Bob Corby is digging into the history of the modern housing estate.
Camera IconBob Corby is digging into the history of the modern housing estate. Credit: Supplied/Elle Borgward

Energy put into research

Sarah Motherwell, Southern GazetteSouthern Gazette

Bob Corby is writing a historical essay about the land he now lives on, which was the site of a large State Energy Commission depot from 1953 to 1990.

‘I was sitting on my front veranda one evening having a beer watching the sunset and wondered how many people have been at the site before,’ Mr Corby said.

‘I thought I’m going to do a bit of digging and hence the essay came up.

‘We live in suburbs and we don’t know what’s been here before. What’s a bonus for me is Belgravia Estate is quite defined and I can zoom into lot numbers and go from there.’

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Mr Corby received support from the City of Belmont and Western Power in accessing important files and he hoped local residents and former SEC staffers would provide additional information.

‘There were a lot of people working here, now they’re all gone; that’s history, the buildings are gone and we’ve got this huge estate,’ he said.

‘I’m thinking there must have been people who worked at the SEC depot’