10 things you didn’t know about Altona North, Victoria

Altona North Suburb Profile – 

About 10 kms from Melbourne’s central business district, Altona North is a suburb of the City of Hobson’s Bay as its local government area. It is ranked as 207th best suburb in the Greater Melbourne area. Altona North post code is 3025.

“How is Altona North suburb stands on different parameters?”

1. Demographics

In the 2011 census, the population of Altona North was 11,379 and comprised of approximately 50.2% females and 49.8% males. The median/average age of the people in Altona North was 39 years of age. The religious makeup of Altona North was 30.0% Catholic, 15.4% Islam and 13.0% did not identify with any religion. The median individual income was $393 per week and the median household income was $910 per week. 

2. Amenities

a) Healthcare: Healthcare amenities in the area include a public hospital La Bellisima (118 Millers Rd , Altona North, Victoria, 3025) approximately 2kms away. Other medical centres include the Blackshaw Rd Medical Centre Pty Limited (350 Blackshaws Rd , Altona North, Victoria, 3025) also around 2kms away. For chemists/pharmacies, there is a Chemist Warehouse, about 1.5kms away, and Blackshaws Rd Night Chemist, about 2.5kms away.

b) Sports: Altona Lakes Golf Club at Paisley Park, Mason Street, is a 9-hole golf course and Driving Range. Also located within the Paisley Park sporting complex is the Altona Badminton Centre, which opened in 1985. The badminton centre contains 12 courts and is open all week long. The Paisley Park sporting facility also includes a gymnasium, swimming pool, premier league soccer facility, bowling club, miniature railway and lacrosse fields. Altona Magic, the local football (soccer) team plays in the Victorian Premier League and Altona East Phoenix play in the Victorian State League 2 N/W.

c) Transportation: The primary mode of transportation for the people here is cars, but other than that, the place has a well defined railway network, with it’s own station, the Altona Railway Station, which falls under the Werribee Line. The Westona Railway Station isn’t far off either, but other than that, buses ply regularly from this area. Night buses include the 944 (plying from the City – Newport – Altona – Altona Meadows – Point Cook) and the 945 (City – Geelong Rd – Tarneit – Hoppers Crossing – Werribee – Wyndham Vale).

3. Property Prices

The median rent in Altona North is A$271 per week and the median mortgage repayment is A$2000 per month. The main type of housing in the area is separate or detached houses, making up around three quarters of the total dwelling stock. Around 47 per cent of households in Altona North and Brooklyn are owners, 10 per cent above the Hobsons Bay rate. Residents speak positively about the relative affordability of housing in the area. However, there were concerns that the situation is changing. “In the last 12 months, house prices have increased dramatically.”

4. Attractions

Residents describe Altona North and Brooklyn as a good place to live and an area that is still affordable and reasonably well serviced. Long term residents spoke about noticeable improvements in the standard of housing and shopping options despite it being “an old area that needs a few touch ups”.

Other than that, more attractions include the Altona Gate Shopping Centre, a sub regional shopping centre. It fronts onto Millers Road just south of the West Gate Freeway exit. Also the Kororoit Creek Trail, which is a shared use path for cyclists and pedestrians. Further, the Kororoit Creek, from which the trail gets its name from, is a watercourse of the Port Phillip catchment, rising in the outer north western suburbs.

5. Traffic

With no traffic lights on the freeway, it takes about half hour or less to commute to the city. Sometimes the traffic may move slowly but it rarely does come to a complete stop. You can be on the Monash Fwy, Tullumarine Fwy or Western Ring Road within 5-10 minutes so regardless of the direction you need to head in, you have easy freeway access to take you there, and that includes the airport.

6. Safety

Crime in Altona North has dropped 3.4 per cent in the year to December, 2015, according to the latest police statistics. The incidents of reported crime dropped in almost every category except robbery where there were 51 reported incidents in 2015 compared with 36 in 2014. There was a significant increase in the number of reported transport regulation offences jumping from 9 to 25 over the above specified period.

7. Restaurants

This suburb specially caters to pan-Asian food, with restaurants like Sweet Rice Kitchen (Thai food), Tong Sing Chinese Take Away (if the name doesn’t give it away, it’s Chinese), Noodle Box Altona (serving pan-Asian delicacies, hawker style), and Try Thai. Other than that, for some Mexican, there’s a Taco Bill Mexican Restaurant to sate your cravings for spicy food. Also, there’s the usual food chains spread around, like Nando’s, McDonald’s and KFC, plus some really amazing cafes.

8. Nearby Suburbs

Bordering suburbs include Altona, Brooklyn, Laverton North, Newport, South Kingsville, Williamstown North, Yarraville.

9. Future Plans

• Most new residential development is expected to be infill development. In addition, the recent rezoning of land bounded by Blackshaws and Kyle Roads and New Street will potentially add around 1,600 new dwellings and increase the population by around 3,400.
• There is currently no library facility in Altona North and Brooklyn. Hobsons Bay City Council is investigating the development and construction of a new library, to be co-located with the Bayside Secondary College in Millers Road.
• An extensive upgrade of Paisley Park is underway, including the newly opened Bayfit Leisure Centre. Proposed new works include play spaces, pathways and barbeque facilities together with improvements to existing sports facilities.
• Redevelopment of Bayside Secondary College commenced in early 2008. The new facility will operate as a Prep to Year 9 campus and bring about the merger of Altona Gate Primary School and Bayside College.

10. a) Reasons to Live in Altona North: Altona Beach is one of only two swimmable beaches in the western suburbs, the other being Williamstown. To the west of Altona is the vast Point Cook Coastal Park. What other suburbs in Melbourne would you find three Zone 1 train stations, sea, beach, lake, 3 creeks, numerous nature reserves and parks, a historical museum, an art gallery, a performance theatre, a massive golf course and many sports clubs? Altona is also endowed with abundant biodiversity and is rich in arts and culture as well as sports and recreational activities. It has its own annual Bayside Festival, Altona Beach Market and Cherry Lake Sunday Market to be proud of.

b) Reasons to reconsider Altona North: To get to Altona one needs to travel past kilometres of oil refineries, which is off-putting enough to have kept housing prices low in this area. But then, it’s the same for Newport and Williamstown.

What do people say about Altona North:

The best things about the area is that you can live outside the hustle and bustle of the city, yet are only ten minutes away for the action if needed. The area is only improving with older properties being converted to new townhouses. Altona North has easy access to 3 freeways, medical centres, schools, shopping, public transport, parks, social clubs, churches, restaurants, the beach & childcare facilities.

List of following facilities in and around Altona North at an average radial distance of approx 5kms.

Note: These facilities may or may not be near to your residence within Altona North. Please recheck the distance to a facility before buying or renting a property in Altona North.

Hope we have done some justice to showcase the highlights of Altona North suburb. If you notice that either we have not covered something or have made some mistake in data about Altona North, don’t forget to share it with us.

Disclaimer: Some information about Altona North may change at any point in time. So, we humbly request to kindly verify any critical information directly with the Altona North Council.