City of Melton

The City of Melton is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, on Melbourne's western rural–urban fringe.

For the suburb in this area, see Melton, Victoria (suburb) additionally Melton West or Melton South, Victoria.

City of Melton
Victoria
Location of Melton within Melbourne's metropolitan area.
Population156,802 (2018)[1]
 • Density296.97/km2 (769.2/sq mi)
Established16 September 1862
Area528 km2 (203.9 sq mi)[1]
MayorCr Kathy Majdlik
Council seatMelton
RegionGreater Melbourne
CountyBourke
State electorate(s)
Federal division(s)
WebsiteCity of Melton
LGAs around City of Melton:
Macedon Ranges Macedon Ranges Hume
Moorabool City of Melton Brimbank
Moorabool Wyndham Wyndham

It covers 528 square kilometres (203.9 sq mi), and in June 2018, Melton had population of 156,713.[1]

It is governed by the Melton City Council. The seat of local government and administrative offices are located at Council headquarters in Melton, the settlement after which the city takes its name which lies at the western end of the LGA and is currently its largest urban area with a population of over 54,000.[2]

City of Melton has a rapid population growth rate, ranked 3rd fastest among LGAs in Victoria in 2010.[3] It was granted city status in 2012.

History
Civic centre

Melton was first incorporated as a district on 16 September 1862, and became a shire on 24 May 1871. Parts of the north and south ridings of the Shire of Braybrook (later City of Sunshine) were annexed to Melton as the Rockbank Riding on 24 May 1916, and this was added to in 1951. Other minor boundary adjustments with Bulla and Keilor occurred in May 1959. The Shire had a total area of 450.4 square kilometres (173.9 sq mi).[4]

In 1994, following large-scale statewide local government reform, Melton acquired the Exford district from the City of Werribee, growing to its present size.[5]

Since the early 1970s the Shire has undergone tremendous population growth and as of 2006, Melton was one of Victoria's fastest-growing local government areas along with neighbouring Wyndham.

After several years of community consultation to defer applying for city status until it had reached 150,000,[6][7] the council nevertheless reversed the decision and city status was granted in September, 2012.[8] The first elected Mayor under the 'City" status was Kathy Majdlik.

In the 2020 Local Government elections, Melton had its first Aboriginal Councillor elected, Cr Ashleigh Vandenberg. A proud Wiradjuri woman making history and becoming the first Aboriginal Councillor in Melbourne's Western Suburbs.

Art and culture

Bush ballad "Click Go the Shears" was first published in 1891 in a local newspaper by "C.C. of Eynesbury".[9] Eynesbury was is a homestead and grazing property owned by Samuel Staughton.[10]

CS Gallery is a contemporary exhibition space located at Caroline Springs Library and Learning Hub. It provides opportunities for artists and groups to exhibit and does not charge fees or commission. Melton Library and Learning Hub provides a number of hanging walls for the presentation of visual art and community exhibitions.[11]

Administration
Melton City Council offices
Aerial view of Melton, the main urban centre

Council

The City's area is divided into three wards, two of which elects three Councillors, the other one electing two Councillors. The Councillors elect a mayor from among the council's members.

The current council, as of January 2023 is:[12]

WardPartyCouncillorNotes
Coburn   Independent Bob Turner
  Labor Ashleigh Vandenberg
  Independent Sophie Ramsey
  Liberal Julie Shannon Deputy Mayor
Cambridge   Labor Steve Abboushi
  Liberal Goran Kesic
  Independent Kathy Majdlik
Watts   Liberal Justine Farrugia
  Labor Lara Carli Mayor

Townships and localities

The city had a population of 178,960 at the 2021 census, up from 135,443 recorded at the 2016 census.[13]

Population
Locality20162021
Aintree*7,982
Bonnie Brook*333
Brookfield9,21610,782
Burnside4,7515,800
Burnside Heights6,0726,377
Caroline Springs24,20524,488
Cobblebank*3,601
Deanside*654
Diggers Rest^2,7635,669
Exford107133
Eynesbury^2,5772,838
Fieldstone*#
Fraser Rise*9,097
Grangefields*132
Harkness*12,463
Hillside^193290
Kurunjang10,07010,711
Melton8,0697,953
Melton South11,51711,362
Melton West17,5898,784
Mount Cottrell^569496
Parwan^170188
Plumpton4,32479
Ravenhall1,1572,295
Rockbank1,5362,583
Strathtulloh*3,997
Taylors Hill14,92115,419
Thornhill Park*3,066
Toolern Vale^724818
Truganina^20,68736,305
Weir Views*4,398

^ - Territory divided with another LGA
* - Not noted in 2016 Census
# - Not noted in 2021 Census

Population
Year Population Annual
Growth (%)
19541,424N/A
19581,580[14]2.63
19611,804[14]4.52
19662,542[14]7.10
19715,974[14]18.64
197613,856[14]18.32
198121,300[14]8.98
198629,5006.73
199135,6953.89
199639,1091.84
200151,6855.73
200678,448[15]8.70
2011109,259[15]7.86
2016135,443
2021178,960

Residential estates

Recent large housing projects include:

  • Atherstone, within the new suburbs of Cobblebank and Strathtulloh. ($1.2 billion).
  • Eynesbury Township.
  • Waterford Estate, in the suburb of Weir Views.
  • Woodlea, within the new suburb of Aintree.
  • Seventh Bend, within the new suburb of Weir Views.

See also

References
  1. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
  2. Census QuickStats (2016). "Melton (UCL) – UCL211004". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Government of Australia. Retrieved 10 December 2017.
  3. "Australian Bureau of Statistics".
  4. Victorian Municipal Directory. Brunswick: Arnall & Jackson. 1992. pp. 756–757. Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.
  5. Australian Bureau of Statistics (1 August 1995). Victorian local government amalgamations 1994-1995: Changes to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. p. 9. ISBN 0-642-23117-6. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
  6. "Community Engagement – Application for City status" (PDF). Moving Ahead. Shire of Melton. 10 November 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2011. Retrieved 29 May 2012.
  7. "Welcome to the City of Melton". City of Melton. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  8. Humpage, Ami; Mcaleer, Liam Status change confirmed, Melton now a City Archived 2013-01-15 at archive.today Melton Leader. 6 Sep 12
  9. Gregory, Mark (2016). ""The bare belled ewe": The origin of "click go the shears"". Quadrant. 60 (9): 98–100.
  10. Staughton, John Frederick (2003). The Staughtons of Eynesbury (2nd ed.). Wheelers Hill.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  11. "Arts, Culture, Heritage". City of Melton. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  12. "Councillors - Melton City Council". www.melton.vic.gov.au. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  13. "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 11 January 2023.
  14. 1958, 1983 and 1988 Victorian Year Book
  15. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Melton (S) (Local government Area)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 20 December 2007.

37°40′58″S 144°34′27″E

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