About Whittlesea

The City of Whittlesea is located in Melbourne’s north about 20 kilometres from the CBD. Covering an area of approximately 487 square kilometres, the city is geographically one of the largest municipalities in metropolitan Melbourne.

The municipality was formed at a public meeting on 20 January 1875, when Yan Yean Reservoir was Melbourne’s major water storage and the Plenty Valley was the source of much of the growing colony of Victoria’s food.

There are 17 suburbs and 13 postal districts in the City of Whittlesea and today the City embraces Bundoora (part only), Thomastown, Lalor, Mill Park, Epping, South Morang, Doreen, Mernda, Wollert, Yan Yean, Eden Park, Whittlesea, Woodstock, Donnybrook, Humevale, Kinglake West, and Beveridge (part only).

Residents of the city come from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, with a very high percentage of residents born in other countries, particularly Macedonia, Italy, and Greece. Demographically, over half of the residents are from non-English speaking backgrounds.

At the local level, the influences of a diverse cultural heritage are more evident in the urban areas of Thomastown, Lalor and Epping. These suburbs contain a greater proportion of non-English speaking backgrounds than other parts of the city. These residents bring with them many aspects of their own cultures, which contribute greatly to the character and identity of the City of Whittlesea.

The municipality’s population has grown at a rapid rate during the past 30 years, more than quadrupling from 27,000 in 1969 to approximately 130,000 in 2007. In the next few years the City of Whittlesea is expected to become Victoria's fastest growing municipality with the population forecast to double in the next 20 years. It is now attracting 40 new residents each week.

Council is preparing itself for significant development in a number of growth areas in the coming years including Epping North where VicUrban (formerly the Urban and Regional Land Corporation) purchased land for a planned community of 25,000 persons.

The municipality’s southern border is 14.5 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD and the completion of the Metropolitan Ring Road provides direct freeway links to airports, docks and central Melbourne.

The City of Whittlesea’s vision for the Plenty Valley Growth Corridor is of a complete and sustainable community, offering residential, work and recreational opportunities for its residents, as well as all of the services they will need in daily life.