My coastal suburb is a destination for birds but the human population is shrinking

Opinion

October 26, 2026 — 7:00pm

If I told you that I lived in one of four Melbourne suburbs that is a “meadows” could you guess it? What if I told you that while Melbourne’s population has been surging, my suburb was one of the rare few whose population has gone backwards? And that residents are pretty happy about it.

Between 2001 and 2021, Melbourne’s population increased by 1.5 million people. That 42 per cent rise – from 3.37 million to 4.92 million – has seen housing towers going up and roads getting busier. But there are fewer people in my suburb today than 25 years ago.

About 20 kilometres west of Melbourne’s CBD is the little-known suburban gem Altona Meadows. When you mention Altona, some people think this whole area is an industrial wasteland. But while there is industry around here, that’s several kilometres away in Altona North.

On your way to Altona Meadows, you should first check out Altona proper with its cafes, its popular beach and new pier. From there, if you keep heading west along Queen Street, you’ll cross Laverton Creek and find yourself in my special part of Melbourne. The Meadows, as it is colloquially known, is considered by some to be a bit of a poor cousin to Altona proper. It’s anything but. It’s an oasis tucked to the side of the sprawling chaos of Melbourne.

Altona Meadows is a quiet suburb, with just one small shopping centre where you can buy your groceries and other essentials. There are no high-rise buildings or major arterial roads to encroach on the relaxed, natural ambience of the area. There are just enough schools, shops and facilities to make life pleasant without much hustle and bustle. That’s how the locals like it.

We moved here in 2009 from Altona. We like living here and I guess most of the locals feel the same. Our neighbours on either side of us, and across the road have lived in our quiet court longer than we have. Our next door neighbour recently turned 90 and has lived there since the 1980s. The suburb’s population is about 18,500 and that hasn’t changed much over the years: it’s slightly lower than it was in 2001.

I recently met a new renter to Altona Meadows who commented on how friendly the suburb was. The kids in her street came together to play basketball in the evenings and she was welcomed to the head of the supermarket queue with only a couple of items in hand. She hadn’t experienced such friendliness in many years, not even in some regional country towns, and feels at home in the Meadows.

Being surrounded by the wetlands, open spaces and parkland, this suburb doesn’t feel like an urban environment. Melburnians who live in dense urban suburbs across town have no idea what they are missing. To get a sense of that, I recommend you take an alternative scenic route to the Meadows. Instead of coming by road, visit it via the Hobsons Bay Coastal Trail from Apex Park at Altona Beach. Just follow the walking track and bike path over Laverton Creek via the wooden footbridge. For those in the know, this takes you through a classic spot to watch the sunrise over the bay as the wide, sometimes mirror-smooth waters make for stunning photographs.

Next you will pass through a bushland setting to the 100 Steps of Federation lookout. Located in Truganina Park, it’s an easy walk up to what is the highest point between the city and the You Yangs mountain ranges. The site was once a refuse tip but in 2001 was transformed into open parkland and has spectacular panoramic views to the city, the You Yangs, the Macedon Ranges and Port Philip Bay. If you want to see the rising full moon, a special sunrise or sunset, there is nowhere better.

The extensive waterways and foreshore on the eastern flank of Altona Meadows include the internationally recognised Cheetham Wetlands, which is part of Melbourne’s largest coastal park and known to support more than 200 species of birds. Around 65,000 migratory birds visit annually including the red-necked stint, curlew sandpiper, the sharptailed sandpiper and the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. On our regular morning walks we often see flocks of galahs and corellas, superb fairywrens and herons among others. A family of New Holland honeyeaters has a nest in our backyard.

A new wetlands centre is under development at nearby HD Graham Reserve. More funding is needed for this project but when complete, the centre will provide educational and research facilities, ecotourism, and house conservation projects including landscape regeneration. In the meanwhile, many of these facilities are temporarily located nearby at the alarmingly named Truganina Explosives Reserve.

Adjacent to the wetlands with easy access to the walking trails, the southern and eastern residential sections of Altona Meadows were subdivided in the 1970s and called Altona Bay. Though not technically a suburb, the locals still call these areas by this name.

Altona Meadows is bounded by additional open spaces including the Altona Water Treatment Plant (no it doesn’t smell), which recycles waste water and supplies about 2 billion litres of clean water each year to irrigate recreational spaces. Just across the Laverton Creek, also in Altona proper, is Kooringal golf course which provides further habitat for birdlife. I know from personal experience it’s a challenging 18-hole course.

There are plenty of other sporting facilities in the area too. Recent developments within Altona Meadows include a floodlit soccer ground and the Altona Sports Centre. A skate park and two free tennis courts are nearby. The council has over the years planted thousands of trees throughout the whole suburb.

Residents of Altona Meadows appreciate the suburb’s easy access via the Princes Freeway to Geelong, the airport and the city. It’s likely that en route to Geelong, you have sailed right past our beautiful oasis. But that’s OK, we don’t mind being under the radar.

(In case you were wondering, the other Meadows suburbs are Broadmeadows, Westmeadows and Meadow Heights, all in Melbourne’s north.)

Michele Finey is a semi-retired writer and astrologer. Her most recent work is Astrology for Storytellers, a how-to book for budding novelists. She has lived in Altona Meadows for 17 years and plans to stay.

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