City of Melton

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

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 and Keilor occurred in May 1959. The Shire had a total area of . Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.

In 1994, following large-scale statewide local government reform, Melton acquired the Exford district from the City of Werribee, 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
* Burnside
* Burnside Heights
* Caroline Springs
* Cobblebank
* Deanside
* Diggers Rest (shared with the City of Hume)
* Exford
* Eynesbury (shared with the City of Wyndham)
* Fieldstone
* Fraser Rise
* Grangefields
* Harkness
* Hillside (shared with the City of Brimbank)
* Kurunjang
* Melton
* Melton South
* 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
* Thornhill Park
* Toolern Vale (shared with the Shire of Macedon Ranges)
* Truganina (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.

See also

* List of places on the Victorian Heritage Register in the City of Melton

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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Melton