Kalkallo is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Hume local government area. Kalkallo recorded a population of 5,548 at the 2021 census. Located on the Hume Freeway, Kalkallo had, until the 2010s, a few streets, a service station and a pub. It was formerly surrounded by farms that were not developed by the urban sprawl of Melbourne. History The Kalkallo area is located on the traditional lands of the people of the Woiwurrung. It is believed that the clan which occupied land including, the South Morang area, was the Wurundjeri William. Colonisation occurred in Victoria from 1835, and land sales commenced in the Parish of Kalkallo in 1840. An example of an early rural town settlement, Kalkallo contains many natural and cultural heritage sites of significance including churches, hotels, monuments, bridges, waterways and grasslands. In 1848, residents began requesting a post office for the township, and Kinlochewe Post Office opened on 1 November 1850. The post office was located in the Robert Burns Inn on Summerhill Road and Sydney Road. In 1854 it was moved and renamed Donnybrook, then renamed Kalkallo in 1874, before eventually closing in 1971. During the gold rush years the town boomed as travellers made their way up Sydney Road and the township featured seventeen accommodation houses, a police station, jail and court house. In the 1870s, the duplication of the Hume Highway and the opening of the North East railway line decimated the population. Environment Kalkallo is located amongst the large Gilgai plain. Located near Donovans Lane, north-west of the town centre, is the Bald Hill volcano that last erupted over 1 million years ago. Merri Creek runs through Kalkallo to the east of the suburb. The Kalkallo Grasslands are remnants of a large area of grassland which houses many threatened species of plants, amphibians and reptiles. Flora Gilgai Brown Grass Small Pepper Cress Dianella amoena Prasophyllum frenchii Pussy tails Narrow-leaf new holland daisy Chaffy bush-pea Smooth rice flower Plains Yam Daisy Fauna Growling Grass Frog Red-chested buttonquail Plains froglet Common spade foot toad Cunningham's spiny-tailed skink Bougainvilles skink Lowland copperhead Australian Smelt Water Rat Engaeus Quadrimanus Eastern three-lined skink Tussock skink Little whip snake Southern lined earless dragon Striped legless lizard Planning Kalkallo has been a focus of a number of town planning ideas since colonisation, but did remain largely undeveloped until the