Woodlea at Aintree is home to about 17,000 people across the Melbourne west development, with its population expected to eventually reach about 25,000.
A threatened frog helped shape part of a 17,000-person estate in Melbourne’s west that has been named Australia’s best new community.
Fifteen young growling grass frogs were identified within a year of Woodlea at Aintree creating a purpose-built wetland habitat for the species.
The 7000-lot development won Development of the Year – New Communities at the 2026 Urban Developer Awards for Industry Excellence.
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Judges singled out the early delivery of schools, parks, retail and transport connections as the estate’s population grew.
We Love Aintree’s Jonathan Ingram remembers when fewer than 1000 people lived at Woodlea and it was largely an isolated pocket of homes.
“It’s gone from being just a little island of homes into an actual suburb, an actual community with schools and community centres and facilities and shops,” Mr Ingram said.
He said living in a new greenfield community could otherwise mean travelling significant distances for basic needs.
“You have to travel out of your neighbourhood a good 10, 15, 20 minutes to do some reasonably basic things,” he said.
That included buying bread and milk or taking children to sport.
Fifteen young growling grass frogs were identified within a year of a purpose-built habitat being created along Kororoit Creek at Woodlea.
We Love Aintree founder Jonathan Ingram remembers when fewer than 1000 people lived at Woodlea, which he described as a “little island of homes”.
Mr Ingram said sporting grounds had been delivered before some of the clubs that would eventually use them existed.
The network of paths through Woodlea had also changed how residents used its open spaces.
“I’m a runner, so I run every morning and I can run 10 kilometres without crossing a road,” he said.
About 30 per cent of Woodlea has been earmarked for public open space, including 22 parks and reserves.
Woodlea head of strategy and initiatives Jordan Lim said delivering facilities early required greater upfront investment.
“It was about putting our money where our mouth was, creating the foundations for a thriving community from day one, rather than treating community as an afterthought,” Ms Lim said.
Woodlea’s first residents arrived in 2016 alongside a cafe and the estate’s first park.
Hazelwood Park is among 22 parks and reserves at Woodlea, where about 30 per cent of the estate has been earmarked for public open space.
Woodlea Town Centre, including Coles, opened in 2021 as shops and other facilities were progressively delivered alongside the growing Aintree community.
Early learning, medical services, sporting facilities and schools followed, before Woodlea Town Centre, including Coles, opened in 2021.
The estate is expected to eventually house about 25,000 people.
Some of its more unusual planning has happened along Kororoit Creek.
The growling grass frog habitat was designed with state environment authorities to keep predatory fish out while providing shallow water, rock piles and aquatic vegetation suited to the species.
Water levels and salinity can also be managed to mimic seasonal conditions.
Growling grass frogs are listed as vulnerable in Victoria and nationally, with habitat loss, disease and invasive predators among threats to the species.
Lauren Basra with children Shaan and Zara at Woodlea, where an unlikely threatened resident helped influence part of the 17,000-person estate’s planning.
Aintree resident Lauren Basra moved to Woodlea with her family in 2023, partly because she does not drive and wanted daily needs close to home.
“There’s literally days that I will not go in the car,” Ms Basra said.
Her son Shaan plays soccer locally, while daughter Zara attends ballet at the community centre, and Ms Basra walks to regular mothers’ group catch-ups at an Aintree cafe.
Before moving, Ms Basra said her first reaction to being closer to Melton was that the area could be “a bit rough”, while she also had concerns about local schools.
She was unaware that part of the estate’s environmental planning had been influenced by the threatened frog.
But Ms Basra said one major piece of infrastructure had yet to keep pace with growth in Melbourne’s west.
She said electrification of the Melton line needed to happen sooner as thousands more residents moved into the region.
Having previously lived at Tarneit, Ms O’Kane said she had experienced crowded rail services and did not want Rockbank to face the same pressures.
Rockbank station serves the growing Woodlea community, where resident Lauren Basra says Melton line electrification needs to happen sooner. Picture: Victorian Government.
She also wanted better pedestrian access to Rockbank station.
The state and federal governments have committed $152.7m to development work for Melton line electrification, including design, planning and securing a future power supply.
That work is expected to be completed by mid-2027 and will inform future funding decisions.
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