In this special series, The Age focuses on Melbourne’s western suburbs to see how life could improve in Australia’s fastest-growing region. See all 14 stories .

Michael Clarke vividly remembers when, as mayor of Maribyrnong in 2009, he visited Canberra to be told the federal government would hand over a sprawling, historic Defence site to create a new suburb in Melbourne’s inner west.

Sixteen years on, the 128-hectare riverside slice of Maribyrnong, just 10 kilometres from the CBD, is no closer to housing families in a possible 6000 new homes.

The soil remains riddled with dangerous chemicals from the site’s former life as an ammunition and explosives factory, while buildings not used since 1994 grow increasingly derelict. The defence minister’s office now signals further delays.

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