| St Albans Melbourne, Victoria |
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St Albans
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| Population: | 33,511(2006)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Established: | 1887 | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 3021 | ||||||||||||
| Area: | 13 km² (5.0 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 15 km (9 mi) from Melbourne | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | City of Brimbank | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Kororoit, Derrimut | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Gorton, Maribyrnong | ||||||||||||
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St Albans is a suburb 15 km north-west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Brimbank. At the 2006 Census, St Albans had a population of 33,511.
St Albans' main commercial and shopping precinct is located on Main Road West, Main Road East, Alfrieda Street, the railway station and East Esplanade. It has become a very multicultural area with 53.5% of residents being born overseas and has a high proportion of non-English speaking background residents.[1] The postcode is 3021.
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St Albans was first established as a township in 1887 and originally subdivided by the Metropolitan Land and Development Co. Pty. Ltd. who had acquired nearly 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) in the hope of a quick financial gain during that period's land boom. The town was promoted as an attractive location for professionals who had easy rail access to central Melbourne and adjoining suburbs with a recently constructed railway station platform attracting potential homeowners to industry in nearby locations. St Albans Post Office opened on 22 October 1888.[2]
Development of St Albans suddenly slowed with the economic depression of the late 1890s and did not restart in large numbers until after World War II, with the influx of displaced people and continuing through the 1950s and 1960s with the influx of European migrants in response to the Australian Government's gradual relaxation of its White Australia Policy in 1947, 1957 & 1958.
During the depression 1890s many local farm properties did well, especially when the farmers commenced the dairying of cattle. Horses were also being trained locally for the Melbourne Cup and the Caulfield Guineas, some were successful.
St Albans remained geographically isolated from other suburbs, with large areas of open land between it and other suburbs, until the 1980s.
St Albans is now considered to be a middle-city suburb as the Melbourne Metropolitan area boundary now extends to over 35 km from the Melbourne CBD.
St Albans' ethnic makeup is predominantly second and third generation immigrants—the ABS 2001 Census reported that 43% were of Southern or Eastern European origin, with 10% of Maltese extraction alone and about 20% from the Balkan region, including Bosnians, Croatians, Macedonians and Serbs. Significant communities from Vietnam and the Philippines were also reported.
Since the 2001 Census, there has also been a rapid increase in the number of refugees from the Horn of Africa settling in St Albans.
St Albans has three train stations all in Metlink Zone 2 on the Sydenham line. These are Ginifer, St Albans and Keilor Plains
The Sydenham line is in the progress of having the electrification extended to Sunbury with a projected completion sometime in 2012.
St Albans has many bus services including at St Albans train station.
Cyclists in St Albans are represented by BrimBUG, the Brimbank Bicycle User Group.
Great parks are located on the East and West borders of the suburb. These areas (particularly in the West) used to have large healthy populations of native reptiles, including Tiger snake, Eastern Blue-tongued Lizard and Eastern brown snake. Unfortunately due to development these species are now rarely seen in the area.
Due to development of the Cairnlea estate, on the southern border of St Albans, native species of frogs have taken advantage and have taken up residence in the new wetlands and lakes. The Eastern Banjo Frog, Common Eastern Froglet and even the now endangered Growling Grass Frog have been seen and heard in the new wetlands and around Kororoit Creek.
St Albans boasts a large number of schools including the following;
The suburb has an Australian Rules football team, St Albans FC, competing in the Western Region Football League.[3] It is actually based in Kings Park. The club has been very successful particularly over recent years.
The local soccer team, the St Albans Saints is backed by the Croatian community. Whilst the Green Gully Cavaliers are backed by the Maltese community. Both currently compete in the Victorian Premier League and both have significant support.
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