Maidstone, Victoria

Maidstone is a suburb 8 km west of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Its local government area is the City of Maribyrnong. At the 2011 Census, Maidstone had a population of 7,750.

Maidstone is a suburb of the City of Maribyrnong, located 8 km from the Melbourne CBD, bordered by West Footscray to the south on Suffolk Street, Braybrook to the west on Ashley St, Footscray to the east along Summerhill Road and Rosamond Road and Maribyrnong to the north and north-east along Williamson Road and Rosamond Road.

History
Maidstone was established in 1858. It was given the name after the town of Maidstone in Kent, which is close to Footscray, named after Foots Cray, another town formerly in Kent.

Maidstone Post Office opened on 1 October 1858 and closed in 1986.

Maidstone was predominantly made up of period weatherboard, brick Art Deco and Californian Bungalow houses constructed between the 1920s and 1940s. Concrete houses built in the late 1940s to house the families of returned servicemen from World War II are also found. From the early 1990s many old factory sites in Maidstone have been turned into new housing estates comprising hundreds of houses and townhouses. Maidstone's recent development boost, good public transport availability and close proximity to the CBD has also seen the median house price escalate dramatically over the past 10 years.

Attractions

 * Highpoint Shopping Centre (est 1975), technically part of neighboring suburb Maribyrnong, however lies on the border of Maidstone.
 * Maribyrnong River
 * Maribyrnong River Trail
 * Medway Golf Club
 * Scovell Reserve Play Ground

Education



 * Maribyrnong College (est 1958), located in Maribyrnong on the border of Maidstone and Maribyrnong.
 * Footscray North Primary School (est 1922), located in Footscray on the border of Maidstone and Footscray.
 * St Vincents School
 * Little VIPs Childcare Centre
 * Highpoint Kinder Haven, located on the border of Maidstone and Footscray.

Features

 * Our Lady's Catholic Church is a landmark building established in 1962, located on Ballarat Road.
 * Al-Noor Mosque in Maidstone is the second oldest mosque in Melbourne and one of the oldest in Australia.
 * There is a student village for the Victoria University in the area.
 * Flemington Racecourse (Home of the Melbourne Cup) is located adjacent to Maidstone, just on the other side of the Maribyrnong River.
 * Ballarat Road runs through Maidstone.
 * The ongoing development and success of Melbourne Docklands in the west of Melbourne has attracted interest for further development of inner city suburbs such as Footscray and Maidstone.
 * The new modern housing estate Edgewater on the Maribyrnong River borders Maidstone.

Sport facilities
Maidstone boasts many sports clubs. The list of clubs include the following;
 * Sunshine George Cross Juniors Soccer Club (Dobson Reserve)
 * Rosamond Bowling Club
 * Leros United Soccer Club (Scovell Reserve)
 * Rosamond Tennis Club (Footscray North Primary School)
 * Maidstone Junior Sporting Club (As above)
 * Footscray United Cricket Club (Scovell Reserve)
 * Rosamond Bowling Club
 * Golfers play at the course of the Medway Golf Club on Omar Street.

Transport
Tram route 57 tram provides public transport from Flinders Street Station in the city to Cordite Avenue, West Maribyrnong, on the border of Maidstone, while tram route 82 tram provides public transport from Moonee Ponds (Ascot Vale Road / Puckle Street) to Footscray (Leeds Street / Irving Street) passing through Maidstone for a segment of its journey. It is one of very few Melbourne tram routes which do not travel through the Melbourne CBD.

West Footscray and Tottenham train stations are the closest to Maidstone but many residents catch the bus to Footscray station.

A number of different bus routes pass through Maidstone.

The Maribyrnong River Trail connects cyclists to the Footscray Road off-road path and into Docklands and the Melbourne CBD.

Flora and fauna
Many native species exist along the Maribyrnong River. Some species thrive in the area and often journey up and down river from Brimbank Park (5 km up river from Maidstone). The most abundant are;
 * Rainbow Lorikeet
 * Common Brushtail Possum
 * Black Flying Foxes or Fruit Bat Pteropus
 * Cockatoo
 * Galah

Notable people

 * Albert Facey - Author of A Fortunate Life and Gallipoli veteran. Has a street named after him in the eastern part of Maidstone.