The New Areas to the East

The more rural areas to the east, recently added to Frankston City Council – Skye, Carrum Downs, Langwarrin and part of Baxter – share some of these 20th century changes. However, in these areas the local farming communities and picturesque village townships lasted over a longer period.

Despite the opening of large residential estates and regional shopping centres in the 1970s and 1980s in the growth areas of Carrum Downs and Langwarrin, some elements of the district's earlier farming heritage and rural landscape remain.

Nor have these eastern areas been drawn into the fringe tourism of Melbourne, like Frankston. And, rather than having Port Phillip Bay as a defining element in the building histories of these areas, the eastern townships, if they relate to any coastal areas, are defined rather by Western Port Bay to the south.

However, the strongest historical links for the eastern farming settlements were with the markets of Cranbourne, Dandenong and Melbourne. In addition, another distinguishing feature of the eastern parts of Frankston are two large sites that are unique within the history of the municipality.

These are the former Langwarrin Army Reserve (now the Langwarrin Flora and Fauna Reserve), which relates to other military establishments on the Mornington Peninsula, and the Carrum Downs settlement originally developed as a welfare scheme providing affordable homes for the unemployed and, more recently, for the aged poor.

As an aid to identifying and protecting important heritage sites within Frankston this history explores major themes in the shaping of the present townscapes. These have been identified as follows.