Capel Sound from above during sunrise. April 2024.
A distinguishing landmark feature of Capel Sound is the Tootgarook Swamp, the largest example left of a shallow freshwater marsh in the Port Phillip bay region. The swamp is also described by Melbourne Water as a ground water dependent ecosystem. The 381 hectare swamp is found on the lower section of the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia. A large portion of the Tootgarook Swamp is zoned as residential and industrial, with roughly half of the actual swamp inside the green wedge and half within the urban growth boundary.[2]
History
Rosebud West Post Office opened on 12 January 1938 and closed around 1996.[3]
The town kept the name of the post office until an effort to change the name began in 2015. Proponents hoped a name change would distance the town from being seen as only an economically disadvantaged suburb of nearby Rosebud. About 56% of residents surveyed voted in favor of the name change. On 15 September 2016, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council officially changed the name from Rosebud West to Capel Sound.[4] The new name was derived from an 1836 survey chart of the area, and was already in use by local businesses such as The Capel Sound Shopping Village.[5]
