Melbourne’s west is a growing force, and politicians should beware

Just before the 2018 state election, the then Andrews government announced its plan for the Suburban Rail Loop, connecting Cheltenham and Clayton in the city’s south-east to Sunshine and Werribee in the west. The estimated cost of the project was $50 billion, with completion envisioned in 2050.

In August 2021, an investment case for the SRL was finally released, and for residents of Melbourne’s western suburbs it told a familiar story. The $50 billion price tag and the cost-benefit analysis was now only for the eastern and north-eastern sections of the line, as far as Melbourne Airport, which together would be completed by 2053. While the Allan government insists it is committed to building the whole loop, the west once again finds itself at the back of the queue, clutching at promises of better days.

This week’s series of Age reports on life in the west shows that again and again, those living in the fastest-growing region of the city have been offered a vision that then recedes into the distance.

Sunshine’s hopes for investment associated with a Melbourne Airport rail link now have to contend with a delay of at least four years from 2029, the opening date initially proposed. After years of wrangling, the “super-city” East Werribee Employment Precinct is still little more than a document. Electrification of the train services to Melton and Wyndham was another 2018 election promise that is no closer to being realised.

Five years ago, the western suburb of Mambourin was touted by planners and developers as a “20-minute city”, where services would be in such proximity that you could leave your car at home; as senior city reporter Adam Carey reports, the reality is falling far short.

Successive Labor governments can point to billions of dollars spent on the west. Dozens of schools have been opened and hundreds more upgraded, a hospital has been opened in Sunshine and two more are being built in Footscray and Melton.

Transport links are also being improved. The imminent opening of the West Gate and Metro tunnels, along with the redevelopment of Melton train station and a new station in Tarneit, scheduled to open in 2026, are all moves in the right direction, as are commitments to improve bus services.

But the question at the heart of life in the west is whether this level of investment is in line with expectations for the region. The Victorian government has set targets for the number of homes in Wyndham to double over the coming decade. In Melton, it wants the number to nearly treble.

This growth would come on top of a doubling of the west’s population since 2001, so that it is now the most populous part of Melbourne. Estimates suggest it will reach 1.47 million people by 2046. The west is, in many ways, the future of the city.

At present, it lacks public amenities and its inhabitants share their neighbourhoods with polluting industries and ever-increasing numbers of trucks. Some of the reasons for this may be historical, but as Wyndham Mayor Mia Shaw told us, the result is a region in “continual catch-up”. “It’s the biggest complaint we hear from people in our community, to say the infrastructure always lags,” she said.

The current bleak budgetary outlook, which has cast a shadow over the Metro Tunnel and other major projects, makes it difficult to see how the Allan government can meet this challenge, which is not only economic but political. The departure of treasurer Tim Pallas means there will be a byelection in Werribee, and while the west has long been a Labor stronghold, there were major swings against the party at the 2022 state election.

The west is changing demographically – more voters are professionals, increasingly from Indian and Chinese backgrounds. As Carey notes, they hold the keys to a steadily increasing number of state seats: from six state seats in 1992 to 13 in the current parliament. Those voters are unlikely to accept that hours of their day should be spent commuting to parts of the city with better leisure and retail facilities or more jobs that fit their qualifications.

For the past five years, a fire has been burning 30 metres underground at a landfill site in the western suburb of Kealba, forcing residents to shutter their homes to escape the putrid fumes and dust. Deadlines to deal with the problem have come and gone.

The changing face of the region and the promises of better living made to its residents might well lead to a build-up of resentment and anger beneath the surface, with consequences that could consume governments. Melbourne’s west is a growing force, yet it seems stuck on a different set of tracks. Whoever can change that is likely to reap huge rewards.

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