Emily Yuille has fond memories of growing up in Wyndham.
She shares her love of the area with Adem Saban.
How long have you been in Wyndham?
I have lived in Wyndham my entire life.
My parents built their first home in Woodville, which in 1974 was one of two estates at Hoppers Crossing.
I was born the following year.
I moved to Werribee in 1985, however remained at school in Hoppers Crossing.
I have lived either in Hoppers, Werribee or Wyndham Vale all my life.
I went to school here, I have worked in the municipality in different capacities, and I have raised my daughter here.
What has changed since 1975?
Population explosion! In 1975, Wyndham’s population was about 35,000, made up of the Werribee township and two estates at Hoppers Crossing, plus a very small Wyndham Vale.
Now the population is more than 200,000, and we’re growing in all directions.
There is so much more diversity in the community.
In 1975, there were mainly families from Anglo and Italian backgrounds.
In our street it was pretty Anglo-Saxon, with one Italian family, now Wyndham has people from all four corners of the globe, and it shows in all sorts of ways.
Our arts and culture have changed; we celebrate many religious holidays and traditional festivals.
We are spoilt for choice when it comes to eateries – we have Greek, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, Middle Eastern, Indian, Turkish, Malaysian, Vietnamese, New Zealand specialty stores, Asian supermarkets, and wonderful delicatessens.
We didn’t have a major shopping centre like Pacific Werribee.
What was it like growing up in Wyndham?
It was a great place to grow up.
It was a new estate, so the majority were young families – we knew everyone, and I had a friend in every house in the street and have maintained some of those friendships to this day.
It was a safe place, we had lots of freedom.
We played in the street all day, every day … we walked everywhere or rode our bikes.
As a child, you were either at school, playing sport or just playing.
Everyone had a sport. For me it was netball.
What do you love most about the town?
The people. We’re a very down-to-earth community, most people are friendly and welcoming and to some extent it resembles the Wyndham of old.
Wyndham has grown … but I still have a very strong sense that this is a good, safe place to live.
And I love the variety of nationalities that are coming to live here.
Where would you take visitors to Wyndham?
I love that Werribee Park is a five-minute car ride … and the beach is on our door step.
First stop would be the K Road cliffs.
