Dutch migrant built a lasting legacy in Melbourne
The Age
Tuesday March 2, 2010
JOANNA (JOAN)NOORDENNEESTATE DEVELOPER,CHURCHWOMAN4-11-192412-1-2010JOHANNA Angenieta Noordenne was a Dutch migrant who came to Australia in the early 1950s, fearful that the recently ended World War II was about to explode into a nuclear Armageddon of World War III.She has died in Melbourne, aged 85, leaving as a legacy her part in constructing more than 1000 homes, numerous shopping centres and an Altona estate dissected by a street in her family's name.Johanna married Lou (Lodewyk) Noordenne in the Dutch riverside town of Sliedrecht in 1951. Lou had been prominent on the staff of a building company. Joan was a secretary with accounting skills.The fear about World War III was that it would break out between the US and the Soviet Union and the battleground would be Europe and Asia. This coincided with the early post-war push for migrants to Australia and so they decided to participate. They boarded a chartered aircraft filled with such couples, their luggage following them by sea. This luggage included two pushbikes and the husband's motorbike.Not long after arriving, Lou discovered the dangers of riding a motorcycle in Australia when he was struck by a car crossing a bridge over the Maribyrnong at Footscray. He had a broken leg and spent seven months in hospital before he could resume work as a builder.The Noordennes' practice had been to purchase land and enter arrangements for householders to build on it. Lou handled arrangements with building tradesmen and sub-contractors such as carpenters and tilers, while his wife managed the office.An estate, which took on the name Bayside Village, was such a case. The initial developers, Wilmore and Randell, had some low-lying land off Kororoit Creek, partially subject to swamping.When they gave it up, unhappy about municipal restrictions, the Noordennes took it over. The fact that some of the site had to be filled and drained, typical of their native Holland where land under sea-level was barriered off and turned into solid terrain, was nothing to them. The estate in Altona grew into several hundred homes and was bisected by "Noordenne Avenue".The couple initially ran their business from a two-storey brick home they built closer to the growing Altona seaside suburb. Then they moved up Millers Road to Altona North and the home they largely lived in for the rest of their lives. But for some years they moved to a farming property at Bacchus Marsh. Mrs Noordenne had spent her childhood as a farmer's daughter.The couple branched into shopping centres. The scale of their operations increased when they took over the partly-built centre at Taylors Lakes, near Keilor, from the failed West Australian tycoon, Alan Bond.Another shopping-centre site became available at a flat barren spot enticingly to be called Altona Meadows.The essence of the Nordennes' operation was the deal offered purchasers. One tenant said his was the best financial deal he came across in a study throughout Melbourne. Purchasers found they could have their own building plan rather than being bound to accept that of the builder, as in most cases.I know from dealing with Mrs Noordenne for a home around 1970 that to confer with her as manager, was virtually a social occasion. Her manner was invariably pleasant. She ensured that I was up with details; she phoned to suggest I visit her and choose a colour for the kitchen bench.Lou Noordenne told of estate agents putting propositions to him. Anyone knows what that might mean to one's pocket. Noordenne turned them down; "Lou is an estate developer," his wife observed.The Altona Meadows shopping centre, featuring a public library, is today a big centre in which the Noordenne children came to figure in management.The Noordennes hosted events by opening their homes in the style of many Europeans. In November 1967, they threw their home open to a visiting soccer team.That Saturday evening ended in tragedy when the Altona Shire president, a councillor from Scotland, Stan McIntosh, crashed the car in which he was driving young players late that night, in Geelong Road, Brooklyn. Cr McIntosh alone was killed. His fate was regarded as ironic in that he had survived British naval campaigns throughout World War II.Joan Noordenne was driven by a Christian faith. She supported, both in attendance and financially, a Presbyterian church at Altona. When it closed, she transferred to Williamstown, where she worshipped and was a treasurer of St Andrew's Church.She often drove fellow worshippers home after church. When she began to slow down, others came to drive her.She paid for an annual Christmas dinner at Williamstown residential village for fellow church folk each year. Her 80th birthday was celebrated on one such occasion, in 2004.Husband Lou did not share her religious convictions and seldom attended church.Joan Noordenne is survived by her husband and children Corrie, Anita, Brian, Martin and Louisa.JOANNA ('JOAN') NOORDENNEESTATE DEVELOPER, CHURCHWOMAN4-11-192412-1-2010By LARRY NOYE
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