Mount Atkinson is a residential development in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

Victoria, Australia Victoria, commonly abbreviated as Vic, is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state (after Tasmania), with a land area of ; the second-most-populated state (after New South Wales), with a population of over 7 million; ...

, west of the

Melbourne central business district The Melbourne central business district (colloquially known as "the City" or "the CBD", and gazetted simply as Melbourne) is the city centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. As of the 2021 census, the CBD had a population of 54,941, and is ...

, located within the

City of Melton The City of Melton is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, on Melbourne's western rural–urban fringe. It covers , and as of the , Melton had a population of 178,960. It is governed by the Melton City Council. The seat of local ...

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

. Officially, it forms part of the suburb of Truganina.

History

Mount Atkinson is situated in the Kulin nation traditional Aboriginal country. The

Wathaurong The Wadawurrung nation, also called the Wathaurong, or Wathaurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people living in the area near Melbourne, Geelong, and the Bellarine Peninsula in the state of Victoria. They are part of the Kulin alliance. The ...

and

Woiwurrung The Woiwurrung, also spelt Woi-wurrung, Woi Wurrung, Woiwurrong, Woiworung, and Wuywurung, are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Woiwurrung language group, in the Kulin alliance. The Woiwurrung people's territory in Central Victoria ex ...

people are local custodians within the Kulin nation. The area is named for Mount Atkinson, a low hill that was a source of local lava flows. It is dwarfed by the more prominent Mount Cottrell a few kilometres to the west. Residential development of the area was approved by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as the Victorian Government, is the executive government of the Australian state of Victoria. As a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, the State Government was first formed in 1851 when Vic ...

in 2017.

Development

Development in Mount Atkinson includes residential, educational facilities, a town centre, retail, parks and recreation, integrated industrial park, business precinct and a railway station. City of Melton has retained the postcode for Mount Atkinson. Skeleton Creek Wetlands

Mt. Atkinson, Olivia and Grandview are the three housing estates in Mount Atkinson, and the largest of them is Mt. Atkinson by

Stockland Stockland Corporation Limited is a diversified Australian property development company. It has business in shopping centers, residential estates, industrial estates and manufactured housing communities. History Stockland was founded in 1952 by ...

. Mt. Atkinson estate includes proposed facilities for the suburb, such as: Mount Atkinson train station, Mount Atkinson Town Centre, Edmund Rice Education's primary and secondary schools, a state primary school, a homemaker centre, a large business centre and commercial precinct, as well as the revitalised Skeleton Creek wetlands. $3 million dollars worth of funding had been allocated for the Stage 1 construction of a Catholic Primary School located on Clara Avenue, with the school owned and operated under the umbrella of Edmund Rice Education Australia. The new school is expected to open in 2023. The proposal to establish an entertainment premise of Mt. Atkinson Hotel was approved in March 2020, which is to be located on McKinley Drive. As a condition of approval, the expected completion of the hotel is to be by 31 August 2022.

Parks and recreation

Proposed local parks and recreation reserves include the Mount Atkinson Nature Reserve with sporting and recreation facilities. Currently there are seven active parks in the suburb and with one currently under construction. Mt Atkinson Peak

The suburb comprises a hill of the same name (which forms part of the

Great Dividing Range The Great Dividing Range, also known as the East Australian Cordillera or the Eastern Highlands, is a cordillera system in eastern Australia consisting of an expansive collection of mountain ranges, plateaus and rolling hills. It runs roughl ...

in Australia), elevated at a peak of 140 meters above sea level and situated within the Mount Atkinson Nature Reserve. The reserve incorporates a dormant shield volcano of the same name. The volcanic cone and its geological properties are recognized as a nature sensitive site.

Education

Mt Atkinson has three Primary and one Secondary schools proposed. The Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) bought the private primary school site in 2023; with the anticipation to open the school by Term 1 2026. MACS is a prestigious private school body which own and operates many prominent schools in Australia such as St Kevin's College (Toorak), Loyola College (Watsonia), Xavier College (Kew) etc. The Victorian School Building Authority purchased the public primary school site in Mt Atkinson, with the aim to open it in Term 1 2026. A brand new Mt Atkinson Community and Children Centre opened its door for new enrolments in Term 1, 2023. The Mt Atkinson Children's and Community Centre offers free-kindergarten programs for three- and four-year-old children, adding over 300 early learning places to the local community.

Transport

The

Ballarat railway line The Ararat railway line (formerly known as the Serviceton and Western lines) is a railway line in Victoria, Australia. It links the state capital of Melbourne to the cities of Ballarat and Ararat via the Regional Rail Link. The line began co ...

passes through the northern edge of the suburb, which has a proposal to include a brand new Mount Atkinson station. Mount Atkinson station is proposed to be built near Greigs Road as an integrated transport hub next to Westfield Mt. Atkinson Town Centre. In 2021, there was a plan to connect local residents to Rockbank station with a bus service. Infrastructure Victoria released an Infrastructure Strategy report in August 2021, mentioning a new electrified metro service to

Rockbank Rockbank is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, west of the Melbourne central business district, located within the City of Melton local government area. Rockbank recorded a population of 2,583 at the 2021 census. The land contains ma ...

or alternatively to the Mount Atkinson Activity Centre. The report found that terminating a new electrified metro service at Mount Atkinson would encourage more gradual westward housing growth, compared with complete electrification to Melton. Services on a newly electrified line would operate a cross city service to

Pakenham East Pakenham East is a proposed suburb of the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area situated south-east of Melbourne City. It will be located in the Shire of Cardinia local government area. It is planned to be named Honora Fields, pending approval by ...

using the Melbourne

Metro Tunnel The Metro Tunnel, formerly known as Melbourne Metro Rail (MMR), is an underground rapid transit project currently under construction in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It involves the construction of twin rail tunnels between South Kensington ...

, currently planned to service Pakenham to Sunbury. This extension of the electrified rail service would primarily meet demand from population growth around Mount Atkinson Activity Centre and the further western and south-eastern growth areas.

References

{{Shire of Melton suburbs Suburbs of Melbourne City of Melton