Bittern, Victoria
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Australian place | type = town
| name = Bittern
| state = vic
| image = Bittern general store, Victoria.jpg
| caption = Bittern General Store
| lga = Shire of Mornington Peninsula
| alternative_location_map = Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne
| coordinates = {{coord|38.339|S|145.175|E|display=inline,title}}
| postcode = 3918
| pop = 4,276
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}}
| pop_footnotes = {{Census 2021 AUS | id = SAL20248 | name = Bittern (Suburbs and Localities) | accessdate = 11 July 2022 | quick = on}}
| area = 35.6
| est =
| stategov = Hastings
| fedgov = Flinders
| dist1 = 82
| location1= Melbourne
| dist2 = 5
| location2= Hastings
| near-nw = Tuerong
| near-n = Hastings
| near-ne = Western Port
| near-w = Balnarring
| near-e = Western Port
| near-sw = Somers
| near-s = HMAS Cerberus
| near-se = Crib Point
| local_map = yes
| zoom = 12
}}
Bittern is a town on the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, {{convert|61|km|abbr=on}} 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.
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.{{Cite web
| website = Westernport Tourism | title = Bittern | url = http://www.visitwesternport.com.au/index.php?cmspage=21| accessdate = 17 May 2025 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120317132103/http://www.visitwesternport.com.au/index.php?cmspage=21 | archive-date = 17 March 2012}}
History
The town was part of the Coolart pastoral run of the 1860s. Bittern Post Office opened on 5 January 1891.{{Cite web | website = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Bittern* | access-date = 20 March 2021 }} The railway opened for Bittern in 1889 and small scale commercial development began during the early 1900s. {{Cite web | title = Bittern | website = Victorian Places | url = https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/bittern | accessdate = 17 May 2025 | year = 2015}}
Notable buildings
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.{{Cite web | publisher = Shire of Mornington Peninsula | title = Leisure Centres | url = http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/page/page.asp?Page_Id=290&h=0 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080720225436/http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Page/page.asp?Page_Id=290&h=0 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 20 July 2008 | accessdate = 6 June 2010 }} There is also a small oval located outside the stadium.
Transport
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.{{cite PTV route|782}}
See also
- Shire of Hastings – Bittern was previously within this former local government area.
References
{{reflist}}
{{Shire of Mornington Peninsula suburbs}}
{{Coastal townships and localities of Western Port, Victoria}}
{{commons category|Bittern, Victoria}}
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