Homestead Reserve, Eaglemont, Victoria 2009

Homestead reserve is a long, thin reserve included by Walter and Marion Griffin in their Glenard Estate, Eaglemont, Victoria in 1916. Unusually for internal reserves, these spaces are co-operatively owned by surrounding residents. In 2009, when this photograph was taken, I encountered a local resident who claimed this co-ownership was an insurance burden for surrounding residents - or at least would become so when someone injured themselves in the reserve and sued the multiple owners.

At present, the reserve has some play equipment and benches, but a large part of it is dedicated to vehicle access for surrounding homes. Many of these homes also receive their mail in postboxes within the reserve.
When Robert Freestone and I examined this reserve in 2001, we surveyed surrounding residents and one sent us this photograph of the annual picnic held in the reserve for locals.



The reserves and estate can be seen here as a Google Map. Because they are privately owned, they are not marked green as public space.