Hamersley, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Hamersley is a residential suburb 14 kilometres (9 mi) north-northwest of the central business district
of Perth
, the capital of Western Australia
, and six kilometres (4 mi) from the Indian Ocean
. The suburb adjoins two major arterial roads—Mitchell Freeway
to the west and Reid Highway
to the south—and is within the City of Stirling local government area. It was built during the late 1960s and 1970s as part of the Government of Western Australia
's response to rapidly increasing land prices across the metropolitan area.
Before development, Hamersley was a remote district covered in jarrah, marri
, banksia
and other vegetation typical of the Swan Coastal Plain
, with small areas cleared for small-scale agriculture such as market gardening
and poultry
farming. By 1974, six years after the first subdivision, Hamersley was home to the district's first community hall, an annual parade and fair which were broadcast on Perth TV and radio, an active progress association, and its own newspaper, the Hamersley Gazette, a forerunner to today's Stirling Times. Rapid growth further north removed the focus from Hamersley, which was completed in 1981 and has remained relatively stable since then.
Significant reserves of remnant bushland
remain in parts of the suburb. The largest of these is an exclusion zone around the 208 metres (682 ft) high ABC
radio tower in the suburb's southeast, which broadcasts AM
stations to the Perth metropolitan area. The guyed tower
was built in 1939 and is a landmark in the region, although it has become a local political issue over the past decade.
, Western Australia
, within the City of Stirling, and 6 kilometres (4 mi) from the Indian Ocean. Its borders are the Mitchell Freeway
to the west, Reid Highway
and the Balcatta
industrial area to the south, Wanneroo Road
to the east, and Beach Road
and the City of Joondalup
to the north. The suburb is divided into western and eastern portions by Erindale Road. Hamersley was one of the first Perth suburbs to be guided by the principles of cul-de-sac
design, and many of its minor streets are joined by parks and pathways.
Hamersley covers 3.267 square kilometres (807 acres) and averages 29 metres (95 ft) above sea level, although portions of the loop formed by Rannoch Circle in the eastern portion are 50–55 metres (165–180 ft) above sea level. A real estate magazine remarked in 1994 that "homes around the Rannoch circle enjoy some spectacular views to the city and the hills", and that "a few lucky householders... could even catch ocean glimpses, despite being more than six kilometres from the water."
The restricted-access bushland reserve surrounding the ABC radio tower in the suburb's southeast covers 14.4% (0.47 km²/117 acres) of its area, while parks and areas of natural bushland are spread throughout. The largest of these are Aintree-Eglinton Reserve, a 3.38 hectare (8.35 acre) grassed reserve next to the community centre complex, and Rannoch-Tay-Earn Reserve, a 4.83 hectare (11.94 acre) reserve containing large areas of native bushland interspersed with grassed and paved walkways. A biodiversity site north of the community centre is recognised by the City of Stirling's Green Plan 2.
Streets in western Hamersley are generally named after English towns, while eastern Hamersley uses the names of Scottish Highland
and Perthshire
towns and loch
s. There are exceptions - the origins of Vickers Street precinct street names are unknown, while streets in the south-western corner are named after the "Bentley Boys
", a group of British racing drivers from the 1920s and 1930s, and their car designer Walter Owen Bentley
.
grains, with Tamala Limestone
beneath. Locally known as Karrakatta Sand, it is almost certainly the leached
remnants of coastal sand deposited by eolian processes
in the late Pleistocene
period, between 11,000 and 100,000 years ago. Below the sand are Paleozoic
rocks of the Perth Basin
. The sand contains an unconfined aquifer
with large supplies of low-salinity potable groundwater
which is recharged by rainfall.
As with other infertile areas of the Swan Coastal Plain
, Hamersley would have supported open forests of Eucalyptus marginata (Jarrah) with Corymbia calophylla
(Marri) or Eucalyptus gomphocephala
(Tuart), and an understorey of Banksia attenuata
(Candlestick Banksia), B. menziesii
(Firewood Banksia), B. grandis
(Bull Banksia), Allocasuarina fraseriana
(Western Sheoak) and Agonis flexuosa
(Swan River Peppermint). The main shrub species would have been Jacksonia sternbergiana
(Stinkwood), J. furcellata
(Grey Stinkwood), Acacia cyclops
(Coastal Wattle), Acacia saligna
(Orange Wattle), Hibbertia
species, Allocasuarina humilis
(Dwarf Sheoak), Calothamnus quadrifidus
(One-sided Bottlebrush) and Grevillea thelemanniana
(Spider Net Grevillea). Biodiversity surveys in 2006 have also identified a relatively rare species, Jacksonia sericea
(Waldjumi), in two eastern Hamersley reserves.
who arrived in the Swan River Colony
in 1837 and established themselves at Guildford
. There is no evidence they ever visited modern Hamersley, but in 1869 they built a summer home in what is now North Beach
, 6 kilometres (4 mi) to the west, and bought considerable holdings in the area over the following years.
