I live just out of Kilmore and can not see myself ever voluntarily going back closer to Melbourne.
The skies are not as dark as Heathcote of course but they are pretty good, with limitations. Melbourne does produce it's fair share of LP, though when at higher elevations, objects like 47 Tuc, Tarantula etc are still pretty spectacular. The east is sometimes an issue too (We live west of town by about 6KM) when the racetrack is open for the trots at night they hose a lovely blue column of light up into the air. North and west are pretty well trouble free though.
It seems to cover most of your other considerations reasonably too.
Regards Shepp, The skies might be relatively dark but I would prefer to be over more in the Echuca direction. My parents used to live approx 15 minutes South of Echuca and my most vivid recollection of the place is of inky black skies! Strathallan (Roughly half way between Echuca and Rochester) was where my interest in astronomy was first piqued.
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