# Narre Warren, Victoria

Narre Warren (/ˌnæri ˈwɒrən/ NARR-ee WORR-ən) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 38 km southeast of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Casey local government area. Narre Warren recorded a population of 27,689 at the 2021 census.
Narre Warren has a population density of over 2000 people per square kilometre. Narre Warren has its own railway station, located on Webb Street, and has its own shopping centre, Westfield Fountain Gate, Australia's and Oceania's second largest shopping centre by area after Malvern East's Chadstone Shopping Centre. The biggest secondary school in Narre Warren is Fountain Gate Secondary College.

## History

The original Main Street is some distance from present-day central Narre Warren, beside the railway line, causing development to occur away from the original settlement, and the building in which the general store also served as the post office, still exists as a local landmark, established 1857. Narre Warren Post Office, located on what is now Heatherton Road, opened on 21 January 1869. In 1900, it was renamed Narre Warren North, and Narre Warren Railway Station Post Office (open since 1886) was renamed Narre Warren. The locale of Webb Street is named after Sydney James Webb, founder of a newsagency there.

## Demographics

The most common ancestries in Narre Warren were Australian 21.9%, English 20.6%, Irish 5.1%, Scottish 5.1% and Indian 3.6%. 62.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common foreign countries of birth were India 3.6%, England 3.2%, Sri Lanka 2.7%, Afghanistan 1.9% and New Zealand 1.9%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 28.8%, No Religion 19.6%, Anglican 10.9%, Islam 5.6% and Buddhism 3.9%. 66.7% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Dari 10%, Sinhalese 1.9%, Arabic 1.5%, Spanish 1.4% and Hindi 1.3%.

## Residential development

Over the years, Narre Warren has grown from a semi-rural residential town to become a part of a major growth corridor in the southeast of Melbourne.
In recent years, a multitude of new housing developments have seen Narre Warren expand to such an extent that it now adjoins neighbouring suburbs such as Berwick.

## Education

Schools in Narre Warren include Harkaway Hills College, Lysterfield Lake College, Narre Warren North Primary School, Oatlands Primary School, Maramba Primary School, Don Bosco Primary School, Mary Mackillop Primary School, Fountain Gate Secondary College, Alkira Secondary College, Fountain Gate Primary School, Dandenong Valley Special School and Fleetwood Primary School (formerly known as Hallam Valley Primary School), Narre Warren South P-12 College and Waverley Christian College – Narre Warren South Campus. Narre Warren Station Primary School was closed at the end of 2001 and moved to Narre Warren South (to suit the change in growth areas) where it became Hillsmeade Primary School. There is also a large community education centre, Narre Community Learning Centre Inc., located on Malcolm Court.

## Community facilities

Kim Cang Temple, a Vietnamese Buddhist temple, is located in the suburb.

## Sport

The Narre Warren Football Club plays in the Outer East Football Netball League. It was formed in 1953 as Narre Hallam Football Club to serve Narre Warren and Hallam, and was a founding member of the South West Gippsland Football League in 1954. The club won premierships in 1957 and 1973. It was also runners-up in 1956, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1981. In 1989, the club renamed itself the Narre Warren Football Club.
In 2004, Casey Panthers Soccer Club was founded with the home ground being located at Prospect Hill Reserve. The senior team compete in the State League 5 competition. In 2022, the under 17 (17A) team nicknamed 'The Invincibles' won the South East A grade and State A grade competitions as well as the prestigious Polonia and Altona Cups whilst being undefeated all season. This was the only occurrence of this quadruple in Victorian soccer history.

## Retail and civic development

Westfield Fountain Gate (named after one of the earlier subdivisions) is at the heart of the main commercial precinct in Narre Warren. It is one of the largest shopping centres in Australia, housing many of Australia's major retailers. The centre has been made famous by the popular Australian television show Kath & Kim, parts of which were also filmed at Westfield Southland.
There is also a local shopping strip around the railway station in Webb Street. The shopping strip includes stores such as bakeries, beauticians and a small supermarket.
The civic precinct is located outside the boundary of Westfield and includes the City of Casey municipal offices, Narre Warren Library and the Casey ARC (Aquatic and Recreation Centre). The Bunjil Place civil centre was constructed in 2017, a redevelopment of $300 million by the City of Casey Council. Replacing the original wetlands precinct that once sat there.

## Recreational Facilities

Narre Warren features some recreational facilities such as lawn bowl, bowling, cinemas, and clubs. The largest cinema is Village Cinemas Fountain Gate, which is located on the top floor of Fountain Gate.

## Transport
### Vehicles

Narre Warren is connected by many major roads, mainly: Monash Freeway (M1), Princes Freeway (M1), Princes Highway (Alt 1), Narre Warren - Cranbourne Road, which later becomes Narre Warren North Road, and outside of Narre Warren becomes Hallam - Belgrave Road (C404), and Shrives Road (SR 12). The Monash Freeway's (freeway #1000) South-East end concludes in Narre Warren, where it reaches an overpass exit (exit 23) connecting it to Princess Highway and continuing on as Princess Freeway (freeway #1510). Princess Freeway connects the suburb to the greater Highway 1.

### Busses

The biggest bus interchange in Narre Warren is at the forefront of Fountain Gate Shopping Centre (Fountain Gate SC/Overland Dr). Three bus operators go through Narre Warren, with the primary operator being Ventura. With the other two being Cranbourne Transit, and South Coast Bus. The following lines stop in Narre Warren: 695F, 697, 828, 834, 835, 838, 841, 842, 891, 895, 925, 981, and the once weekly service Cowes - Fountain Gate via Anderson. The 836, 841, and 891 all directly connect the shopping centre to suburb's railway station, Narre Warren Railway Station.

### Rail

Narre Warren railway station is a Zone 2 station. It receives regular electrified metro services from Metro Trains Melbourne. It is situated on the East Pakenham Line (the electrified portion of the now truncated Orbost line). The line connects Narre Warren to the line's terminus — East Pakenham, and also the greater metro and V/Line network via Caulfield, South Yarra, Richmond, and the City Loop. However the city-bound terminus is expected to change with the introduction of the Metro Tunnel project, instead connecting it directly to Sunbury, and the proposed Airport Rail Link.
V/Line trains go past the station but do not stop at the station. Patrons wishing to travel on the Orbost Line towards Traralgon via Morwell & Moe, or the current terminus of the Orbost Line, Bairnsdale via Sale, Traralgon & Warragul from Narre Warren station must ride a Metro service to either Dandenong railway station or Pakenham railway station, where they can switch over to the V/Line service.

### Air

The suburb is connected via air travel through:
* Tooradin Airport, Tooradin,
* Moorabbin Airport, Moorabbin
* Essendon Airport, Essendon Fields
* Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, Melbourne Airport (Serves international flights)
The suburb was once connected by a much closer airfield, Casey/Berwick Airfields (ICAO: YBER), which served Berwick, Narre Warren and other surrounding suburbs from 1935, until 1996, where the land was used to build the Monash University's Berwick Campus.

## Notable people

* Destanee Aiava - tennis player
* Stacey Alleaume - soprano
* Kenny Athiu - footballer
* Matthew Boyd - Australian Rules footballer
* Trent Croad - Australian Rules footballer
* Bandali Debs - serial killer
* Jason Ellery - wheelchair rugby player
* Trevor Hosea - rugby union player
* Chris Newman - Australian Rules footballer
* Winifred Piesse - politician
* Howard Richardson, Australian Rules footballer and cricketer
* Peter Scully - murderer and rapist