Place Snapshot: Lalor

This place snapshot provides a summary of future development in the Lalor area for current and future residents, business owners, investors and community groups.

For snapshots of development in other areas, see Place Snapshots: A Guide to Development in Your Area.

Snapshot of Lalor

1. French Street Hall
2. Lalor Library
3. Outer Northern Trade Training Centre
   This $6.4 million centre provides training facilities in building, construction and automotive trades.
4. Peter Lalor Vocational College and Community Hub
   In addition to providing Vocational Education and Training (VET), this site is home to many community assets such as the Lalor Community Garden, Community Kitchen and Men’s Shed.
5. Lalor shops, Station Street and May Road
   Improvements to streets and public areas such as seating, shelters and bike facilities are planned for the Lalor shops in Station Street and May Road. The redevelopment of Peter Lalor Walkway in Lalor, was one of the key suggestions of the Thomastown and Lalor Shops Master Plan, that Council adopted in December 2011. Stage 1 of the Peter Lalor Walkway completed in 2014, involved the redevelopment of the walk from Station Street to the north-south laneway, halfway to the May Road car park. Stage 2 of the redevelopment plan, where works will be completed on the remaining section of the laneway between Station Street and May Road is expected to be completed late 2015.
6. Mosaic Living Housing Estate and Carlingford Housing Estate
   This housing area will eventually include shops, cafés and the Mosaic Recreation Reserve. This proposed development will include water harvesting to maintain the 2 Australian Football League/cricket ovals and a pavilion.
7. Stockade Park
   Marks the location of the stockade area used to store the tools and materials used to build houses in the Peter Lalor Co-operative Housing Estate.
8. Westgarthtown
   Located within Thomastown and Lalor, Westgarthtown is an historic former dairy farming settlement established in 1850 by German and Wendish immigrants.
9. Whittlesea Public Gardens
10. Barry Road Community Hub
11. Lalor Recreation Reserve
12. Cooper Street employment area (south-west)
    Development in the northern part of precinct has recently commenced as part of the Biodiversity Business Park which will provide for industrial, warehouse and office uses. It also includes the Alex Fraser Group’s recycling facility. The southern portion of this precinct which extends south into Lalor will be accessed from Cooper Street and will be developed for employment uses in the future.
13. Huskisson Recreation Reserve

Local history

Lalor is named after Peter Lalor, an activist turned Victorian state politician who led the 1854 Eureka Stockade rebellion and went on to become the only outlaw to become a Member of Parliament.

Lalor was a part of Thomastown until 1945 when Leo Purcell, a patient at a military hospital on the Atherton Tablelands, devised a scheme to provide low cost homes for ex-servicemen. In February 1947 he formed the Peter Lalor Home Building Co-operative Society with a group of ex-servicemen and a program of house building began. This continued until 1954 when it was taken over by the War Service Homes Commission. Heritage listing of parts of the Peter Lalor Estate commemorate this important social history.

The Lalor post office opened in 1949 followed by the first primary school in 1954.

Planning and development

This is an established residential area of approximately 9 square kilometres. Settlement of the area dates from the 1850s when German migrants established the township of Westgarthtown, with the land mainly used for dairy farming.

It is mainly a residential area, although there are businesses and services in the area. These include the Lalor Shopping Centre on Station Street and May Road, which consists of approximately 100 businesses and services.

Council adopted the master plan for Thomastown and Lalor shopping centres in December 2011. The plan includes street improvements to shopping areas, improved landscaping, seats, shelters and bike facilities.

Access the Carlingford and Mosaic Living development plan.

Population

In 2021, it is estimated 23,222 people live in Lalor and the population is forecast to increase by 18 per cent to 27,200 by 2036.

The median age of residents is expected to stay the same, 38 years, until 2036.

Births

In 2015, it is estimated there will be 336 births (average 6 births per week) with an increase by 2036 to 396 births per year (average 7 births per week).

Diversity

Around half the population were born overseas and more than 65 per cent of residents speak a language other than English at home.

The most commonly languages other than English spoken at home are Arabic, Macedonian, Vietnamese and Italian.

Families and households

In 2021 there were approximately 8,350 dwellings and this is expected to increase to around 9,700 dwellings by 2036.

The average household size in Lalor is expected to remain at 3 people to 2036 with 36 per cent of households made up of couples with children and 16 per cent being 1-parent households.

Employment

Labourers (17 per cent) and machinery operators/drivers (13 per cent) are the most common occupations and the most common industries of employment are manufacturing (18 per cent), retail trade (12 per cent), and health care and social assistance (10 per cent).

Education

More children attend primary school (7 per cent), compared with secondary school (6 per cent) and kindergarten (1 per cent).

Travelling in and out

Half of all households in Lalor have access to 2 or more motor vehicles, with 60 per cent of residents drive a car to work.

Advocacy priorities for Lalor

• Installation of traffic lights, corner Childs Road and Dalton Road, Lalor
• Rail extension from Lalor to Epping North and Wollert
• Childs Road duplication
  Childs Road is the major east-west arterial road linking Mill Park and Epping. It is a duplicated 4-lane divided road from Plenty Road to Dalton Road, except for the section across the E6 reservation and the Darebin Creek. This part of the road becomes a 2-lane road. As a result of the current intersection design and narrow bridge, traffic flow is unpredictable during peak periods. Duplicating the 850 metre section of Childs Road and providing a new bridge across the Darebin Creek will provide a continuous 4-lane divided road between Plenty Road in Mill Park and Dalton Road in Epping and remove the current unsafe footpath and the traffic bottleneck.

Find out about other advocacy priorities for the whole City of Whittlesea.