Point Leo, Victoria
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = town
| name = Point Leo
| state = vic
| image =
| caption =
| lga = Shire of Mornington Peninsula
| alternative_location_map = Australia Victoria
| coordinates = {{coord|38.421|S|145.075|E|display=inline,title}}
| postcode = 3916
| pop = 178
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2021}}
| pop_footnotes = {{Census 2021 AUS | id = SAL22087 | name = Point Leo (Suburbs and Localities) | accessdate = 12 July 2022 | quick = on}}
| est = 1940s
| stategov = Nepean
| fedgov = Flinders
| dist1 = 96.5
| location1 = Melbourne
| dist2 = 20
| location2 = Rosebud
| near-nw = Red Hill
| near-n = Red Hill South
| near-ne = Balnarring
| near-w = Red Hill
| near-e = Merricks Beach
| near-sw = Shoreham
| near-s = Shoreham
| near-se = Western Port
| local_map = yes
| zoom = 12
}}
Point Leo is a town on the shore of Western Port bay on the eastern side of the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, {{convert|67|km|abbr=on}} south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local government area. Point Leo recorded a population of 178 at the 2021 census.
Point Leo Foreshore Reserve provides excellent waves for surfing and is one of the closest surf beaches to Melbourne.
History
The area was known as Bobbanaring to the local Bunurong people prior to European settlement.{{cite web |title=A to Z Melbourne: Geographical Place Names |url=https://pocketozmelbourne.com.au/geographical-names.html |website=pocketozmelbourne.com.au |accessdate=26 June 2020}} The area was first surveyed in 1841, and a town was proposed here in 1869, but the area did not develop until after World War II, when the Woods family built a house and store. Facilities were developed in the 1960s, including camping grounds, toilet blocks with hot showers on the foreshore and a kiosk on the surf beach. A Post Office opened on 8 December 1969, but closed in 1974.{{Cite web|last = Phoenix Auctions History | title = Post Office List | url = http://www.phoenixauctions.com.au/cgi-bin/wsPhoenix.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=*Point*Leo* | access-date = 14 March 2021}} By the 1980s the area was still dominated by holiday homes and weekend travellers with few permanent residents.{{cite web|url=http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Documents/SE/PlanStrategic/HastHeritageStudyVol2.pdf|title=Volume 2, Environmental History|author=Graeme Butler & Associates|work=Hastings District Heritage Study Stage Two|accessdate=2006-11-27 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060828040220/http://www.mornpen.vic.gov.au/Documents/SE/PlanStrategic/HastHeritageStudyVol2.pdf |archivedate = 2006-08-28}}
Present day
The small town contains a general store and supports an active surf lifesaving club and boat club. A large foreshore reserve includes picnic, barbecue and camping areas, managed by Point Leo Foreshore, and provide access to the surf beach. A gate fee is payable. Most other facilities are available from nearby Shoreham and Balnarring.Map 257, Melway street directory (28th ed., 2001)
No public transport services Point Leo directly although the bus route 782 operated by Ventura Bus Lines between Frankston and Flinders passes within 2 km of the town.{{cite PTV route|782}}
See also
- Shire of Hastings – Point Leo was previously within this former local government area.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.pointleo.com/ Point Leo Foreshore]
{{Shire of Mornington Peninsula suburbs}}
{{Coastal townships and localities of Western Port, Victoria}}
{{authority control}}