Reimagining the west and the idea of Melbourne

Melbourne is at a crossroads. The number of people who call the west home stands at close to 1 million. By 2050, it is projected to be 1.8 million, twice the size it was in 2021, and bigger than the population of Adelaide. It is the fastest population growth in Australia.

A report by The West of Melbourne Economic Development Alliance, which was formed “to support, provide and carry out activities, facilities and projects for the benefit or welfare of the community in the west of Melbourne”, encapsulates what this growth means, not only to the region, the city and Victoria, but to the country.

Residents of Melbourne’s booming western suburbs have ever-growing commuting times.Credit: Joe Armao

The report says: “Australia’s economic future critically depends on ensuring that this booming population leads to a booming economy.”

In recent months, The Age has run articles highlighting and digging deep into life in the west and the issues confronting residents and businesses. Today and tomorrow, The West of Melbourne Summit, presented by WoMEDA with The Age, will be held to outline those issues and discuss how the future for the region should be tackled.

The massive growth in population, coupled with huge underinvestment, particularly in infrastructure, has generated problems for residents in a lack of human services and transport that make daily life a battle. For many, the west is the horizon of hope, of a better life and of home ownership. The deficiency shows how planning is always catching up with the reality. This, clearly, is not the way to build a city.

In August, The Age detailed a Victoria University report, commissioned by WoMEDA, that showed while the number of working residents was expected to grow by 147,000 by 2034, the number of jobs would rise by only 66,000.

In less than a decade, more than half the west’s workforce would be commuting outside the region for work. This cannot be the future. Jobs, including professional jobs that are currently scarce locally, must be created in the area.

We have also reported that parents are sending their children out of the area to schools because of the lack of educational options. The lack of services is also acute in child and health care. The west’s booming population is fuelled by the young age of residents. Yet, the WoMEDA report describes the region as a “desert” for childcare.

WoMEDA’s chair, Peter Dawkins, has described the growing sprawl as a “ticking time bomb”. A key element in defusing this bomb is in initiating an alignment of all three tiers of government in a vision of what the west should be. This may seem like an exercise in herding cats, but it has to be done and must be outside the partisanship of politics. An example of where the west should be heading can be derived from the development of Parramatta, to the west of the Sydney’s CBD, which is now the demographic heart of the city.

There is much merit in the prospect of Sunshine becoming a second CBD by 2050. However, proper consideration cannot be given to that idea until the $4.1 billion Sunshine Superhub promised by the state government is built and connected.

As the WoMEDA report states: “Sunshine is the only existing precinct in Melbourne that is recognised as a metropolitan activity centre, an employment and innovation precinct, a priority precinct and a transport superhub. Its connectivity to the satellite cities of Melton and Wyndham, as well as Melbourne’s CBD, will be a critical element in its future planning.”

Turning that recognition into reality must run in parallel with stemming the rise in crime. We reported this week that private security guards patrolling housing estates in the west would start carrying guns by the end of the year. The region is dealing with a surge in home invasions, carjackings and machete attacks.

Governments need to back the west and commit to real investment. Labor has taken the west for granted on the back of safe seats. Independents are seeking to tap into that discontent, to challenge the status quo and press for greater investment for the area. Change, particularly investment for the increasingly urgent transport needs of the west, is needed, and soon.

The West of Melbourne Summit, presented by WoMEDA with The Age, will be held on October 22-23. For details go to womeda.com.au