Last weekend the City of Melville was featured on Channel 9 news’ Sunday Focus program. The feature included an announcement that our local area will soon benefit from being home to “the best shopping centre in Australia and the second biggest employment hub in the city”. Judging by the comments on Channel 9’s Facebook page, the news has many locals excited about the prospect of how the growth, changes and new infrastructure in our City will impact positively on property values.

According to Mayor Russell Aubrey, the City of Melville is home to over 45 different cultures, making it a vibrant and harmonious place to live. Catering for the increase in population, which is expected to reach 107,000 by the end of the year, is a massive overhaul to Garden City Shopping Centre. On completion, Garden City will be double its original size and the second largest employment hub in the city.

For those of you wondering where the land to increase the size of the centre on such a massive scale will come from, Mayor Aubrey said we can expect to see some changes in the City over the next two years. The limestone amphitheater will go and the Civic Centre Library is being relocated to make way for the Melville City Centre. The City Centre will include a Masterchef restaurant and many alfresco dining options. Mayor Aubrey said, “This will be a very very vibrant centre” adding that Garden City will be “the best shopping centre in Australia”.

In terms of employment growth, the City predicts the area of Murdoch, consisting of the University and Fiona Stanley Hospital, will be the biggest employment centre outside the CBD. Mayor Aubrey said, “We’re talking about 35,000 people living and working in the Murdoch area.”

As for the controversial Roe Highway extension, Mayor Aubrey said it is necessary to keep traffic flowing and the City’s roads safer.

Another issue the report said the City is tackling is housing, with multi-level medium density housing becoming more prevalent in the area. More than 1,000 new apartments have been approved for development around Riseley Street and the Canning Bridge area.

Mayor Aubrey said the vision and plan that is now coming to fruition is to create a City in which people can live, work and play; a City that has a greater level of employment, greater housing options and more recreational, dining and shopping facilities.