janette eley

Hi Guys

Im looking for some views on Point Cook in Melbourne.

I have heard some negatives and some positives:

Negatives

Smells of sewage! (must admit, never heard that one before)'
Hard to commute, no train station
Shouldnt live in the west side of Melbourne (why not?)
Schools not very good.

Positives

Houses are reasonably priced
New shopping centre

Any help correcting the above or offering new views would be a great help as we are looking to move early next year (feb)

Thanks Guys

Wendy66

Just checked where it was to make sure I was talking about same place, we visited in 2007 when we validated, seemed a nice place and from memory not far from the centre of Melbourne.

Many will offer an opinion on where to/not to live but personally I'd take all comments and then visit for yourself to get a feel for the place, we were staying with two lots of friends some down in Devon Meadow about an hour out of Melbourne on other side and the other friend are at St Kilda on other side of Melbourne remembering having conversation with him that they couldn't afford to buy on the side they were and that it's just more 'sought after' that side. Personally I'd rather have a larger house where prices are lower, St Kilda was lovely but lots of traffic, not sure how much it's changed but Point Cook had a lot of new housing going up and shopping areas etc.

Research as much as you can, then go visit the areas you like, good luck

herrchook

I'm sure someone who's never lived on the west of Melbourne will be along shortly to tell you that anything on this side of the Westgate Bridge resembles the pits of hell but for many people it's a happy home. There are areas on the west of Melbourne which are very industrial and it's flat but if that doesn't bother you then there's lots of great options, old and new.

I agree with the previous poster, you need to visit lots of areas before you decide where you want to live as each suburb has it's own unique feel and pros and cons.

Good luck.

janette eley

Thanks guys.

Its just so hard. Sometimes when you listen to too many people who all have different contradicting opinions, it leaves you more confused than ever!!

I was in Altona on Tuesday, but because of time didnt get to point cook and I wish I had.

Trying to make a discission for your full family based on no knowledge of a place is hard.

Thanks again

Pomster

I live near Point Cook at the moment , and some friends live in Point Cook.

The schools aren't bad- they are awful!!!

For me it is not a place I would rush to live, but some love it. I find it a bit souless- rather like the planned bit of Milton Keynes. It does have good facilities- community centres, kids' playgrounds, shopping centre is growing - but it still has that "just built" feeling to it.

For what it is worth, I prefer the slightly older burb of Altona Meadows. It feels more natural and is far closer to Laverton train station, but schools are still not fab.

But it is a good idea not to rush into buying- try renting and see how it suits you. Obviously it suits the 3500 or so people who currently live there.

(And if you chose to commute by car along the freeway to CBD, it is a carpark from 6.30am onwards- pretty much like all the freeways)

Dolly

Hi Janette

We currently live in Altona and will be moving to Point Cook at the weekend. We've been living in Altona for the past 18 months, and have no real complaints about it, but decided that Point Cook will suit us better. We have sold our house and are building a new one in Point Cook, for the same price we are upgrading from a 2 bed to a 4 bed. We'll be renting in Point Cook while we build. I won't be able to walk to the station anymore, but Laverton is a less than 10 minute drive away, and they will soon be building the new Point Cook/Williams Landing Station (although I don't know when that will be up and running). Phase 2 of the Point Cook town centre opened recently and they have made a really good job of it. Plenty of shops and restaurants to keep people happy. There is a Target, Harris Scarf Department Store, Best & Less, Coles, Aldi, Coffee Club, Muffin Break, Dick Smith and a food court in the new shopping centre and many more.

Werribee Plaza is a 10 minute drive up the road which is a decent sized shopping centre. Its not as big as High Point but it has all the high street shops. They are also upgrading it to compete with High Point, I think the budget is $200 million.

Anyway, you really should go out and have a look around Point Cook. Its not for everyone, but it is certainly worth considering. There will be plenty of people from the eastern suburbs who will tell you not to go near the west, but thats all rubbish.

You can have a brand new 4 bed house 20 minutes drive from the city, and the equivilent in the east is probably Packenham which is least 40 minutes out of the city.

All the best
Katie

janette eley

Thanks Kate

I totally agree, renting is a must before buying, then we will know if its for us or not. Were not fancy people, just need a nice safe place to stay with the kids.

Hope you enjoy your new home, well done!

scrubbedexpat055

Hi Janette,

Good luck with your search.

Everywhere has something to offer and something to annoy, it just depends if those things are on your list

Schooling is always difficult, and we experienced some real problems, however most people find what they seek eventually.

In Point Cook my view is its pretty poor, best of bunch would be Seabrook, although we struggled, most rate it. To further add to this recommendation a work colleague whose wife teachers at Carranballac in Point Cook is moving their own kids from Carranballac to Seabrook....so must be bad

I am currently in Altona which is ok, good rail links and nice little strip of shops etc, although you pay for it. Williamstown is nice, but even more money.

Point Cook is one of many new areas being developed in the West, look for Tarneit, Truganina (may be wrong spelling), Williams Landing, Taylors Hill and Caroline Springs.

Some have got rail stations already, others are getting them soon.

Have fun looking, its hard to get a feel for places. Find a school you like first, then go from there.

