Melton

History

The land to the east of the Werribee River is the traditional home of the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung people, and to the west, the traditional home of the Wadawurrung. Mount Cottrell is jointly managed by Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung. Melton was first settled by squatters establishing sheep runs in the area in the 1830s and a small settlement benefited from traffic passing through it on the way to the Ballarat gold fields during the Victorian Gold Rush. The post office opened on 1 March 1856. The population of Melton remained stable at around 1,000 - 1,500 until the mid 1950s, rising to 1800 in 1962 and doubling to 3600 in 1968. The first of the larger residential estates was Delphic Realty's Melton Views Estate in 1964. The area was declared a satellite city in 1974. The overall City of Melton is forecast to grow in population by over 250,000 by 2051; however, most of this growth is predicted to happen in the surrounding suburbs, particularly in Aintree, Caroline Springs, and Brookfield; the suburb of Melton itself is only predicted to grow 2% by 2051. Melbourne's significant urban area boundary was redefined to include Melton in 2023, leading to global headlines claiming that Melbourne's population overtook Sydney's. According to census data, the suburb of Melton has had a relatively stable population since being recognised as a separate suburb on the 2006 census, where it had a population of 7,305. The population grew to 7,593 by 2011, then to 8,069 by 2016. The population lowered to 7,953 at the 2021 census.

Geography

Melton is located on mostly flat, largely featureless, former volcanic plains. To the south-east of Melton is Mount Cottrell, a blast-shield volcano, and to the north-east of the suburb is Mount Kororoit. Mount Cottrell produced some of the largest lava flows in the western Victoria. These two volcanoes are some of the easternmost volcanoes on the Victorian Volcanic Plain which extends to the South Australian border. Melton receives less rainfall than Melbourne due to the area's position within the Otway Ranges rain shadow. The area has a profound urban heat island effect due to its ongoing rapid suburban development. There is some concern over how continued development and climate change will affect Melton, with particular concern focused on the loss of several threatened animal species' habitat, and an increased risk of bushfires and extreme weather events in the near future. The Melton City Council has noted that the area is "particularly exposed to the impacts of climate change due to its moderate level of socio-economic disadvantage and large proportion of overseas-born residents", along with "significant structural barriers to participating in low-carbon lifestyles including limited local employment opportunities, lack of access to public transport, and inefficient new housing developments". Precipitation records for Melton follow.

Most-observed species

• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  5,075
• Red Wattlebird

  Anthochaera carunculata (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  4,130
• Little Raven

  Corvus mellori Mathews, 1912 · Aves
  4,129
• Superb Fairywren

  Malurus cyaneus (Ellis, 1782) · Aves
  4,096
• White-plumed Honeyeater

  Ptilotula penicillata (Gould, 1837) · Aves
  3,457
• European Starling

  Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,394
• New Holland Honeyeater

  Phylidonyris novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  3,221
• Common Myna

  Acridotheres tristis (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,021

Most recent

• M 3.8 — 2023-05-28
  5 km W of Mickleham, Australia
• M 2.9 — 2021-11-05
  4 km S of Rosebud, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2015-03-10
  3 km NNE of Pakenham, Australia
• M 3.6 — 2014-12-03
  4 km SW of Pakenham, Australia
• M 2.8 — 2014-01-13
  1 km SSE of Lilydale, Australia
• M 3.1 — 2013-05-01
  7 km NW of Clifton Springs, Australia