Melbourne’s western growth corridor is bearing the brunt of Victoria’s population growth with the number of people calling Melton and Wyndham home almost doubling in the past decade.
New population data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals Wyndham’s population rose by 98 per cent between June 2003 and June last year, from 95,776 to 189,618.
Melton’s population rose 92 per cent – from 63,837 in 2003 to 122,909 last year.
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RMIT planning professor Michael Buxton said Wyndham and Melton needed improved infrastructure and increased job opportunities if they were to continue growing at such a rapid rate.
‘‘Governments should not be locating people in outer urban areas that they can’t service,” he said.
The bureau said Melbourne’s greenfield developments were mainly occurring in the outer western and northern suburbs, accounting for most of Wyndham and Melton’s growth.
The fastest-growing suburbs in the western growth corridor from June 2012 to June 2013 included Truganina (11 per cent), Melton South (9.5 per cent) and Wyndham Vale (9.3 per cent).
Wyndham council chief executive Kerry Thompson said the city’s growth rate had declined slightly in the past 12 months. But birth notifications were at record levels, with 80 babies born to Wyndham families each week.
“Wyndham needs a wide range of new and upgraded infrastructure to accommodate the growing population,’’ she said. ‘‘This includes upgrades to road and rail infrastructure.
“[New] infrastructure is required on an annual basis to keep pace with growth which has been relentless.
“We can’t afford for the state and federal governments to take a year off from funding such vital infrastructure as population growth continues.”
Hectic times in Truganina
Truganina was Wyndham’s fastest-growing suburb last year with close to 1500 new residents moving to the area.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that Truganina’s population increased 11 per cent from June 2012 to June 2013, from 13,481 to 14,969.
The suburb’s population has swelled by 13,553 since 2003.
Former Truganina CFA captain Colin Squires, who has lived in Wyndham for more than 60 years, said Truganina’s expansion accelerated quickly.
“The new houses have come up quickly, but that’s not a bad thing,” he said. “It’s not been to the detriment of the area.”
But Mr Squires said more needed to be done to help the suburb’s roads cope with increased traffic.
“Traffic would be my biggest frustration,” he said. ‘‘The roads should be out in place at the same time as the houses. It doesn’t matter where in Truganina you go. there is traffic We need better pre-planning to address the problem.”
