Town snapshot – Waurn Ponds

The size of Waurn Ponds is about 23.2sqkms has 10 parks covering nearly 1.2 per cent of total area.

The population of Waurn Ponds recorded at 5,036 in 2016 and by the 2021 Census the population was 4,956, showing a population decline due the ABS southern boundary of the suburb being moved to north of the Princess Highway.

Waurn Ponds is a rural district, a residential suburb and university precinct 9 km south-west of Geelong.

Waurn Ponds is one of the state’s youngest communities with the average age being 27, which is 10 years below the state average of 37.

It is said to be named after the Waurn Chain of Ponds, a watercourse which flows from the region of Mt Moriac to the Barwon River, entering the river a short distance below the breakwater which separates the seawater inflow from fresh water.

It is thought that the name derives from an Aboriginal word meaning camp, although another authority states that the original name was Warren Chain of Ponds.

A National School was opened in 1859 and the forerunner of the State primary school was opened in 1870.

A well known property in the area was David Pettavel’s Albert and Victoria vineyard which begun in 1848.

The area was better known as Pettavel in the 1860s, when it was described as having some of the finest scenery in Western Victoria.

The European population, however, was small and scattered.

A quarry for limestone was opened in the 1840s and produced material for high quality architecture.

The quarry also had kilns for making mortar lime, which operated until the 1970’s and are on the Victorian Heritage Register.

Another structure on the register is the old Princes Highway bridge over the Waurn Ponds Creek.

Built of local limestone in 1868 it has a basalt keystone carrying the Barrabool Shire’s crest.

During the 1970s, when a few orchards were still visible at Waurn Ponds, the state government began planning for regional universities.

The first region chosen was Geelong, and the Gordon Institute of Technology provided the basis for the Deakin University campus at Waurn Ponds in 1977.

Geelong Grammar has a campus north of the university, along with the private Marcus Oldham farm management college.

Waurn Ponds is the epicentre of shopping this side of town, with an expansion of the Pioneer Road shopping centre in 2014 more than doubling the size of the centre.

CoreLogic data indicates that the predominant age group in Waurn Ponds is 20-29 years with households in Waurn Ponds being primarily couples with children and are likely to be repaying on average $1,755 per month on mortgage repayments, and in general, people in Waurn Ponds work in a professional occupation.

TIDBIT:

The first pub was recorded as the Victoria Inn (1845-60) and then the Waurn Ponds Inn (1856) about 2km west of the present suburb.

Population: 4,956

Male: 49.1%

Female: 50.9%

Median age: 27

5 year population change: 0%

House median sales price: $795

Change in median price: (5yrs) 30.2%

Median asking rent per week: $500

Average length of ownership: 12 years

Owner occupiers: 78%

Renters: 22%

House median value:

August 2024: $803,300

August 2023: $790,800

August 2022: $804,400

August 2021: $805,800

August 2020: $636,700

House sales per annum:

Period ending August 2024: 54

Period ending August 2023: 41

Land median sale price:

August 2024: $492,000

August 2023: $486,000

Land sales per annum:

Period ending August 2024: 7

Period ending August 2023: 2