We got it wrong on our first time, and ended up going back to UK. This time finding the right school has been moved to top of list, and we are now looking forward to our daughter starting her new school in February. If you get it wrong, change, don't do what we did as it costs a fortune

Pete

gsidhu

hey - we've been renting in Point Cook 18 months now, dont have no kids so
cant comment on the schools here.

I've not noticed any sewage smells, i find the commute ok, 10 min drive to station, 25 mins express train to city, then about 10 min work from there, i'd say around 45-60mins.

The town centre is really taking shape now, has most things we need, and more shops on the way.

House building prices i've noted have gone up a far bit, when I first came here(18months ago), I costed up a particular house and land plot to build was $500k, just last week I checked the same house and land in another one of the PC estates, less sqm too, that came to $550k. Existing homes though you can check the prices on realestate.com.au , the homes are nicely designed but pooly built.

On the whole it suits us for now, everything we need is within an easy commute. All my work is in the city so thats managable too. It does get pretty windy here though but on the whole its pleasant enough, it has a good mix of people, and they seem pretty chilled out.

hope that helps - good luck with the move
G

Petals

I doubt the sewerage smells unless the people have a problem with the toilet, the authority has done a lot of work out there covering the ponds etc to remove these problems.

I live on the south side but that was an accident really because that was where we got a rental when we first arrived, and then we just continued to stay on the side of Melbourne we were familiar with and moved further out. Once settled people tend to stay in and around the areas they are familiar with as its like emigrating to go to the other side as the place is so vast.

My needs are a diverse population with older and new housing old and young people that way there are more people around during the day whereas in the new areas they tend to be soul less and can be isolated and for a new migrant very lonely.

Where we live also depends a lot on work because a short commute is desirable imo.

You will know when you find the right place to live and do not be blinkered by others.

janette eley

Thanks for all the replies guys Im really taking them on board.

The thing that concerns me about Point Cook is that nobody has anything good to say about the schools there and having 2 kid, 1 primary 1 secondary that is a concern for me.

Does anybody know why the schools are bad, is it lack of teachers, facilities or something else?

sr71

I have lived there for 12 months now and the place has positives and negatives, just like any other suburb really.

We have a 4 year that will start school next year and will probably go to Seabrook Primary. I have really heard nothing but good about this school, both from other parents locally and also from some people on here. It's even won some award for it's headmaster/leadership team too.

Carranballac is the one to avoid by all reports. Point Cook primary on the RAAF base is also meant to be good, and I have heard positive reports about the 2 Catholic school - Lumen Christi and Stella Maris. I won't send our son there on principal though.

There isn't a secondary school in the Point Cook area that I would send my kids to. I think the problem is that they are so new, the Point Cook secondary college has only just been completed and quite frankly the students look slovenly and not the sort I want our son to turn out like. Quite a few of the kids seem to go to another school, they are very smartly dressed and a school bus comes around and picks them up - I'm guessing it's a private school.

But overall my experience of Point Cook has the following :

Positives
Loads of space in the houses for a reasonable price.
Houses are generally nicely designed for living.
New town centre is good and has all you need for the basics
Extremely convenient location for access to Geelong and the South Coast
Good airport access without having to use tollroads
Good access to the city
Living is generally very easy out there, very little hassles in terms of parking, shops, busy-ness etc.
Plenty of nice playgrounds for kids
Flat sections
Not really any public transport - lower crime levels
Extremely safe area
Many families (not that friendly though, they all keep to themselves)
Loads of shops nearby in Hoppers Crossing, Werribee. Footscray is close and Highpoint too.

Negatives
INTERNET!!! Many houses do not have ADSL connections.
Nicely design houses does not mean nice build quality
You have to drive to go out to a restaurant/bar etc
Not really any public transport - you need a car
Can be a bit barren and dusty, especially when windy
Some parts still like a large building site

Petals

Internet connection is important, a lot of the areas with new housing do not have adsl internet only dial up or wireless. Wireless reception depends on how far you live from the antenna, if you live a way out and the traffic gets heavy then you get shoved off. So if you like the internet buy in an area where its available.

The southern side of the city which is further to the CBD than Point Cook has a lot of older suburbs where internet will be available.

Also to have ADSL 2 you have to be a certain distance from the telephone exchange, where I live I am on the boundary, the people across the road cannot get ADSL.

Berwick area has estates where some people have ADSL but others cannot get it until someone gives up theres.

If anyone coming to Melbourne wants to know about internet I suggest sign up to Whirlpool its free and you can find out all about it and other telephone matters.

sr71

Yeah, you need to check with Telstra before renting/buying any house, they can tell you what sort of wiring is available to the house and whether ADSL is available. Even if it is ADSL capable the problem in PC is that all the ports at the Exchange are used up.

However some of the estates at PC have fiber in now so are supposed to have fantastic connection speeds.

herrchook

That might be Westbourne Grammar in Tarneit - a fabulous school.

The school my girls goes to also does a bus pick up service and I think they're extending the route. I know it is currently going down beyond Werribee. Not sure I'd want my kids travelling that far at their ages, but plenty others do it very happily with no problems. Just worth pointing out that you don't always need to restrict yourself to local schools