THE CONTEXT

METROPOLITAN

The City of Darebin is situated 5-15km north-east of the Melbourne Central Business District. Darebin is perceived as progressive and vibrant (City of Darebin, 2017) council area and has become an increasingly sought after as a place to live and work. Darebin is located on the land of the Wurundjeri Woi rrung people of the Kulin Nation and houses important natural assets such as Merri Creek which boarders the western portion of the council area. The demographic composition of people within the suburb varies across ethnicities, faiths, abilities, and occupations (City of Darebin, 2018), hosting 33% of people born overseas (City of Darebin, 2018). Today Darebin is defined as a particularly progressive and gentrified area of inner metropolitan Melbourne.

KEY Melbourne CBD Darebin Metropolitan Melbourne Regional Victoria

City of Darebin Context Map

DAREBIN

The City of Darebin comprises of the suburbs Alphington, Bundoora, Coburg, Fairfield, Keon Park, Kingsbury, Macleod, Northcote, Preston, Reservoir and Thornbury (City of Darebin, 2018) . As Northcote lies at the southern base of Darebin, it is a defining transit corridor between the city and Darebin’s northern suburbs. The presence of La Trobe University Bundoora campus enhances Northcote as a key transit corridor, as the univeristy houses 30,000 students annually (La Trobe University, 2020). Other key landmarks within the council area are defined by commercial precincts such as Northcote Plaza, Preston Market and the recent development of Northland Shopping Precinct. The City of Darebin was the also the first council worldwide to declare a “Climate Emergency” in December 2016.

Figure 1, Northcote Townhall

Figure 2, Northcote Plaza

NORTHCOTE

Northcote lies 5km from the Melbourne CBD and houses a total population of approximately 24,500 people (ABS, 2016). The suburb has a high concentration of multimodal transit, hosting the 86 trams along High Street and 11 trams along St Georges Road. The Hurstbridge and Mernda line also pass through different portions of the suburb thus establishing 5 train stations: Croxton Station, Northcote Station, Merri Station (Mernda Line), Westgarth Station and Dennis Station (Hurstbridge Line).

Northcote Amenities Map

AMENTITIES

The activity centre lies at the heart of the suburb, concentrated around the High Street, Separation Street intersection. This core commercial region is also defined as a major activity centre within the City of Darebin. Key landmarks that contribute largely to the suburbs character are Northcote Plaza (see Figure 2), Northcote Library, Northcote Recreation and Leisure Centre and Northcote Townhall (see Figure 1). Other amenities also focus on the Indigenous and Torres strait islander community, as the suburb hosts a total of 0.8 % population of Indigenous sand Torres Strait Islander peoples, a higher recording average than surrounding inner metropolitan areas (0.6%, ABS, 2016). Northcote also hosts 6 schools spanning across various age intake such as Westgarth Kindergarten, Westgarth Primary school, Northcote Primary School, Northcote High School , Croxton Primary School and St Joseph’s Primary School.