Crace, Australian Capital Territory
Encyclopedia
Crace is a designated suburb of Canberra
, Australia
in the district of Gungahlin
. It was named after Edward Kendall Crace
an original settler in the Gungahlin area. Streets in Crace will be named after parishes and land divisions from colonial times. It is bounded by the Barton Highway
, Gungahlin Drive and Nudurr Drive. Located in the suburb is the Canberra Nature Park
of Gungaderra Grasslands nature reserve.
The ACT government has selected developers for the area as Defence Housing Australia
and Canberra Investment Corporation. Expectations are that there will be 1200 houses built over the next six years. The developers are expected to make $60,000,000 but have to share half that with the government. Some very small blocks will be released for low cost housing with 85% released for high cost housing. Eventually the suburb will have 1500 houses on 140 hectares.
Phase 1 Streets:
.It also has a CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems area.
age Canberra Formation slaty shale
and mudstone
. In the mid west is siltstone
. Towards Gungahlin Hill there is some sandstone
at the base of the siltstone deposit, then over an unconformity
to lower Silurian
age State Circle Shale, and then mudstone. On Gungahlin Hill the rocks are from the Ordovician
age Pittman Formation with greywacke
and bands of the Acton Shale Member. The east side of Crace also has Silurian Canberra Formation with the top of Crace Hill having vesicular
Dacite
overlying mudstone. Crace Hill has been designated as a geological monument. The Gungahlin Fault curves around the south east side of Gungahlin Hill, and heads north north east out of Crace. The Winslade Fault comes into the south of Crace over the top of Gungahlin Hill and curves north into Palmerston.
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
in the district of Gungahlin
Gungahlin
Gungahlin is a name of a district and the northernmost town centre of Canberra, Australia. Gungahlin is situated 10 km north of Canberra's city centre and is one of five satellites of Canberra including Woden, Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and Belconnen. Currently Gungahlin comprises 11 suburbs,...
. It was named after Edward Kendall Crace
Edward Kendall Crace
Edward Kendall Crace was an Australian pastoralist who owned extensive land holdings around Canberra.Crace owned the properties of Ginninderra and Gungahlin and added Charnwood to his holdings in 1880. He arrived in Australia in 1865 on the Duncan Dunbar after being shipwrecked...
an original settler in the Gungahlin area. Streets in Crace will be named after parishes and land divisions from colonial times. It is bounded by the Barton Highway
Barton Highway
The Barton Highway is a short highway in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.The Barton Highway connects Canberra to the Hume Highway at Yass, and it is part of the route from Melbourne to Canberra....
, Gungahlin Drive and Nudurr Drive. Located in the suburb is the Canberra Nature Park
Canberra Nature Park
The Canberra Nature Park is actually 30 separate protected areas in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, ranging from bushland hills to lowland native grassland...
of Gungaderra Grasslands nature reserve.
Development
The suburb is planned. Road construction commenced in July 2008. The construction of 21 display homes will commence as of October 2008.The ACT government has selected developers for the area as Defence Housing Australia
Defence Housing Australia
Defence Housing Australia is an Australian government statutory authority that provides housing for members of the Australian Defence Force. The organisation was established in 1988. In addition to building houses, it also sells them to investors and then leases them back for its own use. This...
and Canberra Investment Corporation. Expectations are that there will be 1200 houses built over the next six years. The developers are expected to make $60,000,000 but have to share half that with the government. Some very small blocks will be released for low cost housing with 85% released for high cost housing. Eventually the suburb will have 1500 houses on 140 hectares.
Streets
As part of the recent development a new series of streets have been created following a Burley-Griffen grid pattern.Phase 1 Streets:
- Abena Avenue (main street of Crace)
- Arcadia Street
- Baratta Street
- Benalla Street
- Carrawa Street
- Chance Street
- Digby Circuit
- Dobikin Street
- Durong Street
- Errol Street
- Fairfield Street
- Galore Street
- Harrow Street
- Hillcrest Street
- Junee Street
- Keewong Crescent
- Langtree Crescent
- Medhurst Crescent
- Narden Street
- Narden Street
- Parilia Street
- Quain Street
- Rylstone Crescent
- Stowport Avenue (incorporates an urban linear park)
- Taplow Street
- Ultimo Street
- Vandyke Street
- Wadeye Street
- Yinnar Street
- Zanci Street
Existing facilities
The suburb also encompasses Gungahlin Hill, which hosts the transmission facilities for the following radio stations:- ABC Radio National
- 666 ABC Canberra666 ABC Canberra666 ABC Canberra is an ABC Local Radio station based in Canberra and broadcasting to the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding New South Wales region. This includes the cities and towns of Queanbeyan, Yass and Bungendore....
