Western Melbourne region

Over the forecast period the Melbourne - West SA4 will grow from 864,113 people in 2021 to 1,425,080 in 2046. That is an increase of 560,967 people, equivalent to adding a city larger than Newcastle, and it requires an additional 239,540 dwellings. The region passed one million residents in 2026, reaching 1.2 million by 2034 and 1.4 million by 2045.

Melton

Melbourne’s single biggest growth front sits in Melton, where the Rockbank - Mount Cottrell SA2 alone is forecast to grow from around 17,900 people to almost 130,000 by 2046. Established estates across Mount Atkinson, Aintree, Rockbank and Thornhill Park will approach build out by the 2030s, with growth increasingly shifting into the Melton East Precinct Structure Plan and its new suburb of Grangefields, where more than 12,000 homes are planned. Infrastructure is following. A new $900 million Melton Hospital is under construction at Cobblebank, and the $650 million Melton Line Upgrade will run nine car trains on the corridor from 2027, a 50% capacity increase.

Wyndham

Wyndham remains a significant growth area, accounting for around 203,000 of the 560,967 people added to 2046, or roughly 36% of the region’s entire growth, across its Werribee, Wyndham Vale, Manor Lakes, Truganina and Tarneit growth fronts. Twelve of Wyndham’s 15 active residential Precinct Structure Plans already have housing underway. The largest growing SA2 in the local government area is Tarneit (West) - Mount Cottrell, forecast to grow from around 10,300 residents in 2021 to more than 62,000 by 2046. New transport is following, with West Tarneit railway station under construction on the Geelong line and due to open in late 2026. A Wyndham Stadium Precinct has also been proposed at Tarneit, pairing a new stadium with a relocated Sayers Road station and the Riverdale Major Town Centre, though its delivery is not yet certain.

The inner west

Closer to the city, renewal is reshaping the inner west. The $1.5 billion Footscray Hospital opened in February 2026, freeing the old hospital site for future mixed use residential redevelopment. Homes Victoria’s redevelopment of public housing towers in Footscray and Williamstown will add further density from the mid 2030s. In Altona North, the former Don Smallgoods factory site is being redeveloped into a community of around 3,000 homes for 6,000 residents. Highpoint Urban Village is a further source of redevelopment in Maribyrnong, though the bigger prize is the Defence Site Maribyrnong, a former explosives factory earmarked for redevelopment since 2010. Progress has been slow, but the site now sits within the federal government’s Defence Estate Audit divestment strategy, announced in February 2026, which should bring renewed momentum to its release.

Brimbank

Brimbank is also seeing renewal activity across the municipality. Melbourne Airport Rail’s Sunshine Station Superhub, breaking ground in 2026, is making room at Sunshine for a future electrified Melton Line, with the Victorian and Australian Governments jointly committing $152.7 million to plan that electrification. In Sunshine North, the LUMA development is adding around 300 new townhouses, including a 15% affordable housing component, with its first stage completed in mid 2025. Further intensification is occurring around St Albans, guided by Council’s Go St Albans Action Plan and the St Albans Activity Centre Precinct Structure Plan.