We've been unfairly branded: Locals say there's a new Broady
When 29-year-old Sandra Karas and husband Emmanuel were looking to buy a larger property, they knew they wanted somewhere close to family.
“We have family and friends who live in Hume and Moreland,” Ms Karas said. “Especially with the traffic in Melbourne at the moment, we didn’t want to live too far away.”
They considered Pascoe Vale, Oak Park and other suburbs just south of the Ring Road, but none could offer the space and price they could find in Broadmeadows.
Broady – as its often referred to – has a chequered history, and is notorious for all the wrong reasons. Shootings, gang violence and murders have dominated media coverage of the area, contributing to a less-than desirable reputation.
Outside the Melbourne city council area, Hume (which includes Broadmeadows) has recorded the highest crime levels in Melbourne: the Victorian Crime Statistics agency recorded 15,317 criminal incidents in the area in the year to March.
Unemployment levels are also high in Broadmeadows at 15.9 per cent. More than double the rate for the rest of Victoria, according to census data.
But the outlook for the suburb could be changing, and significant cash injections have recently been pumped into the neighbourhood.
New projects include the $23 million redevelopment of the town hall, a housing and retail development at the old Hard Yakka factory, and companies such as energy provider Jemena and biotech firm CSL Biotherapies have expanded their local offices.
House prices have started to tick up too, with the suburb’s median increasing 25 per cent to $568,000 over the past year – the ninth-highest growth of any suburb in Melbourne.
Stockdale and Leggo Glenroy agent Sunny Walia said more people were looking to Broadmeadows for value for money. “If you go anywhere else within 15 kilometres of the city, prices are double,” he said.
While Ms Karas lives in Northcote, she bought a three-bedroom property in Jacana, a small enclave of Broadmeadows, earlier this year. She is renting out the property with the plan to renovate it and move into it in a couple of years.
“We’re pretty confident that we can see the direction the suburb is moving in,” Ms Karas said. “You just have to be a bit more forward thinking as to what will occur in the future.”
Hume mayor Geoff Porter said he was surprised more people had not seen the potential in Broadmeadows.
“I think we’ve been branded unfairly in many ways, every place has its issues that arise from time to time,” Cr Porter said.
But some residents have voiced concerns that the fast-paced growth is causing more problems.
Broadmeadows Progress Association assistant secretary Sonja Rutherford said cultural differences have always been prevalent in the suburb but in the past, the community was more close knit.
“You could meet at the local parks, smaller shopping centres and neighbourhood schools – people were learning how to work together,” Ms Rutherford said. “Now I don’t even know my neighbours. We don’t speak the same language – but that doesn’t matter so much – it’s about the opportunity to connect in the neighbourhood.”
More than 60 per cent of Broadmeadows’ residents speak a language other than English at home, compared with nearly 28 per cent of Victorians as a whole.
Ms Rutherford said the isolation and disengagement of young people was contributing to crime in the suburb, and that council should do more to keep local parks and schools running.
“What we see most lost is a sense of community,” she said.
Members of the Broadmeadows Progress Association last week protested the state government’s rezoning of a former school and park for a new residential development.
Ms Rutherford said new apartments were not necessary at the Nicholas Street site, as it was across from another new development at the old Hard Yakka site.
The state government asked Hume council to buy a portion of the land to convert it into a park, but the council has not yet agreed. Cr Porter said they were still in talks with the state government.
He said council was committed to upgrading the Broadmeadows train station, and the state government had allocated funds to prepare a business case.
Ms Karas is confident in the suburb’s potential.
“It’s developing and finding its feet and we’ll have an opportunity to be a part of that and help shape the suburb,” she said.
