The Melbourne suburbs bucking the high population growth trend

MELBOURNE has one of the highest growth rates in the Western world, but some suburbs are bucking the population trend. See which areas are losing residents.

MELBOURNE is experiencing record population growth, but some pockets of the city are shedding people.

Keilor Downs, in the northwest, lost more than 500 people between 2006 and 2016, as did Endeavour Hills South, in the outer southeast, according to an Australian Bureau of Statistics report on regional population growth.

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In the northeast, Hurstbridge recorded 41 fewer people and Eltham 14 fewer, while Upwey-Tecoma in the Dandenongs lost 146 residents over the decade.

The Shire of Nillumbik, which includes Eltham and Hurstbridge, had a small increase of fewer than 1000 people over the decade, according to separate census figures.

Nillumbik mayor Peter Clarke said the area was among the most beautiful in Melbourne, and houses were relatively cheap, but rural conservation zones and the urban growth boundary limited growth opportunities.

“Even over the next decade, it’s unlikely that the shire’s population will get anything greater than 65,000,” he said.

“Broadly, we’re a fairly Anglo community, but there are small pockets of migration from Europe and some other nationalities, such as a handful of Syrian Christian refugees who’ve settled here recently.”

Nillumbik Shire mayor Peter Clarke. Picture: Mark Wilson

Census data show in 2016, 80 per cent of Nillumbik’s residents were Australian-born, compared with a city-wide figure of 60 per cent.

Nillumbik’s top migrant groups are the English (4.4 per cent) and the Italians and New Zealanders (1 per cent each).

Areas of regional Victoria suffering a population drop included Loddon (5.5 per cent), Towong (2.3 per cent), Seymour (2.1 per cent) and Myrtleford (1.5 per cent).

Over the decade, Victoria’s three biggest regional centres — Geelong, Bendigo and Ballarat — grew by a combined total of 56,635 people, though this was less than Melbourne’s average annual growth.

The city expanded by almost 1 million people over the decade, to reach 4.7 million.

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