2.3 SUBURBAN HOUSING

Wave Four: Removing Old Frankston

A few years later when council debated demolishing sub-standard buildings, Councillor Tomasetti remarked that "if Frankston removed all its unsightly buildings there would be little of Frankston left."1 As part of the clean-up the oldest existing home in Frankston (on the corner of Bay and Wells Streets) was moved to the rear of W. Richards property. This house had been owned by Henry Cadby Wells and the first white child in Frankston was supposedly born in the building.2 More speedily than buildings were demolished, new shacks had gone up near the Seaford beachfront that the Standard referred to them as "Riviera Mia Mias"; none of the builders had applied for permits.3

Nearby Vic's Caravan Park which had become a permanent home for many was declared a slum area.4 Frankston, charged one councillor, has become the untidiest town in Victoria.5 A further problem occurred with the large number of second-hand houses brought into Frankston. While council objected to these, they could not prevent re-erection of buildings which met Uniform Building Regulations. In 1958 for example houses were moved from the works village of the Upper Yarra Dam into Frankston.6 Still some efforts were made to control through new by-laws, one of which banned camping in residential districts.7 New supplies of materials, greater control through planning and building regulations and new more professional builders gradually altered the building from the 1950s onwards.