Epping is a suburb in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
,
Victoria,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, north of Melbourne's
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
, located within the
City of Whittlesea
The City of Whittlesea is a local government area located in the outer northern suburbs of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covers an area of , and in June 2023, it had an estimated population of 245,029 and is one ...
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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
. Epping recorded a population of 33,489 at the
2021 census.
[
]
Boundaries and terrain
Epping is bounded by Mill Park
Mill Park is a small suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 18 km north-east of Melbourne's Melbourne city centre, central business district, located within the City of Whittlesea Local government areas of Victoria ...
and Lalor to the south, Somerton to the west, South Morang to the east and Wollert to the north.
Epping has a mainly flat terrain though, towards the north, lie several large hills, which provide an excellent view of Melbourne. McDonalds Road and High Street are the main thoroughfares. The majority of commercial activity is located on High Street and Cooper Street, where Pacific Epping is located.
History
A village reserve was surveyed in 1839, where Epping later developed. The village was named Epping, after Epping Forest
Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the Lond ...
, in 1853, by which time a hotel (from 1844) and a Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
school were established. Epping Post Office opened on 1 September 1857. The Epping Road Board was established a year later. In 1870, the area around Epping became Darebin Shire, which was renamed Epping Shire in 1893, until it was united with Whittlesea Shire in 1915. By the time the Shire was created, Epping township contained several churches, hotels and a state school, as well as church school. Farmers of Irish origin predominated, but English, Scots and Germans
Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...
settled there. There were several dairy farms. The Melbourne to Whittlesea railway (1889–1960) had a station at Epping, and the main areas to benefit were the transport of milk and quarry products.
The original Epping township is on higher ground west of the Darebin Creek (the Catholic Church being the only one not to have moved from lower flood-risk land). Several older buildings are constructed in bluestone
Bluestone is a cultural or commercial name for a number of natural dimension stone, dimension or building stone varieties, including:
* basalt in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, and in New Zealand
* diabase, dolerites in Tasmania, ...
, plentiful in the surrounding volcanic plains.
Major suburban development took place from the 1970s onwards, and the northern fringes of the area are currently in the process of being developed for housing.
During the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Epping was one of the more heavily affected areas of Melbourne, as it was host to several large virus outbreaks, including the Epping Gardens Aged Care outbreak, which claimed the lives of 38 elderly residents during the second wave in Melbourne.
In 2022, Major Road Projects Victoria are implementing the Epping Road upgrade, which includes adding extra lanes, new traffic lights, upgrading existing intersections and pedestrian lights, building a new shared walking and cycling path, adding on-road bicycle lands and installing safety barriers along the road.
Facilities
One of Melbourne's many shopping centres, Pacific Epping, is located away from the Epping railway station. The Northern Hospital adjoins it. Dalton Village is a small shopping centre which is located on Dalton Road in Epping. There are many parks and reserves located throughout the suburb.
A public library click and collect service operates five days a week, with regular story time sessions at the Galada Community Centre Hub. It is managed by Yarra Plenty Regional Library. Their mobile library also stops weekly in Epping.
Education
There are several government and private schools in Epping, including one of the biggest Catholic High Schools in Australia; St Monica's College, and the second largest public school in Victoria; Mill Park Secondary College, with its senior campus located in the east of Epping, as well as Epping Secondary College and Lalor North Secondary College. Primary schools include Epping Primary School, opening in 1872, Epping Views Primary School, Greenbrook Primary School, Meadow Glen Primary School and St Peter's Primary School.
Melbourne Polytechnic has a campus at Epping, which was developed in 1992 with State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...
funding. Along with Melbourne Polytechnic rural training centres of ''Northern Lodge'' Equine Stud farm at Eden Park, a farm at Yan Yean and the Growling Frog Vineyard, the Epping campus of Melbourne Polytechnic is the largest provider in Victoria of training to the agriculture sector, offering courses from certificate to bachelor's degree level in Aquaculture, Equine Studies, Agriculture and Land Management and Viticulture and Winemaking.[Andrew Coulthard, Operations Manager, Faculty of Earth Science, NMIT. pp27, Hansard, ]
House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry regarding Rural skills training and research
''. Monday 14 November 2005 A new Green Skills Centre, built in 2009/2010, provides courses and training in renewable energy, sustainable design and building and construction. The campus boasts one of Victoria's few indoor recirculating aquaculture facilities. Many other vocational education and training
Vocational education is education that prepares people for a Skilled worker, skilled craft. Vocational education can also be seen as that type of education given to an individual to prepare that individual to be gainfully employed or self em ...
courses are also available.
Transport
Bus
Nine bus routes service Epping:
* : Epping station – Wollert East via Hayston Boulevard. Operated by Dysons
Dyson Group of Companies, operating as Dysons, is a bus and coach operator in Victoria, Australia. The oldest of its subsidiary companies is L.C. Dysons Bus Services, which was founded in June 1952 and is based in Bundoora, Victoria, Bundoora ...
.
* : Wollert West – Thomastown station via Epping station. Operated by Dysons.
* : Epping station – Wollert via Pacific Epping. Operated by Dysons.
* : Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre
Northland Shopping Centre is a major shopping centre in Preston, Victoria, Preston, approximately 11 km north of the Melbourne central business district in Victoria, Australia. It is the largest predominantly single-level shopping centre in ...
via Lalor, Thomastown and Reservoir
A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation.
Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...
. Operated by Dysons.
* : Pacific Epping – Northland Shopping Centre via Keon Park station. Operated by Dysons.
* : Lalor – Northland Shopping Centre via Childs Road, Plenty Road and Grimshaw Street. Operated by Dysons.
* : Pacific Epping – South Morang station. Operated by Dysons.
* : Pacific Epping – South Morang station via Findon Road. Operated by Dysons.
* SmartBus : Frankston station – Melbourne Airport
Melbourne Airport , known locally as Tullamarine Airport, is an international airport serving Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operating 24/7 service, 24 hours a day with on-site parking, shopping and dining, Melbourne Airport is the List of th ...
. Operated by Kinetic Melbourne.
Train
Epping is served by Epping station, which is located on the Mernda line.
Sport
* Epping Football Netball Club, an Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
team, competes in the Northern Football Netball League.
* Epping Tennis Club is also located next to the Epping Football Club.
* The Meadowglen International Athletics Stadium offers an international standard, all-weather synthetic athletics facility. It is managed by the City of Whittlesea.
* Epping Stadium is located off Harvest Home Road, and is currently the home ground of Whittlesea Ranges FC. The ground has hosted several clubs from the national leagues, including the National Soccer League
The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...
and A-league
A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...
.
See also
* Aurora, Victoria
References
External links
Victorian Places - Epping
City of Whittlesea - Place Snapshot: Epping
{{City of Whittlesea suburbs
Suburbs of Melbourne
Suburbs of the City of Whittlesea
Hume Highway