Roxburgh Park ( , also ) 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 Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

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 the

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 Hume The City of Hume is a Local government areas of Victoria, local government area located within the metropolitan area of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. It includes the outer north-western suburbs, including the major cent ...

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 ...

. Roxburgh Park recorded a population of 24,129 at the 2021 census. The suburb is bound by Craigieburn to the north, to the west by Aitken Boulevard skirting the

Greenvale Reservoir Greenvale Reservoir is an off-stream water storage dam in northern Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is situated in the upper Yuroke Creek catchment, the major tributary of the Moonee Ponds Creek. It is in the north of the suburb of Greenv ...

, to the east by the

Craigieburn railway line The Craigieburn line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's seventh shortest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinders Street station in ...

and to the south by Somerton Road.

History

Originally part of

Somerton Somerton may refer to: Places Australia * Somerton, New South Wales * Somerton Park, South Australia, a seaside Adelaide suburb ** Somerton Man, unsolved case of an unidentified man found dead in 1948 on the Somerton Park beach *Somerton, Victoria ...

, Roxburgh Park gets its name from the property "Roxburgh", which was named by local farmer Thomas Brunton in about 1885, after his house in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Prior to the construction of Roxburgh Park, the area was the subject of a design by architect Philip Treeby for a

garden suburb The garden city movement was a 20th century urban planning movement promoting satellite communities surrounding the central city and separated with greenbelts. These Garden Cities would contain proportionate areas of residences, industry, an ...

called "Hopetoun" in 1889. Plans for the suburb included parks, schools, tennis courts and shops. The early 1890s economic depression prevented the construction of this design. In January 1951 the

Moonee Valley Racing Club The Moonee Valley Racing Club (MVRC) was founded by William Samuel (W.S.) Cox), in 1883 is located at The Valley Racecourse on McPherson Street, Moonee Ponds (a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia). It is one of three racing clubs in the Mel ...

bought the "Roxburgh Park" property for £35,000, as a speculative investment, although the purchase did give the club an option if it ever had to leave its somewhat cramped location in

Moonee Ponds Moonee Ponds is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Moonee Valley Local government ar ...

. The

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

's Urban and Regional Land Corporation (later "VicUrban" and then "

Places Victoria Places Victoria, was the Victorian Government's property development agency delivering urban renewal. Based in Melbourne, Australia, Places Victoria developed surplus government land. In April 2017, Places Victoria combined with Major Projects ...

") purchased land in the area in 1988 to plan and develop Roxburgh Park (not unlike the new towns in the green wedges of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

). The suburb, which was originally going to be named "Ruthvenfield", was to comprise 7000 house blocks for around 20,000 residents. Construction began in the early 1990s. Recognition of Roxburgh Park was promoted in widely screened TV commercials throughout the mid-1990s, presenting Roxburgh Park's avowed virtues as a planned community with a balance of residential and industrial land, along with public reserves (part of the Shankland Reserve is in the south of Roxburgh Park),

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

s and access to transport. The slogan for the campaign was ''"Roxburgh Park – where dreams come true..."'' Developments over recent years include child care centres, a

retirement village A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves. Assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socialization opp ...

and an Islamic centre. The commercial hub of the suburb is on Somerton Road.

Demographics

The most common ancestries of residents in Roxburgh Park are Turkish 11.8%, Australian 11.5%, Iraqi 10.5%, Chaldean (Assyrian) 8.5%, English 7.8%. Roxburgh Park has been described as one of Melbourne's "multicultural hot spots". Well-known figures in the immigrant community of the suburb include Alaa Elzokm, who was awarded an

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in the 2023 King's Birthday Honours, "For service to the Islamic community".

Education

* Roxburgh Park Primary School * Roxburgh Rise Primary School * Roxburgh Homestead Primary School * Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School *

Roxburgh College Roxburgh College is a state secondary school in Roxburgh Park, Victoria, Australia. Previously Upfield Secondary College, the school completed its transition to the current site at Roxburgh Park during 2005. The school offers years 7–12, wit ...

