Oakleigh South

Oakleigh South is a suburb set in the sand belt area and is 17 km south-east of central Melbourne. Its boundaries are North Road, Warrigal Road, South Road, and Clarinda Road some way to its east. About half of the suburb comprises three golf clubs, Commonwealth, Huntingdale and Metropolitan.

In its original state the land consisted of rises and swampy depressions. It was used by the Melbourne Hunt Club (1887-1929) and better parts were used for grazing and market gardening. The swampy parts had dense tea tree and open parts were bracken covered.

In 1908 the Metropolitan Golf Club (formerly the Caulfield Golf Club) laid out the first golf course in Oakleigh South. The Commonwealth Golf Club course was laid out in about 1927 and the Huntingdale Golf Club (formerly Eastern Golf Club, Doncaster) acquired hunt club land for its course in about 1939. It was officially opened in 1941. The name Huntingdale was inspired by the hunt club and was later given to a locality to the north of Oakleigh South. East Oakleigh railway station was renamed Huntingdale in 1952.

The residential components of Oakleigh South are a postwar occurrence. Many residents were born overseas. Residential growth along Warrigal Road occurred in the 1950s and the Oakleigh South primary school was opened in 1958. Huntingdale high school, less than 1 km away, opened in 1960. The extreme southern end of Oakleigh South was the site of Hoyts Oakleigh drive-in theatre (1955-90).

In the north of the suburb there is Huntingdale primary school (1954). There is a shopping area at the corner of Warrigal and North Roads. South Oakleigh residents have the choices of Chadstone, Oakleigh, Bentleigh and Southland for regional shopping, all several kilometres away.

Oakleigh South had several sand quarries in the vicinity of Centre Road and one quarry site is used for waste disposal and transfer. Not far from two quarries there was the Clayton West state primary school (1962) in Scotsburn Avenue.

Oakleigh South’s census populations have been:

In the 2011 census 45.1% of residents were born overseas (Australia, 30.2%) and 17.3% of residents were affiliated with Eastern Orthodox religions (Australia, 2.6%).