The City of Melton is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in Victoria, Australia, on Melbourne's western

rural–urban fringe The rural–urban fringe, also known as the outskirts, rurban, peri-urban or the urban hinterland, can be described as the "landscape interface between town and country", or also as the transition zone where urban and rural uses mix and often ...

. It covers , and in June 2018, Melton had population of 156,713. 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. City of Melton has a rapid population growth rate, ranked 3rd fastest among LGAs in Victoria in 2010. It was granted city status in 2012.

History

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 Bulla (Latin, 'bubble') may refer to: Science and medicine * Bulla (dermatology), a bulla * Bulla, a focal lung pneumatosis, an air pocket in the lung * Auditory bulla, a hollow bony structure on the skull enclosing the ear * Ethmoid bulla, pa ...

and Keilor occurred in May 1959. The Shire had a total area of . Accessed at

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

, La Trobe Reading Room. In 1994, following large-scale statewide local government reform, Melton acquired the Exford district from the

City of Werribee The City of Wyndham is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the outer south-western suburbs of Melbourne, within the Melbourne Metropolitan Area, between Melbourne and the regional city of Geelong. It has an area of . The city had a ...

, growing to its present size. Since the early 1970s the Shire has undergone tremendous population growth and , 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, the council nevertheless reversed the decision and city status was granted in September, 2012. 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 Suburb

Art and culture

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

Administration

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 October 2020 is:

Suburbs

Suburbs within the boundary of the city include: * Aintree, Victoria, Aintree * Bonnie Brook *

Brookfield Brookfield may refer to: Australia *Brookfield, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Brookfield, Victoria Canada * Brookfield, Manitoba, on Manitoba Highway 11 *Brookfield, Newfoundland and Labrador *Brookfield, Nova Scotia *Brookfield, Ontario ...

* Burnside * Burnside Heights * Caroline Springs * Cobblebank * Deanside * Diggers Rest (shared with the City of Hume) * Exford * Eynesbury (shared with the City of Wyndham) *

Fieldstone Fieldstone is a naturally occurring type of stone, which lies at or near the surface of the Earth. Fieldstone is a nuisance for farmers seeking to expand their land under cultivation, but at some point it began to be used as a construction mate ...

* Fraser Rise * Grangefields * Harkness * Hillside (shared with the City of Brimbank) * Kurunjang * Melton *

Melton South Melton South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Melton local government area. Melton South recorded a population of 11,362 at the 2021 census. History Th ...

* Melton West * Mount Atkinson * Mount Cottrell (shared with the City of Wyndham) * Parwan (shared with the Shire of Moorabool) * Plumpton * Ravenhall * Rockbank * Strathtulloh *

Taylors Hill Taylors Hill (also Te Taurere), is a volcano in the Auckland volcanic field. It erupted about 33,000 years ago. Its scoria cone reaches 56 m high. It was the site of a Māori pā (fortification), and retains earthworks from that era such as kuma ...

* Thornhill Park * Toolern Vale (shared with the Shire of Macedon Ranges) *

Truganina Truganina is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Melton and Wyndham local government areas. Truganina recorded a population of 36,305 at the 2021 census. ...

(shared with the City of Wyndham) * Weir Views

Population

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.

References

External links

Melton City Council home page
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20091003000214/http://www.metlinkmelbourne.com.au/location/view/31 Public Transport Victoria local public transport mapbr>Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
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