Melbourne's Outer West Struggles with Infrastructure as Population Booms

Residents in Melbourne's booming outer west say population growth is outpacing infrastructure, leading to long commutes and a lack of access to public transport.

Kiritika Deo, a resident of Tarneit, an outer suburb in the City of Wyndham, about 22 kilometres from Melbourne's CBD, says the area's infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth.

"It's a family-oriented area, and it's developing rapidly," she said. "[Six years ago], I had to drive about 15 minutes to get to the nearest shopping centre."

Ms Deo said since their home was in a newer estate, access to public transport was difficult. Her experience is not unique, according to a Victoria Auditor-General's Office report published in June this year, which said there was a lack of access to frequent and reliable public transport options in many of Melbourne's outer suburbs.

A Growing Population

The City of Wyndham is one of Australia's fastest-growing urban regions. Its population grew from about 162,000 in 2011 to 292,000 in 2021, while total dwelling numbers increased nearly 70 per cent in the same period, census data shows. The Wyndam City Council projects the population will grow to 480,000 in 20 years.

Planning Failure

University of Melbourne expert in urban development Max Holleran said "at least one, and perhaps two generations of failure" in planning was impacting communities in Melbourne's outer west.

"What that failure looks like is that Melbourne is consistently built outward, releasing new land and building quite shabbily constructed homes," he said. "And what that means is that you get a city with a lot more traffic, a lot more dispersed neighbourhoods that are not connected."

Dr Holleran said there had been some positive changes, including a more robust plan from the Victorian government to provide train services and new hospitals in Melbourne's west.

New Train Station

A new station, West Tarneit, officially commenced operations at the weekend on the regional rail route linking Geelong, Victoria's second-largest city, with Melbourne. Dr Holleran said the expansion of the V/Line was "one of the best possible solutions at this moment" for connecting outer suburbs to public transport.

"But it needs to be accompanied by changes in the zoning for those areas, which emphasise … more clustered and dense housing by the stations where people can walk and go about their daily lives," he said.

For Ms Deo, the new station will cut her travel time to the nearest rail link in half from 13 minutes to about six minutes by car.

Call for More Investment

Ms Deo hopes to see more money invested in local infrastructure to keep up with residents' needs. Wyndham mayor Mia Shaw said ensuring infrastructure kept pace with the needs of the growing population was "one of the most significant challenges we face".

"Importantly, this is not simply about responding to today's infrastructure pressures," Cr Shaw said. "It is about planning and investing now for the Wyndham of the future."

A Victorian government spokesperson said they were moving ahead with the Sunshine Superhub project, the first stage of the Melbourne Airport Rail.

Challenges Remain

Narindeep Kaur, who lives in nearby Truganina, said when she bought her home in the suburb in 2013, the area was largely underdeveloped. She needed to drive more than 10 minutes to catch a train at Williams Landing Station until the Tarneit Railway Station, much closer to her home, opened in June 2015.

"Trains could be cancelled at the last minute [and switched to bus replacement], and you wouldn't know until you arrived at the station. Otherwise, the trains were very crowded,"

Ms Kaur said living in Truganina also helped her children to maintain connections to their roots.

"If I would have been staying in any of the other suburbs, it would have been difficult for me to inculcate the Indian values in my children," she said. "They don't speak my language, but they understand, they see the festivals and the festivities going around. So they don't forget the roots, they know where their mum and dad come from."