Cave Road Precinct and Shopping Centre
The
Cave Road precinct of Strathfield, which includes Hedges Ave, Cave Rd and Morgan
Place, was built in the early 1960s on the site of the former Northcote Golf
Course.
The Northcote Golf Course, built on twenty-one acres of land, was privately
owned by Clara Australia Thompson. Northcote faced Liverpool Road and was
accessible by Hassell Street. This street was discontinued when the Golf Course
was redeveloped.
The Strathfield Golf Club, which is a private club, eventually acquired the Club
from Miss Thompson but in 1955, the Club decided to close the Northcote Golf
Course and sell the land.
A development application was lodged by land developers Willmore & Randell with
Strathfield Council in 1957 for a large drive-in regional shopping complex.
Approval was granted by Strathfield Council for a shopping centre facing
Liverpool Rd with 2,500 parking spaces. However, the Club opted to develop the
land for residential purposes. In May 1958, the Cumberland Country Council
approved the rezoning and the land was sold in July 1958 for ₤70,000 for
residential and commercial development.
The Cave Road shopping centre is unusual as the Strathfield Council building
code, in force from 1920 to 1969, prohibited the building of corner shops
outside of designated town centres or main roads. Unlike many older suburbs of
Sydney, few corner shops were built within the original boundaries of
Strathfield Council. An exception to the building code was made for the Cave
Road shopping centre, as it was located so far from other town centres that
approval was granted for the building of the shopping centre within the
residential precinct.
All streets in the Cave Road precinct are named for former Mayors of
Strathfield. Cave Road was named for Arthur Cave, Mayor [1952-54]. Hedges Ave
was named for Stanley Hedges [1957-59]. Charles Morgan was Mayor in 1950 and
1951 but Clarence Morgan also served as an Alderman in the same period. It is
said that Morgan Place was named for both Morgans.
Most of the original homes of the Cave Road precinct were red brick cottages and
built by local builder George Ikin from 1960 to 1966. From 1948 to 1968, Ikin
was Strathfield’s most prolific builder and built houses throughout Strathfield.
Some of the streets were he built include Newton, Marion, Myrna, Bareena,
Augusta, Llandilo, Highgate, Brunswick, Howard, Pemberton, Merley and Badgery.
The Chain of Ponds Reserve, which is located next to the Cooks River near Cave
Road, was formerly named Cave Road Reserve. The Reserve was renamed in 1985,
inspired by the description of the Cooks River in an 1923 extract of the Royal
Australian Historical Society Journal, which stated that ‘The Cooks River was
crossed by the Liverpool Road and was then ended by what is called the chain of
ponds’.
This precinct has been located since 1892 in Strathfield Council and was
contained in the Flemington Ward of Strathfield Council which covered the area
from Flemington [now Homebush West] to Liverpool Road. The Council ward system
was abolished in 1916.
References
Innes, David, The Story of Golf in New South Wales 1851-1987, New South Wales
Golf Association, 1988.
Strathfield Golf Club [1931-1951], 50 year anniversary pamphlet.
Author and Copyright information
This article was written by Cathy Jones, 2005
© Cathy Jones 2005. This article is subject to copyright and may not be
reproduced without permission of the author.
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