Oliver's Hill in Frankston was the location of many accidents over the years. In 1908 the local paper reported that Oliver's Hill, Frankston, has been responsible for several accidents, owing to its steepness and the dangerous fall to the beach on one side......The hill is dangerous to general traffic, and should be regraded so as to at least do away with the stiff pinch at the turn, which is such a stumbling block to drivers and horses. (1)From another newspaper report - The "pinch" has long been regarded as cruel to horses and hard travelling to cyclists, and has been dreaded as dangerous to human life, and the dread has on many occasions been confirmed by serious accidents, two or three of which have been fatal to human life. (2)
And yet another newspaper described Oliver's Hill as the bugbear for a great number of years of travellers by road to the southern end of the Mornington Peninsula. It was steep with some places a grade of 1 in 6 and as such the hill has for years been recognised as one of the greatest drawbacks to tourists, travelling by road, visiting Mornington and other tourist resorts in the district. Although a great number of the travellers were content to come only as far as Frankston, others who wished to go further, but whose means of transit were not equal to a pull of l in 6, had to make a long detour via Somervllle. (3)
So for these reasons - the accidents, the steepness and the lack of access to areas beyond Frankston that members of the Frankston & Hastings Shire Council, the Automobile Association and local business people began to agitate for improvements to the road and Carlo Catani was consulted.
In May 1910, the Shire engineer Albert Sambell (4) could report at the Council meeting - Since last meeting Mr Catani, chief engineer of the Public Works department, inspected the road over Oliver's Hill. He has had a plan prepared showing the proposed new road. In an interview with him I ascertained that he will make a strong recommendation for a substantial grant for this work, and it seems almost certain that in another 12 months this hill will cease to be a source of danger and expense to the council. (5)
The proposed work involved a new road or deviation which in the end resulted in a regrading of the road to no more than 1 in 16. (6)
The next mention of the proposed works was a year later in June 1911 when Mr Sambell reported at a Council meeting that he conducted Mr Catani over site of proposed works on Oliver's Hill and he approved generally of council's proposals. (7)
The progress of the project, the total cost of which was estimated to be £1500, was hampered by finances. The Council had been granted £350 (or another source says £475) however the cost of the project had increased due to partly having trouble securing the land needed for the deviation works. (8)
In March 1912 Public Works Department, wrote to the Council -
stating in answer to further representations re Oliver's Hill, that the department have no funds available at present, but that the request will receive favorable consideration next year. Crs Cole and Ritchie: That the tender for Oliver's Hill be accepted, and work gone on with. Cr Baxter and Griffith proposed an amendment, That the work be not carried on under the present circumstances. On the amendment being put to the vote, 4 voted for it; the chairman gave his casting vote against.--Cr Hodgins asked if the motion was in order.-The Chairman ruled that it was.-On the motion being put to the vote, 4 voted for, and the Chairman gave his casting vote for the motion, and declared it carried. (9)
Thus the work was continued by the contractors Messrs Blayden and Wallace, and there was good news four months later when the Public Works Department made arrangements to supply extra finances. In the end the total cost was £1340, with the Government contributing £825. (10)
The Minister for Public Works, Mr Edgar, officially opening the new road.
The long awaited opening of the Oliver's Hill Road (now known as the Nepean Highway) took place on January 22, 1913. The Minister for Public Works, Mr W.H. Edgar undertook the official opening -
by cutting in two a piece of ribbon which had been stretched across its width. On the ribbon was printed "Good luck to the Commissioner for Public Works and Oliver's Hill." Mr M'Bryde, M.L.C., Mr Downward, M.L.A., and Mr Catani, chief engineer for Public Works were among the gathering which witnessed the ceremony. After the official opening the party were entertained at the Mechanics' Hall. (11) However, before they retired -
At the conclusion of the ceremony Mr Edgar was presented by the president of the shire, Cr. C. Murray, with a pair of silver scissors. (12)The
Mornington Standard had a very effusive report of the opening including these remarks -
Frankston was en fete on Wednesday last, the occasion being the official opening of the deviation on Oliver's Hill. There was a liberal display of bunting in the town, as well as along the road to the hill, and the hill itself presented a pretty scene with its array of flags.....The improvement from a scenic point of view is most marked, for where there was once a bare stretch of steep hill, the route is now one of the prettiest stretches of road in Victoria. The left hand side, ascending, is mostly occupied with substantial looking villas, with their ornamental shrubberies in front. On the right as the traveller ascends is the bay, with the headlands pushing out in prominent relief, while right at hand there is a drop of several hundred feet into the bay itself. On the cliff side, the traveller is protected by a substantial sawn timber fence, with strong posts and top rail and five wires. (13)
The Minister, Mr Edgar, also noted that from a picturesque point of view the hill was splendid, and would gladden the heart of even Mr Catani, who was just back from seeing the beauty spots of Europe. (14)
Oliver's Hill Frankston, c. 1930s.
