Karingal, Victoria

Karingal is a local area within the suburb of Frankston located in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia. It is in the local government area of the City of Frankston (app. 45 km South East from the Melbourne CBD). The locality has no predefined borders, but it is generally accepted as the region between Ashleigh Avenue, Skye Road (including Dalpura Cct and offroads), and the Mornington Peninsula Freeway.

History
European settlement of the area now known as Karingal is recorded as far back as the 1840s. Agricultural and pastoral land use continued in the area into the 1960s, until residential development spread from Frankston East (located west of Karingal) into the locality. As this part of Frankston was subdivided and developed largely as an AV Jennings housing estate, it was dubbed "Karingal", a Koori word which translates to "happy home" or "happy camp" in English. During this time, the Karingal Post Office opened on 1 April 1964.

Homestead
The "Ballam Ballam" estate was home to prominent early settlers of the Frankston area, the Liardets. Frank Liardet, son of early hotelier and artist Wilbraham Liardet, established the property in 1854. In the 1910s, responding to the suggestion that Frankston was named after Frank Liardet, Wilbraham's grandson stated that the family believed it had been named after the early white settler Charles Franks. The original homestead "Ballam Park" still stands in Karingal today, and is now heritage-listed. It is also home to the Frankston Historical Society, which conducts regular guided tours of the homestead.

Amenities & Park
Ballam Park is an extensive recreational area with new facilities including a new $3 million dollar playground, toilets, drinking fountains, BBQ amenities, dog parks, soccer and athletic fields, with amenities for football (Australian rules), netball, cricket, tennis, and more.

Schools
Primary
 * Ballam Park Primary School
 * Karingal Heights Primary School
 * Karingal Primary School

Secondary
 * McClelland College
 * Naranga school for special education

Shopping
Karingal is also home to Frankston's second largest shopping complex, Karingal Hub Shopping Centre (the largest being the Bayside Shopping Centre in the Frankston CBD). It features a Woolworths supermarket, an Aldi grocery store, a Coles supermarket, a Big W department store, a fresh produce market and 120 speciality stores. The centre boasts an entertainment precinct, called 'Karingal Town Square', with restaurants, a pub and a 12 screen Village Cinema complex. Karingal Town Square is also home to one of the three V max "super screens" in Australia. It's new renovations in 2021 boosted the frequency of consumers to the centre and invites more people to the region every day.

Karingal's original shopping centre, now known as Karingal Village Shops, is still located on Ashleigh Avenue, near Karingal Drive. A large section of the earlier shopping centre was redeveloped at the turn of the century, replacing the old supermarket with a larger one, and the local service station with a bottle shop. Karingal Post Office continues to operate as a part of the new complex. In 2024, major retailer Coles left the site in favor for a new location within Karingal Hub Shopping Centre, leaving the location with even less consumers especially due to the recent covid pandemic.

Transport
Karingal's main arterial road is Karingal Drive, which runs through the heart of the suburb, from Skye Road to Cranbourne Road. Ashleigh Avenue is another key road, which runs from Karingal Drive into Frankston East. On Karingal's northern border, Skye Road is the connection with Frankston North, Seaford and Langwarrin. Cranbourne Road touches Karingal's southernmost edge, and connects it to the Frankston CBD. The road additionally accommodates road travel to the neighbouring suburb of Langwarrin and terminates in the City of Casey suburb of Cranbourne. Metropolitan bus services run along all of these roads, connecting Karingal with the Frankston CBD and its neighbouring suburbs.

Another major transport route, Peninsula Link (also known as the Frankston By-Pass) opened in January 2013. This divides Karingal and Langwarrin, however provides access to the rest of Greater Melbourne, and to the Mornington Peninsula and is a general positive for the area.

Health
Two hospitals are located in Karingal, the Peninsula Private Hospital and the St. John of God Rehabilitation Hospital.

Sport
Karingal Football Club, known as the "Karingal Bulls" is an Australian Football team competing in the 2nd division of the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League. Their home ground is located in Ballam Park alongside the Karingal Cricket Club. Ballam Park also have soccer and rugby fields, and an athletics track where Little Athletics and other events are held. Recent developments have been made to the main sporting precincts in Ballam Park.