Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Australian place
Bittern is a town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Template:Convert south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Bittern recorded a population of 4,276 at the 2021 census.<ref name=abs/>
Bittern is part of an urban enclave on Western Port comprising Bittern, Hastings, Crib Point, Somerville, and Tyabb.
Bittern is named after the shy wetland bird, the Australasian bittern, which reflects the town's location amongst significant areas of native bushland and dense coastal vegetation.<ref name = "Bittern">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
The town was part of the Coolart pastoral run of the 1860s. Bittern Post Office opened on 5 January 1891.<ref name = "a">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The railway opened for Bittern in 1889 and small scale commercial development began during the early 1900s. <ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Notable buildingsEdit
The town has a primary school, Bittern Primary School, and a small basketball and netball stadium known as Graham Myers Sports Stadium or Bittern Memorial Stadium, which features an indoor court used for basketball, netball or floorball and four outside courts used for netball.<ref name="Mornington">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> There is also a small oval located outside the stadium.
TransportEdit
Bittern is served by Bittern railway station on the Stony Point line and by the 782 bus route operated by Ventura Bus Lines between Frankston and Flinders.<ref>Template:Cite PTV route</ref>
See alsoEdit
- Shire of Hastings – Bittern was previously within this former local government area.
ReferencesEdit
Template:Shire of Mornington Peninsula suburbs Template:Coastal townships and localities of Western Port, Victoria