Photographer: Rose Stereograph Co. State Library of Victoria image H32492/3972
Carlo's connection to Oliver's Hill was not finished, in August 1913, he gave advised on some suitable vegetation for Oliver's Hill. This is from a report of the Frankston and Hastings Shire Council meeting- Department of Public Works, re grassing the slopes of Oliver's Hill, stating that the work will not cost more than £10 or £12, and the Minister of Public Works considers the council should provide that sum. The Chief Engineer [Carlo] reported that the slopes should be planted with suitable trees, such as ti tree, bobeyalla, coprosina, cape thorn and other plants, which will thrive on the sea front. After tree planting, the slopes should be covered with couch grass, mesembryanthemum, edulis or pig face. (15)
Either they ignored the advice or forgot about it as two years later in August 1915, we find this - which was also reported as part of a Council meeting - In reply to a letter sent to Mr Catani by the secretary making inquires re suitable plants to be put in on bank at Oliver's Hill and in the township, that gentleman wrote stating that creepers and pig-face were suitable for the required purpose. Mr M'Comb moved that both plants be procured. Seconded by Mr Wheeler, and carried. (16)
Pig-face, one of the plants recommended by Carlo, shown here at the bottom of Oliver's Hill in 1971. Frankston. The Nepean Highway/Oliver's Hill Road is on the right. The building on the left is the Mechanics' Institute, where the official party retired to after the opening of the road in January 1913.
National Archives of Australia image A1500, K26765
Before we leave Oliver's Hill, this is the source of the name -
Oliver's Hill is the northern extremity of the Mount Eliza granitic outcrop. Granite is exposed in the bed of the Sweetwater creek at various points in its progress to the sea (17). Around 1852 fishermen and timber cutters formed a settlement at the mouth of the creek (18). James Oliver, who was a fisherman and the namesake of Oliver's Hill, had a cottage on the crest of the hill - Up till about 1863 the sand had not silted up the small bay below and he was able to haul his boat right into Sweetwater Creek and
anchor it there. (19)
Trove List - I have created a list of articles connected mainly to Carlo Catani and his connection with the road over Oliver's Hill, access it here.
Footnotes
(1) Mornington and Dromana Standard, October 24, 1908, see here.
(2) The Age, January 23, 1913, see here.
(3) The Herald, January 22, 1913, see here.
(4) Albert Keaston Trenavin Sambell (1879-1936) Shire of Frankston and Hastings Engineer from 1909 until 1921. https://www.eoas.info/biogs/P007689b.htm and obituary The Age, September 26, 1936, see here.
(5) Mornington and Dromana Standard, May 14, 1910, see here.
(6) Various articles in my Trove list, see here.
(7) Mornington Standard, June 17, 1911, see here.
(8) Mornington Standard, September 23, 1911, see here; Mornington Standard, July 27, 1912, see here.
(9) Mornington Standard, March 23, 1912, see here.
(10) The Herald, January 22, 1913, see here.
(11) The Argus, January 23, 1913, see here.
(12) The Herald, January 22, 1913, see here.
(13) Mornington Standard, January 25, 1913, see here.
(14) Mornington Standard, January 25, 1913, see here.
(15) Mornington Standard, August 16, 1913, see here.
(16) Mornington Standard, August 28, 1915, see here.
(17) Steel, Gwenyth Frankston: an outline of the district's early history (The Author, 1977), p. 13.
(18) Steel, op. cit., p. 28
(19) Steel, op. cit., p. 16.
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