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6 JULY, 2022
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SIG N U P N O W!
100 years of hits If you’ve ever wanted to hear your favourite songs from the last century played live by a wind band, Wyndham Cultural Centre is the place to be on Saturday, July 16. The Werribee Concert Band, with its new musical director Harrison Merrifield, will perform a varied medley of songs ranging from classical music to radio hits. Mr Merrifield said the performance will include “something for everybody”. “We’ll be doing some stuff from popular pop and rock, we’ll be covering things from musicals, and we’ll be covering things that represent some of the largest events throughout that time period as well,” he said. “We’re playing a medley from ABBA, When You Wish Upon A Star from Disney, and I might leave it there, you’ll have to come and see it.” Mr Merrifield said he is “very excited” to present the talent of the group to the community. “I think there is heaps of talent out here in the west … I don’t think we really get a lot of representation,” he said. Werribee Concert Band’s Mathew Taylor, Cathrine Reader and Andrew Valentine.
(Damjan Janevski) 287828_02
Fatima Halloum
Wyndham’s growth spurt By Fatima Halloum Wyndham became home to almost 75,000 extra people between 2016 and 2021, new Census data reveals. The 2021 Census data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week, reveals Wyndham’s population was 292,011 people in 2021, up 34 per cent from the 2016 Census. The data also revealed that the average Wyndham residents is a 32-year-old male, who is married with one child. He was born in Australia but has Indian ancestry, and both of his parents were born
overseas. He lives in a home with three others, has a median weekly household income of $2023 and median monthly mortgage repayment of $1930. According to the Census data, 23 per cent of Wyndham residents have no religious affiliation, ahead of 18 per cent who identify as Catholic and 14.5 per cent who practise Hinduism. The top language other than English spoken at home is Punjabi, with 20,853 people or 7.1 people speaking Punjabi. The most common long-term health conditions experienced by Wyndham
residents are asthma (6.5 per cent), mental health issues (5.7 per cent) and arthritis (4.6 per cent). Mayor Peter Maynard said rapid population growth meant outer suburbs such as Wyndham were struggling to keep up with the required infrastructure. Cr Maynard said the increase means existing infrastructure and services can “barely keep up with increasing demands and needs of our residents”. “This situation needs to be addressed as population in the outer suburbs is growing at twice the national average,” he said. “In our budget adopted this week, we’ve
committed to spending $167.2 million on our capital works program. We’re also delivering millions of dollars in health and community services such as kindergartens, libraries and community centres. “We are doing our part and are totally committed to doing our best, but with rate-capping and limited resources, we cannot resolve the infrastructure funding shortfall. With more people moving to metropolitan growth corridors – we are barely keeping up. “But we can’t do it alone. We need more funding assistance from the state and federal governments.”
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