Greythorn Central has been awarded a North East Community Grant to the value of $75,000 to allow the artistic design, creation, manufacturing and installation of the story seat at the corner of Agnes Avenue and Doncaster Road. We are so excited this project will be realised. It will close the last of the public artworks the Greythorn Traders Association has been implementing at Greythorn Central to give the shopping strip its own identity. These works began in 2020 with the creation of the Faces of Greythorn statues project.

The Victorian State Government through its North East Community Fund awarded the grant to the Greythorn Central Traders Association for our Sit back and take a journey through time at the Greythorn story seat.

Our project is supported through the $10 million North East Community Fund, which seeks to support local community initiatives while the North East Link is under construction.

The fund prioritises its support to those most impacted by construction.

At Greythorn the Doncaster Road on and off ramp to the Eastern Freeway has had major impacts to the traffic flow and shopper patronage at Greythorn. At the same time we have enjoyed seeing many of the workers on this construction project patronise our shops for their coffees, meals and other needs.

The North East Community Fund has supported a range of projects including community art exhibitions, sports club open days, and community centre upgrades.

The Story Seat concept:

The story seat design will map the development of the Greythorn landscape.

The area was an orchard – mainly lemons, limes, apples and cherries in the early 1900s.

Later there was a violet farm.

There was also a wildlife sanctuary – the Greythorn Wildlife Sanctuary (1939-1953). Bill Maughan and his family kept more than 200 animals on his reserve.

In the 1950s and 60s it was developed into a housing estate with a thriving shopping strip. Today the shop offerings continue to evolve with the changing times, but some have stayed for more than 20 years and the ballet school for even longer.

Furthermore by 2028, the North East Link Project will see Greythorn at the major crossroads of linking the north of Melbourne with the east of Melbourne.

Our concept will see the design of the story seat as a road map of the changing face of Greythorn from the 1800s across the back support part of the bench seat with the above milestones, being the pictures that create each stop on that road from the late 1800s to the modern day.

The seat part is being conceived to look like a road to tie in the new North East Link Big Build project where Greythorn sits on its edge.

It is expected the project will be completed by mid next year.