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Many decisions on the character of these thousands of lots
have been
made, independently of each other, and over a considerable time period.
Those decisions have been made individually by the very great diversity
of owners those lots have had over more than a century, and continue to
have at any given time. Despite that potential and actual diversity a
degree
of uniformity has also occurred. Many decisions have to some extent
been
influenced by the prevailing fashion, but they have been subject to the
limitations of the available funds and technology at the time, and the
decisions have been broadly constrained by the limits set by municipal
and government laws. 

Until 1994 Beaumaris consisted of a corner area of each of
three abutting
municipalities, Sandringham, Mordialloc and Moorabbin. The municipal
laws
and decisions under those laws, including municipal rates, differed as
they were determined by separate bodies of electors. Nevertheless the
whole
of Beaumaris was subject to the same planning system, ultimately
controlled
by the Victorian Government. Those planning laws had, for a long
period,
prescribed good setbacks from streets and neighbours’ boundaries that
ensured
that adequate areas of sunny, well-watered and well-drained natural
land
surface was available to enable the widespread retention of original
bushland
vegetation that was a notable feature of Beaumaris remarked on by many,
such as the architect, Robin Boyd, in his 1960 book, The
Australian Ugliness (Page 164). An official change of attitude
occurred later that allowed an approximate doubling of the number of
dwellings
per block, which might have given a brief, opportunistic spurt to
building
activity, but caused a permanent loss of the environmental quality in
most
parts of Beaumaris. 

Major Continuing Influences on
Character:
Notwithstanding the above effects on the character of Beaumaris
freehold
residential lots, the character of those lots can still be readily
grouped
into three broad categories, which date from the broad
character they possessed at the onset of the intensive and complete
urbanization of Beaumaris in the 1950s, as is seen in map attached to
the CSIRO Report of the 1944 Beaumaris bushfire,
and the 1951
Victorian
Lands Department aerial photograph of Beaumaris: 

· B – Bushland influence:
Heathland and manna gum woodland not yet subdivided into residential
lots
in 1951, and similar land that had been subdivided and partly occupied
by housing, but that noticeably retains a considerable extent of the
former
indigenous coastal and semi-coastal vegetation among it, together
with areas, principally lots in western
Beaumaris and eastern
Beaumaris covered by the Special Building Overlay for flood control
but also lots at the north end of Bonanza and Wells Roads, that are the
main remnant areas for River
Red Gums (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in Beaumaris, 

· C – Coastal influence: Land
fronting Beach Road, and the nearest continuous thoroughfare inland of
it, nearly all developed early, often on large lots within
sight of the Foreshore Reserve, and often within sight of flying
seabirds
and the sound and smell of the sea and wind from the sea, occasionally
with coastal vegetation, including large Coast
Banksia trees (Banksia integrifolia), and 

· D – Development influence:
Pasture and market garden land not yet subdivided into residential lots
in 1951, and land that had been occupied by housing but that generally
retains relatively little of the former indigenous vegetation among it,
and that is further from the coast, and where much of its coastal
identity
has been carelessly or deliberately suppressed. 

The Area D (Development Influence) is the more eastern section
of Beaumaris
not included in the Areas B and C, which overlap in part. Areas A and B
can each be described as all the lots fronting onto a closed loop made
up of the following thoroughfares or sections thereof: 

Area B (Bushland Influence): Surf Avenue, Stawell
Street, Keating
Street, Iluka Street, Fairleigh Avenue, Balcombe Park Lane, Balcombe
Road,
Reserve Road, Weatherall Road, Morey Road, Balcombe Road, Oak Street,
Hardy
Grove, Tramway Parade, Cloris Avenue, Reserve Road, Nautilus Avenue,
Coral
Avenue, Point Avenue, Lang Street, Reserve Road, and Beach Road, but
this area also includes lots within the Special Building Overlay, and
those
near the north end of Wells and Bonanza Roads, that have substantial
River
Red Gum trees (Eucalyptus camaldulensis).  

Area C (Coastal Influence):  Surf Avenue, Stawell
Street,
Page Street, Bruce Street, Olinda Avenue, Haydens Road, Florida Avenue,
Coral Avenue, Nautilus Street, Reserve Road, Reid Street, Ward Street,
Tramway Parade, Ray Street, Cromer Road, Lileura Avenue, Deauville
Street,
Harfleur Avenue, Wells Road, Bonanza Lane, Charman Road, and Beach
Road. 

Maintenance of the character of Area
B:
This is important both historically and contemporarily to Beaumaris and
to the Melbourne metropolis as the great benefit of a continuously
existing
and maintained ambience of a consistent indigenous bushland community
as
an integral part of a well valued and regarded urban Australian setting
is extremely rare as close to central Melbourne as Beaumaris is. 

Maintenance of the character of Area
C: This
is important to Beaumaris and the Melbourne metropolis as Port Phillip
and its coastal fringe constitutes by far the largest and most
significant
natural area adjacent to that metropolis. If the atmosphere and
landscape,
both natural and built, of the coastal fringe is degraded, both
Melbourne
and Beaumaris will be degraded overall in standing ranging from a very
local aspect to a national and international aspect.