroo Ground (3097) as this is where most residents receive their mail - at the Kangaroo Ground Post Office located at King's of Kangaroo Ground winery and cellar door.

The reason for the attractive name is the group of small islands in a bend of the Yarra River near its confluence with Watsons Creek at the south-western corner of what is now known as the Bend of Islands. The Bend of Islands incorporates the area of the former Environmental Living Zone now known as Special Use Zone (SUZ) - Environmental Living in the Nillumbik Planning Scheme.

The zoning requires permits for any clearing; planting of indigenous species only; restriction of exotic planting to kitchen gardens; exclusion of horses and other grazing animals to minimise intrusion and spread of exotic weeds and damage to the soil; conditions to building permits to ensure that buildings have minimal impact, both ecologically and visually; permits to be obtained for fencing; and the exclusion of dogs and cats to minimise predation on native fauna.

The Bend of Islands consists of 634.51 hectares incorporating the Round the Bend Community Co-operative established in the 1970s. Residents of the Bend of Islands live in co-operation with nature.

Bend of Islands Map | Shire of Nillumbik

PRESERVING THE BEAUTY IS 'IMPORTANT TO OUR SOULS'

THE Round the Bend Conservation Co-operative has been a feature of Bend of Islands for half a century - but joining is no walk in the park.

Would-be members need to prove their dedication to environmental conservation before being approved to buy a share of the 130ha community in the northern part of the suburb.

And the Round the Bend website warns once they're in, "bank finance is generally not available" , requiring members to be self-financed .

The co-op's website states it was founded in 1971, by "a group of people who thought there was an active and positive way of preserving the bush through residential conservation" .

It's now home to about 40 people - "a mixture of families, couples and singles" - who live across 24 houses.

About 4.8ha of co-op land is set aside for home sites, which feature underground power and telecoms, leaving 125.2ha for conservation.

Janet Mattiske, who has lived in the co-op since 1982, said the land was split into 32 shares, meaning people owned shares that weren't built on.

"One lives in Western Australia, and another in Beechworth," she said.

"They need to have an interest in our conservation work and be willing to come to the general meeting."

A handful of the houses are rented to would-be members, who Ms Mattiske said needed to "demonstrate genuine interest in conservation" to be approved by a board of directors to buy a share. That could take up to a year, or even two.

She noted the zoning regulations that applied for Bend of Islands residents extended into the co-op , but even more dedication was expected from its members.

"We've all worked jolly hard," she said. "It's important to our souls."

Source: The Herald Sun Digital Edition
PRESERVING THE BEAUTY IS 'IMPORTANT TO OUR SOULS'

The Herald Sun Digital Edition: Welcome! It's our secret bush suburb

WITH houses made of mud bricks, a ban on pets and a cooperative that demands vetting of prospective residents, Bend of Islands is unique in Victoria.

Governed by the state's only Environmental Living Zone, the area 40km northeast of Melbourne's CBD and near Kangaroo Ground has 300 residents dedicated to preserving and enhancing the bush.

This means abiding by regulations that prohibit animals, non-native plants and inappropriate development, among other restrictions.

Fencing is also largely banned so wildlife, including kangaroos, wallabies and wombats, can roam throughout the 634ha of bushland that makes up the suburb.

The zoning was introduced in the 1970s, after the area was saved from being flooded by the proposed Yarra Brae Dam after a campaign by locals that highlighted it as a perfect candidate for "residential conservation" .

This concept was co-created by the late Neil Douglas - a hessian suitwearing barefoot artist and environmentalist - and proposed people could "live with regulations just like in a national park" .

"It's not something that was imposed, it was something the community wanted," Bend of Islands resident Janet Mattiske said.

While there are 150 bird species and 500 native plant species in Bend of Islands, there are no shops, restaurants or schools.

Residents are regularly required to travel to suburbs such as Eltham and Kangaroo Ground as a result.

"There's a lot of carpooling (to get to schools)," said resident of four decades Tom Fisher. "But when I think about moving somewhere more convenient, one of the things that bothers me the most is not stepping out into the bush every day."

Mr Fisher and his wife Carol Ann are offering an opportunity for those keen to live the good life. They've listed for sale the mud-brick house they built at 44 Catani Blvd, with a $750,000- $800,000 price guide. It's one of just two Bend of Island houses on the market.

The latest census identifies 104 homes in the suburb, and only eight sold in 2018-19 .

"It's hard to buy in," Morrison Kleeman agent Gayle Blackwood said, adding those who did had a common goal of "reconnecting with nature" and rediscovering "the close community we are losing in the more dense suburbs" .

"People are only selling there in the case of death, divorce and ill health," she said.

Artists Ona Henderson and Syd Tunn escaped city careers to move into their Bend of Islands cottage in 1979, opening Creek House Studios across the road soon after.

"It's a very special place," Ms Henderson said. "We're going to die here" .

Mr Tunn runs a food co-op where residents can collect fruit, vegetables, milk and eggs

- handy in a suburb with no supermarkets. And Ms Henderson has held art therapy classes to help locals cope with the threat of bushfires since Bend of Islands was saved from Black Saturday by "a wind change" .

Robina Summers, who's lived there 25 years with husband Tony, observed: "Time stands still here sometimes" .

The couple enjoy the peace and quiet that comes from not being able to see neighbours' houses. But they also love that residents come together in book clubs, birdwatching groups, the volunteer fire brigade , and the Bend of Islands Conservation Association .

Mike Pelling - who built his mud-brick home 40 years ago, overlooking the bend in the Yarra the suburb was named for - said 80 per cent of landowners were involved in BICA.

The Round the Bend Conservation Co-operative - which has occupied 130ha of the northern part of the suburb since 1971 - was an extension of that, he said.

Source: The Herald Sun Digital Edition

The Herald Sun Digital Edition: BEND OF ISLANDS HISTORY

1930s The Haughton family bestows the name on the area, deriving it from a group of small islands in a bend of the Yarra River

1962 Bend of Islands and surrounds are ravaged by a bushfire, with most houses destroyed

1960s Drought hits Melbourne, prompting the Melbourne and Metropolitan Board of Works (now Melbourne Water) to propose the construction of the Yarra Brae Dam, which would have flooded most of Bend of Islands. MMBW begins compulsorily acquiring properties

1971 Round the Bend Conservation Cooperative founded

1972 Yarra Brae Action Committee - comprising Bend of Islands Conservation Association (BICA) members - formed to fight the dam

1974 Artist Neil Douglas, plus five other locals, present a paper to the Australian Conservation Symposium on "Residential Conservation" - a proposal that people can "develop housing and live with regulations much like in a National Park" . The Yarra Brae dam is later abandoned due to public opposition

1975 BICA requests the state government institute a new zoning category following the notion of residential conservation

1976 Interim Development Order introduced to put provisions of "Environmental Living Zone" in operation

1982 Environmental Living Zone formally introduced

1999-2000 Shire of Nillumbik Planning Scheme developed. Region officially named Bend of Islands, given postcode 3097 and placed under current classification, "Special Use Zone 2 - Environmental Living"

Source: Bend of Islands

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