Article Reference: Star (Footscray – Yarraville) 07-Sep-2010 ‘Growth Suburbs’ Bernard Salt
While Melbourne’s eastern suburbs thrived during the 1980s, it is the west that today holds court as the reigning boom town on the map. The western corridor – Wyndam, Melton, etc – add 18,000 new residents a year (in comparison to the next highest area, the Gold Coast, adding 17,000), a massive undertaking for local councils and infrastructure.
It is predicted the western suburbs will continue to boom well into the 2030s, but what has driven this trend and how will we sustain it? Demographer Bernard Salt speculates the boom has everything to do with affordability – house and land packages begin just below $300,000 in the west while eastern suburb median prices are close to double this. With regeneration also occurring around Footscray and Maribyrnong, the west has never looked better.
While the new communities being created by developers are racing ahead at a glacial pace, the issue of public transport limiting the west’s connection to the CBD is a major factor. One rail line to Werribee and another to Sunshine, with the announcement of a promise to deliver a Regional Rail Link connecting Wyndham Vale with Deer Park and Southern Cross stations the only connections to the CBD.
In addition, the planned Melbourne Metro Rail Tunnel will be a major new rain tunnel between St Kilda Road, near Domain, and Dynon Street in the west. The proposed underground stops will help relieve tram pressure on Swanston Street and St Kilda Road, as well as linking Domain to the Caulfield corridor.
Over time, the projects long term benefits include unclogging Melbourne’s busiest – and growing – rail corridor, allowing an additional 14 trains per hour on the Craigieburn, Upfield, Sunbury, Williamstown and Werribee lines. This equates to approximately 12,000 passengers each hours on these rail lines.
These changes will also pump $4.9 billion of investment into the area but the influx of people and the speed at which they are arriving begs the question, how will place making contribute to people staying in this area?
Will they move here and find the infrastructure lacking? Do you live in the area? What community venues are in place to support you and your families? Salt claims there is no place on the Australian continent that offers more population and urban growth than Melbourne’s western edge at the present time. Can we maintain this momentum and continue to grow?
