Welcome to Rosewell Estate, Chartwell. This cache is an easy to find Regular (M)* sized plastic container with a screw-top lid. It contains a log book, a pen and a pencil, some swag and a First To Find card. Please replace the lid and the cache properly.
More commonly known as the Chartwell Estate this failed sub-division of 491 township-sized allotments was created in 1957. Only 14 houses have been built. The original sub-dividers went bankrupt before selling all the allotments, and the estate was then taken over by a real estate company. The estate was marketed to new English migrants in western suburbs' migrant hostels. Many buyers purchased their allotment ‘site unseen’ on the basis of the estate’s proximity to Melbourne and affordability.
The original approval of the estate in 1957 had apparently been an oversight on the part of the then Melton Shire Council, which at that time had little experience with legal processes for residential subdivision. Realising their inability to provide roads and water etc., and the unwillingness of state departments to do so, the Council later attempted to redress the situation by not granting building permits on the small allotments, and ultimately holding that further development of the sub-division was ‘inappropriate’. The estate has never had mains water, sewerage, surfaced roads, drains or gas. Electricity and phone services are a late arrival. The unsealed roads you can now see didn't exist when the allotments were sold.
In 1981 the Victorian Ombudsman wrote this about the estate:
“This case serves as a warning to persons who may buy unserviced land in under-developed areas. A building permit could be refused until the area was developed with water supply, sewerage and drainage facilities. A land owner and intending house builder could be saddled with paying rates and other charges without benefit for a considerable time.”
Adding to that sobering note, there is long grass for at least 50 metres in every direction around GZ, so one cannot ignore the possibility of snakes here. Please wear appropriate clothing. Happy geocaching!
* Regular (M) = 1 - 20 L
Sources:
The Quarterly Report of the Ombudsman July 1981 to 30 September 1981.
Shire of Melton Heritage Study Stage Two, 2006: Environmental History.