- 1RPH
- Mix 106.3Mix 106.3MIX 106.3 is a commercial radio station in Canberra, Australia and is owned by the Australian Radio Network and Southern Cross Austereo....
- FM 104.7
Geography
Crace Grasslands Nature Reserve and Crace Hill are not completely located in Crace despite the name; their southern parts are located in the adjacent suburb of LynehamLyneham, Australian Capital Territory
Lyneham is a suburb of Canberra, Australia in the North Canberra district. It is named after Sir William Lyne, premier of the Australian state of New South Wales from 1899 to 1901. The suburb name was gazetted in 1928, but development did not commence until 1958. The streets of Lyneham are named...
.It also has a CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems area.
Geology
On the North west side of Crace the rock is middle SilurianSilurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
age Canberra Formation slaty shale
Shale
Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock composed of mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals and tiny fragments of other minerals, especially quartz and calcite. The ratio of clay to other minerals is variable. Shale is characterized by breaks along thin laminae or parallel layering...
and mudstone
Mudstone
Mudstone is a fine grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Grain size is up to 0.0625 mm with individual grains too small to be distinguished without a microscope. With increased pressure over time the platey clay minerals may become aligned, with the...
. In the mid west is siltstone
Siltstone
Siltstone is a sedimentary rock which has a grain size in the silt range, finer than sandstone and coarser than claystones.- Description :As its name implies, it is primarily composed of silt sized particles, defined as grains 1/16 - 1/256 mm or 4 to 8 on the Krumbein phi scale...
. Towards Gungahlin Hill there is some sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
at the base of the siltstone deposit, then over an unconformity
Unconformity
An unconformity is a buried erosion surface separating two rock masses or strata of different ages, indicating that sediment deposition was not continuous. In general, the older layer was exposed to erosion for an interval of time before deposition of the younger, but the term is used to describe...
to lower Silurian
Silurian
The Silurian is a geologic period and system that extends from the end of the Ordovician Period, about 443.7 ± 1.5 Mya , to the beginning of the Devonian Period, about 416.0 ± 2.8 Mya . As with other geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period's start and end are well identified, but the...
age State Circle Shale, and then mudstone. On Gungahlin Hill the rocks are from the Ordovician
Ordovician
The Ordovician is a geologic period and system, the second of six of the Paleozoic Era, and covers the time between 488.3±1.7 to 443.7±1.5 million years ago . It follows the Cambrian Period and is followed by the Silurian Period...
age Pittman Formation with greywacke
Greywacke
Greywacke or Graywacke is a variety of sandstone generally characterized by its hardness, dark color, and poorly sorted angular grains of quartz, feldspar, and small rock fragments or lithic fragments set in a compact, clay-fine matrix. It is a texturally immature sedimentary rock generally found...
and bands of the Acton Shale Member. The east side of Crace also has Silurian Canberra Formation with the top of Crace Hill having vesicular
Vesicular texture
Vesicular texture is a volcanic rock texture characterised by a rock being pitted with many cavities at its surface and inside. The texture is often found in extrusive aphanitic, or glassy, igneous rock...
Dacite
Dacite
Dacite is an igneous, volcanic rock. It has an aphanitic to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. The relative proportions of feldspars and quartz in dacite, and in many other volcanic rocks, are illustrated in the QAPF diagram...
overlying mudstone. Crace Hill has been designated as a geological monument. The Gungahlin Fault curves around the south east side of Gungahlin Hill, and heads north north east out of Crace. The Winslade Fault comes into the south of Crace over the top of Gungahlin Hill and curves north into Palmerston.