Melton
Postcode: 3337
Melton is a satellite city outside Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Melton Township is located near the western boundary of the Shire of Melton. The municipality extends from Melton itself, eastwards across to the outskirts of Metropolitan Melbourne.
Melton is located approximately 40km west of the Melbourne central business district along the Western Freeway. It is located some 60km east of Ballarat. Rural land to the east of the township experienced rapid growth in the decade since the mid-1990s resulting in the establishment of new suburbs such as Caroline Springs. The township of Melton consists of several areas: Brookfield, Melton, Melton South and West Melton. The Melton railway station is located in Melton South.
The town is named after Melton Mowbray in the United Kingdom. During its early history the town benefited from traffic passing through it on the way to the Ballarat gold fields during the 1850s gold rush. The town was declared a satellite city in 1974 and a green belt existed between it and the urban area of Melbourne until the late 1990s.
Many shops, sporting organisations and community groups in Melton use the designation “Satellite City” in their name.
The first school in Melton was Melton State School now known as Melton Primary School.
Melton has two local newspapers – The Melton Leader and The Melton Express Telegraph.