Farewell North West City News – but not goodbye

After six years and 62 editions serving North Melbourne, West Melbourne, Kensington and Parkville Gardens, North West City News is signing off; but only in name.

Like its contemporaneous sibling Inner City News, this publication was born during one of the most uncertain periods Melbourne has experienced.

We launched quietly during COVID, at a time when communities were isolated, businesses were struggling and many inner-city neighbourhoods had gone for years without a dedicated local newspaper.

What began as an effort to restore regular local news to Melbourne’s north and west quickly became something much more meaningful.

These are some of the most special parts of our city.

North Melbourne and West Melbourne are separate suburbs with their own histories and personalities, but their identities are also intrinsically linked.

As a former North Melbourne resident, I have always felt there is something uniquely Melbourne about this part of the city.

Its heritage is palpable. The streets, terraces, pubs, laneways, shopfronts and old industrial buildings give the area a character that is difficult to replicate.

But over the course of producing this newspaper, we have learned that what really drives that identity is the community itself.

There is an extraordinary level of care for these neighbourhoods from the people who live, work and run businesses here.

It has been a privilege to work alongside the North & West Melbourne Business Association, whose commitment to strengthening the local precinct has been unwavering.

Our partnership on the North & West Melbourne Directory has been another rewarding part of that relationship, and we are pleased that a new edition will soon be hitting the streets.

The Hotham History Project has also been a constant source of knowledge and generosity, doing invaluable work to preserve and share the history of North and West Melbourne.

Across in Kensington, that same fierce sense of local identity exists in a slightly different form.

Kensington has always felt like a suburb with one foot in the City of Melbourne and another looking west towards its neighbours in Moonee Valley, but it possesses a heritage and community character entirely of its own.

We have been proud to support the Kensington Association as it has grappled constructively with enormous change.

The challenge has never simply been resisting growth, but ensuring that growth delivers a neighbourhood that remains liveable, connected and worthy of the community already there.

Throughout our six years, North West City News has documented some of the most significant urban renewal projects taking shape anywhere in Melbourne.

Arden is transforming the western edge of North Melbourne, while Macaulay continues to reshape parts of Kensington and the Melrose end of North Melbourne.

The West Gate Tunnel has brought another layer of major infrastructural change.

At the same time, residents of North Melbourne’s public housing towers continue to face uncertainty over the future of their homes and communities – a story we have followed closely and one that will remain important long after this masthead disappears.

Parkville Gardens has been one of the quieter but proudest parts of the North West City News story.

The community will soon mark 20 years since it was established for the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

As a relatively young neighbourhood, there have not always been endless headlines coming out of Parkville Gardens.

But that has never diminished the importance of giving the local community a voice.

The Parkville Gardens Residents’ Association has contributed to every single edition of this newspaper. Not one missed.

That consistency speaks volumes about the commitment of the people who have built the community over the past two decades, and we are incredibly proud to have played even a small role in helping amplify their concerns, achievements and identity.

There is something fitting about the contents of this final edition.

Our comprehensive coverage of the new Royal Park Master Plan looks decades into the future of what is arguably Melbourne’s greatest natural asset – a place relied upon by communities across North Melbourne, Parkville and beyond.

We also carry generation-defining planning news from Macaulay, updates on Arden and continuing advocacy around the future of public housing.

In many ways, those stories encapsulate what this newspaper has always been about: preserving what makes these neighbourhoods special while documenting the enormous change occurring around them.

That work does not end here.

From September, North West City News will become part of The Melburnian, our new citywide publication bringing together our five existing community mastheads.

The name on the front page will change, but our commitment to North Melbourne, West Melbourne, Kensington and Parkville Gardens will not.

The challenge for The Melburnian is to ensure these communities retain the strong local voice they have built through this newspaper while connecting their stories to the bigger picture of Melbourne’s future.

There are many people to thank.

To our readers, thank you for picking up the paper, reading it, sharing it, writing to us and trusting us to tell your stories.

To our advertisers, thank you for making independent local journalism possible.

To the many community groups, traders, residents, advocates and contributors who have worked with us over the past six years – thank you for your support and generosity.

And to my team, past and present – thank you for the colossal amount of work that has gone into producing 62 editions.

North West City News may have had a relatively short life, but it’s been six incredibly meaningful years.

It has been an absolute privilege. Thank you for embracing us.

We look forward to continuing the journey with you through The Melburnian. •