Highett

Highett is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district and 2 km east of Port Phillip.

Highettis a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km south-east of Melbourne's central business district and 2 km east of Port Phillip. Its local government area is the City of Bayside and the City of Kingston. At the 2016 census, Highett had a population of 10,454. Highett is bordered by Hampton/Sandringham to the west, Hampton East/Moorabbin to the north and Cheltenham to the east and south.

The name comes from William Highett, a parliamentarian and local land owner in the 1850s. He purchased Crown land west of Bluff Rd in 1853.

The Highett railway station was built when the line from Caulfield to Mordialloc was opened in 1881. Little development happened after the arrival of the railway; the Highett Post Office did not open until 17 November 1924.The Highett Hall was opened on 11 September 1926 and was used for dances, balls, vaudeville performances and later as a cinema.However it always struggled to find a profitable means to continue operation.It was purchased by the Moorabbin City Council in 1966 and then demolished to make way for the Highett library, which opened on 1 August 1969.In 1927 a number of Anglicans banded together to open St Stephens Church of England, in Donald Street, Highett. This was the first church built for the local inhabitants of Highett and by 1937 there was also a Catholic church.In 1939 the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation (CAC) constructed a factory in Highett to build aircraft wings and fuselages to support Australia in the Second World War.The factory continued operation until the end of the war in 1945 when the tradesmen were transferred to the main CAC factory in Fishermans Bend and the Bay Road site was closed.Four large gasometers on land near the intersection of Nepean Highway and Bay Road were a prominent landmark in the area for most of the 20th century. Highett's most substantial residential growth began in the 1950s. Industry was attracted to the area, including a large CSIRO research facility. A primary school was opened in 1953 and a high school in 1956, although Highett High School is now part of Sandringham College. The strip shopping centre near the railway line expanded, and still remains active.The suburb is undergoing substantial change and rejuvenation with a high number of residential properties being renovated or redeveloped due to the suburb's proximity to Melbourne City and Port Phillip Bay which has attracted a large number of younger families and professionals. In 2011 construction of a substantial new shopping centre and apartment complex began on Highett Road, using land once owned by the CSIRO.

In 1925 a parcel train hit a car at the Wickham Road railway crossing, killing nine people inside the car. The gatekeeper was found not guilty of the charge of manslaughter, the jury finding the incident was due to the fault of the system and not through human negligence.