Westmeadows, Victoria


Westmeadows is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 17 km north of Melbourne's central business district. Its local government area is the City of Hume. At the, Westmeadows had a population of 5,848.
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 border with Attwood as well as the Moonee Ponds Creek east of Mickleham Road and just before the Cleanaway Landfill. The area north of residential Westmeadows contains the east-west flight path for the Melbourne Airport, Tullamarine. 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 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 police station and the Shire office.
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 and station 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 which are both on the Register of the National Estate. The original Westmeadows Police Station and the Westmeadows Gaol are also still standing. The original Anglican church is still being used.
The Old Coach House c.1860s.

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 Burke Street Melbourne, leaving there a 4:00pm and returning at 8:00am the next day

Demographics

The estimated population for Westmeadows, according to the 2001 Census, was 6,374.
Like most of Melbourne, Westmeadows has a multicultural population. According to the 2001 Census, just over two thirds
of persons in Westmeadows were born in Australia and 24.6% being born overseas. Around one fifth were born overseas in a non-English speaking country. The most common overseas countries of birth were Italy and the United Kingdom.
Just over two thirds of persons in Westmeadows speak only English at home. The most common foreign languages spoken in Westmeadows are Italian, Turkish, Arabic, and Greek.
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.

Public transport

Bus routes

There are two bus routes that operate around Westmeadows. These bus routes are the 477, which runs from Broadmeadows station to Moonee Ponds station and the 484, which runs from Broadmeadows Railway Station to Roxburgh Park station.

Railway Station

The closest station to Westmeadows is Broadmeadows on the Craigieburn line. All bus routes through Westmeadows terminate at the station.

Education

Sporting clubs

Westmeadows is represented by the following teams in their respective leagues:
Westmeadows Football Club, an Australian Rules football team, competes in the Essendon District Football League.
Westmeadows has many sporting grounds. It has an Australian 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 in the Westmeadows Reserve near Ardlie Street. The Westmeadows Heights Reserve includes another Cricket oval and two Soccer fields. The Westmeadows Tennis Club has 6 courts and is also located in Willowbrook Reserve.