Originally a country town along the Ballarat — Melbourne growth corridor, Melton was designated a satellite city of Melbourne in 1974.[3][4] Along with the rest of the City of Melton, it forms a part of Greater Melbourne and counts as part of its population statistic. In 2023, Melbourne's significant urban area boundary was expanded to include Melton.[5]
Like the overall local government area, Melton was named after Melton Mowbray in the United Kingdom.[6]
History
Pre-settlement history
The land to the east of the Werribee River is the traditional home of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people, and to the west, the traditional home of the Wadawurrung. Mount Cottrell is jointly managed by Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung.[7]
19th and 20th centuries
Melton was first settled by squatters establishing sheep runs in the area in the 1830s and a small settlement benefited from traffic passing through it on the way to the Ballarat gold fields during the Victorian Gold Rush. The post office opened on 1 March 1856.[8]
The population of Melton remained stable at around 1,000 - 1,500 until the mid 1950s, rising to 1800 in 1962 and doubling to 3600 in 1968.[9] The first of the larger residential estates was Delphic Realty's Melton Views Estate in 1964.[citation needed]
The area was declared a satellite city in 1974.
21st century
The overall City of Melton is forecast to grow in population by over 250,000 by 2051, however most of this growth is predicted to happen in the surrounding suburbs, particularly in Aintree, Caroline Springs, and Brookfield; the suburb of Melton itself is only predicted to grow 2% by 2051.[10]
Melbourne's "significant urban area" boundary was moved to include Melton in 2023, leading to misinformed headlines[11][12][13][14] claiming that Melbourne's population overtook Sydney's. However, Greater Sydney still has significantly more population than Greater Melbourne.[15]
According to census data, the suburb of Melton has had a relatively stable population since being recognised as a separate suburb on the 2006 census,[nb 1] where it had a population of 7,305.[17] The population grew to 7,593 by 2011,[18] then to 8,069 by 2016.[19] The population lowered to 7,953 at the 2021 census.[20]
Geography and Climate
Melton is located on mostly flat, largely featureless, former volcanic plains.
To the south-east of Melton is Mount Cottrell, a blast-shield volcano, and to the north-east of the suburb is Mount Kororoit. Mount Cottrell produced some of the largest lava flows in the western Victoria.[21] These two volcanoes are some of the easternmost volcanoes on the Victorian Volcanic Plain which extends to the South Australian border.
Melton receives less rainfall than Melbourne due to the area's position within the Otway Ranges rain shadow.[22] The area has a profound urban heat island effect due to its ongoing rapid suburban development. There is some concern over how continued development and climate change will affect Melton, with particular concern focused on the loss of several threatened animal species' habitat, and an increased risk of bushfires and extreme weather events in the near future.[23][24][25] The Melton City Council has noted that the area is "particularly exposed to the impacts of climate change due to its moderate level of socio-economic disadvantage and large proportion of overseas-born residents", along with "significant structural barriers to participating in low-carbon lifestyles including limited local employment opportunities, lack of access to public transport, and inefficient new housing developments".[26]
Precipitation records for Melton follow.
Climate data for Melton (1883–2018); 156m AMSL; 37.66° S, 144.57° E
Each year the Djerriwarrh Festival is held in the city in November. The festival includes a street parade down High Street, two-day market stalls, and the Lions Club Carnival, held in the Police Paddock on High Street.[27]
The Melton Library and Learning Hub[28] was the first library in Australia to be awarded a 5 Star Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of Australia. It has a theatre, recording studio, wall space for exhibitions and runs several public events.[29]
When the town was first established, the east end of High Street was the centre of town containing the police station, post office, court house, grocery stores, blacksmith, and pubs.[30] High Street remains the main activity centre, with the surrounding streets forming the Melton Town Centre[31] and the Central Walk Shopping Centre.[32]
Golfers play at the course of the Melton Valley Golf Club on Melton Valley Drive.[34]
Governance
City of Melton offices
Melton is the administrative centre for the City of Melton.
Its state electorate is the electoral district of Melton, and its federal electorate is the division of Hawke, currently held by Sam Rae. Since the electoral division's inception in 1992, Melton has elected only Labor members. Hawke was won by Labor at its first election in 2022.
Media
Melton receives the same digital television stations as Melbourne. It is also within the broadcast range of all commercial radio stations from Melbourne, and is an end point for digital radio broadcasts in metropolitan Melbourne. Broadcast signals diminish towards the west.[citation needed]
Melton shares one local newspaper with the neighbouring Shire of Moorabool, the Melton & Moorabool Star Weekly.[35]
Melton has one local radio station, 979fm, and can receive Apple FM broadcasting from nearby Bacchus Marsh.
Several bus services are operated across Melton by Transit Systems Victoria, with the Melton Bus Interchange being located on Palmerston Street.[37] The following bus routes are operated via the Melton Bus Interchange:
Melton's train service is known for being overcrowded.[43] Funding was committed in the 2023 Victorian State Budget to investigate upgrading stations along the railway line to allow for larger nine-carriage V/Line VLocity trains to run on the line.[44] Melton station is planned to be rebuilt in 2026, along with the removal of four level crossings between Melton and Deer Park railway station, as part of the Level Crossing Removal Project.[45][46][47][48]
Electrification of Melton's rail line was recommended in Public Transport Victoria's 2013 Network Development Plan and planned to be delivered as part of the Western Rail Plan. These plans initially included quadruplication of the Melton line to separate the Ballarat V/Line service from the future Melton Metro service. In 2023 it was reported that, while electrification to Melton is still planned for the future, track quadruplication is no longer part of the Western Rail Plan.[49][50]
Melton itself contains two primary schools - the public Melton Primary School located on Unitt Street, and the independent St. Dominic's Catholic Primary School located on Church Street. Melton Secondary College is in the neighbouring suburb of Melton West.
Primary schools in surrounding suburbs
Wedge Park Primary School – Cambrian Way, Melton West
St. Catherine of Siena Primary School – Bulmans Road, Melton West
St. Anthony of Padua Primary School – Wilson Road, Melton South
Melton South Primary School – Station Road, Melton South
Melton West Primary School – West Melton Drive, Melton West
Coburn Primary School – Richards Road, Melton South
Exford Primary School – Exford Road, Exford
Kurunjang Primary School – Kurunjang Drive, Kurunjang
Toolern Vale and District Primary School – Creamery Road, Toolern Vale
Arnold's Creek Primary School – Claret Ash Boulevard, Harkness
