Westmeadows 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,

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, north-west of Melbourne's

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, 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 ...

. Westmeadows recorded a population of 6,502 at the . Mainly a residential suburb, Westmeadows includes the areas east and west of Mickleham Road. It borders include Yuroke Creek between Johnstone Street and Barry Road (the eastern limit), the border with Attwood (the water pipes path parallel to Toora Drive and Linga and Kenny Streets) as well as the Moonee Ponds Creek east of Mickleham Road (the northern limits) and just before the

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Landfill (the western limit). The area north of residential Westmeadows (still part of Westmeadows) contains the east–west flight path for the

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 ...

Tullamarine Tullamarine ( ) is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Brimbank, Hume and Merri-bek local government areas. Tullamarine recorded a population of 6,7 ...

. The land under the flight path has been kept undeveloped and is the Broadmeadows Valley Park. It contains two streams which flow into the Moonee Ponds Creek.

History

The Broadmeadows area, home to the

Wurundjeri The Wurundjeri people are an Aboriginal peoples, Aboriginal people of the Woiwurrung language, Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin nation. They are the traditional owners of the Yarra River Valley, covering much of the present location of ...

Aboriginal tribe prior to European settlement, was settled by pastoralists in the 1840s. Westmeadows contains the original Broadmeadows Village on the Moonee Ponds Creek, but is now west of the present Broadmeadows. The first Broadmeadows township was laid out by a Government survey in 1850. Ardlie Street was its commercial centre with a hotel (the Broadmeadows Hotel, now Westmeadows Tavern), the police station and the Shire office (the District Roads Board Building, opened in 1866). The first Broadmeadows Post Office opened here on 1 January 1855, was renamed Broadmeadows West in 1955 then Westmeadows in 1963. The Anglican Church was opened in 1850 a little to the east, a Presbyterian Church was opened in the same decade, the Vicarage for the Anglican Church in 1860 and the St Anne's Roman Catholic Church in 1867. A school begun in Westmeadows in 1851. However, the present primary school site dates from 1870. Broadmeadows township and the urban centre began to be moved two kilometres eastwards when the

railway line Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...

and

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

were opened in 1872. Shire loyalties clung to the old township until new civic offices were built near the railway station in 1928. The Housing Commission began the building of a 2,226 ha. estate in the Broadmeadows area in 1949. Not until 1975 did it begin building in the vicinity of the old township, which it called Westmeadows Heights. Between 1975 and 1979 it built over 900 houses in the area.

Landmarks

There are many historic buildings and landmarks still surviving in Westmeadows. These include the Shire Offices and the Bluestone Bridge over the Moonee Ponds Creek (built in 1869, part of Fawkner Street) which are both on the

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heri ...

. The original Westmeadows Police Station (no longer in use, since the opening of the Broadmeadows Police Station) and the Westmeadows Gaol are also still standing. The original Anglican church is still being used (presently on Raleigh Street). The Old Coach House (10 Broad Street) Local information suggests the place has been known as the Old Coach House, suggesting a connection with the coaching activities of Cobb & Co. and that it was the site of Grant's Livery Stables in 1850, a stop-over for coaches operating between Melbourne and Broadmeadows. The Coach Service ran daily from the Bush Inn in

Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and tr ...

Melbourne, leaving there a 4:00pm and returning at 8:00am the next day (return far 4/-) (Historical Society).

Demographics

The estimated population for Westmeadows, according to the 2021 census, was 6,503. Like most of Melbourne, Westmeadows has a multicultural population. According to the 2021 census, just over two thirds (71.7%) of persons in Westmeadows were born in Australia and 28.3% being born overseas. Around one fifth (19.8%) were born overseas in a non-English speaking country. The most common overseas countries of birth were

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and the

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. Just over two thirds of persons in Westmeadows (67.8%) speak only English at home. The most common foreign languages spoken in Westmeadows are

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Turkish,

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(including Lebanese), and

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. Most of the working age class of Westmeadows is employed. The unemployment rate is 7.6%, which is slightly lower than the unemployment rate for Hume (8.4%).

Education

* Westmeadows Primary School

Sport

Sporting clubs

Westmeadows is represented by the following teams in their respective leagues: *

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 ...

** Westmeadows 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. *

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

** Westmeadows Cricket Club *

Tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

*
Westmeadows Tennis Club

Sporting grounds

Westmeadows has many sporting grounds. It has an Australian rules football oval in Willowbrook Reserve, which is home to the Westmeadows Football Club and the Westmeadows Cricket Club. There is another Australian Rules/Cricket oval (with nets) in the Westmeadows Reserve near Ardlie Street. The Westmeadows Heights Reserve includes another Cricket oval (with nets) and two

Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

fields. The Westmeadows Tennis Club has six courts and is also located in Willowbrook Reserve.

Public transport

Bus routes

Five bus routes service Westmeadows: * :

Moonee Ponds Junction Moonee Ponds Junction is a bus and tram interchange on the junction of Ascot Vale Road / Pascoe Vale Road and Mount Alexander Road in Moonee Ponds, Melbourne (Puckle Street / Dean Street also meets at the same point). It is located approximate ...

– Broadmeadows station via

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

, Airport West and Gladstone Park. 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 – Roxburgh Park station via Greenvale. Operated by CDC Melbourne. *

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 –

. Operated by Kinetic Melbourne. *

: Chelsea station – Westfield Airport West. Operated by Kinetic Melbourne. *

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 ...

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( Queen Street) – Broadmeadows station via Niddrie and Airport West (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 ...

.959 City - Broadmeadows Station via Niddrie and Airport West
Public Transport Victoria

Train

The closest station to Westmeadows is Broadmeadows 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 ...

. All bus routes through Westmeadows terminate at the station.

References

External links

Westmeadows Profile (Hume City Council)

Broadmeadows History (Heritage Australia)Westmeadows Tennis Club
{{City of Hume suburbs Suburbs of Melbourne Suburbs of the City of Hume