Commercial

Three large shopping centres are located within the suburb; on Somerton Road is the Roxburgh Park Shopping Centre, which features 70 specialist stores, on

Pascoe Vale Road Pascoe Vale Road is a major thoroughfare through the northern suburbs of Melbourne, connecting the outer northern fringe to the inner northern suburbs. Route Pascoe Vale Road starts at the intersection with Somerton Road in Coolaroo, Victoria ...

near the Roxburgh Park Hotel is the Roxburgh Plaza and Homemaker Centre. The smaller Roxburgh Homestead Shopping Centre lies close to the Roxburgh Homestead Primary School. On Fouz Street, near the Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School and along Donald Cameron Drive, is Roxy Central. Roxy Central was finalised and fully opened during 2021. It contains national brands such as

FoodWorks FoodWorks is an Australian supermarket chain run by independent retail group Australian United Retailers (AUR). It is Australia's second largest independent supermarket retailing group behind Metcash, supporting in excess of Australian dollar, ...

and many different local small businesses.

Sport

Roxburgh Park Football Club, an

Australian Rules 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 ...

football team, competes in the

Essendon District Football League The Essendon District Football League (EDFL) is a semi-professional Australian rules football league competition based in Essendon, Victoria, consisting of teams based in the north-west suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1930, the men's competi ...

Transport

Bus

Seven

bus routes A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used in ...

service Roxburgh Park: * : Broadmeadows station – Roxburgh Park station via Greenvale. Operated by

CDC Melbourne CDC Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It operates 55 bus routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is one of the brands of CDC Victoria, which is in turn a subsidiary of ComfortDelGro Australia. As a ...

. * : Broadmeadows station – Craigieburn North. 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 ...

. * : Roxburgh Park station – Pascoe Vale station via Meadow Heights,

Broadmeadows Broadmeadows is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north of Melbourne's Central Business District and the council seat of the City of Hume local government area. Broadmeadows recorded a population of 12,524 at the 2021 census. It i ...

and Glenroy. Operated by Dysons. * : Greenvale Gardens – Roxburgh Park station via Greenvale Village Shopping Centre. Operated by CDC Melbourne. * : Craigieburn station – Roxburgh Park station. Operated by

Broadmeadows Bus Service Broadmeadows Bus Service is a bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Australia. It operates eight routes under contract to Public Transport Victoria. It is owned by Northern Transit Holdings, which also operates Kastoria Bus Lines, Nationwide Tour ...

. *

SmartBus SmartBus is a network of bus services in the city of Melbourne, Australia. Overseen by Public Transport Victoria, the network comprises nine key cross-town and orbital bus routes around Melbourne. Key aspects of the service include more freque ...

: 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 Kinetic Melbourne is a bus operator in Melbourne, Australia, operating a fleet of 602 buses on 45 bus routes, as well as seven SmartBus routes. It commenced operations on 31 January 2022, taking over all routes previously operated by Transdev Me ...

. *

Night Bus Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, is a mode of public transport service operated during the night hours. As an intermediate approach – between providing full service around the clock and stopping services altogether – it p ...

: Broadmeadows station – Craigieburn via Roxburgh Park (operates Saturday and Sunday mornings only). Operated by

Ventura Bus Lines Ventura Bus Lines is a large bus and coach operator in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, operating a fleet of more than 950 buses on 141 bus routes. History Early history Ventura was founded in December 1924 by Henry Cornwall. The name and co ...

Cycling

The Broadmeadows Valley Trail makes its way through the suburb, in a north–south direction.

Train

Roxburgh Park is served by Roxburgh Park station, on the

Craigieburn line The Craigieburn line is a commuter railway line in the city of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. Operated by Metro Trains Melbourne, it is the city's seventh shortest metropolitan railway line at . The line runs from Flinde ...

. The station opened on 30 September 2007, when electrification was extended from

to Craigieburn. The current station is approximately at the site of the former Somerton railway station, which opened in 1881 and closed in 1960.

References

External links

City of Hume WebsiteRoxburgh Park Website
{{City of Hume suburbs Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Hume