The name first came into use to describe the north-western section of the Perth Road District in 1906. Hamersley Ward was a large area of land covering what is now Hamersley, Carine
, Watermans Bay
, North Beach
, Gwelup
and parts of Balcatta
, Karrinyup
and Trigg
. The Hamersley townsite, consisting of Hamersley Ward, was gazetted in 1945. As a result, many facilities in North Beach, including a primary school, a golf course, several sporting clubs and residents' and seniors' associations, were called Hamersley. After the Hamersley Development Scheme started in 1968, confusion as to exactly what Hamersley referred to led to conflict between established organisations in North Beach and emerging ones in Hamersley - the Hamersley Gazette noted in 1973 that "North Beach people have the prior claim but ours is more officially accepted".
The suburb was gazetted as a locality by the City of Stirling on 24 October 1975, although it had existed as a postal locality since 1971.
people, an Indigenous Australian
people who traversed the lakes and wetlands running parallel to the coast between what is now Perth and Yanchep
.
Soon after the establishment of the Swan River Colony
, colonial authorities divided up the land into grants which were given to settlers who had brought capital and to the new settlement. Southern Hamersley became part of Location K, a 2,585 hectare (6,388 acre) strip of land extending 19 kilometres (12 mi) west from Caversham
on the Swan River
to Big Carine Swamp, which was granted to Robert Ansell Partridge in September 1829. The western part of this, first surveyed by P.L.S. Chauncy in 1843, remained fairly inaccessible, and the only development in the area was the construction of the Daviot Park cottage on Old Balcatta Road 500 metres (0.31 mi) southwest of Hamersley. By the late 1930s, portions in the far west and south-east of the suburb had been cleared for small-scale agriculture such as market gardening, and in 1939 the Department of the Interior constructed a 208 metre (682 ft) tower and other facilities for ABC AM
and shortwave
radio broadcasts on Wanneroo Road
.
Northern Hamersley, meanwhile, became part of Swan
Location 1315, which extended north to Lake Goollelal and west to the coast and was granted in the 1890s to the Midland Railway Company after being surveyed by Crossland & Co. in 1892, and by N. Lymburner in 1894.* Crossland & Co. (1892). Loc. 1315 Western Survey for Midland Railway Co. Later additions to 1900. Scale: 20 chains to 1 inch; approx. 1:16,000. Located at State Records Office, Perth, under "Swan 172"
* Bartlett, N.S. (1903). Loc 1315 - Vicinity of Marmion Townsite and Wanneroo Road (Compiled from various surveys 1841-1907). Scale: 15 chains to 1 inch; approx. 1:12,000. Accessed at State Records Office, Perth, under "Swan 270". It appears that no development occurred in northern Hamersley, other than the construction of Beach and Carine Roads in 1900, and the State Housing Commission resumed the land in November 1950. In 1962, a lucerne
grower with a property on Duffy Road, Carine applied to use the northern half of the suburb as a sheep run. The Shire President, Herbert R. Robinson, refused to grant permission, saying that "land might soon be needed for housing". The West Australian reported in 1967 that the area was still "virtually untouched bushland".
In the late 1960s, concern about the growth of land prices in the Perth metropolitan area, which for several years had exceeded the consumer price index
, led to the Premier of Western Australia
, David Brand
, convening an inter-departmental committee to study the problem. One of the committee's recommendations to Cabinet was to release 300 hectares of land owned by the State Housing Commission in Hamersley, Warwick and Greenwood which was on a much larger area that had been designated as "deferred urban" land under the Metropolitan Region Scheme in 1963. On 13 December 1967, the Metropolitan Region Planning Authority decided to rezone as urban all land bounded by Hepburn Avenue, Marmion Avenue
, North Perimeter Highway
and Wanneroo Road
, on the condition that subdivision
would be approved when "Town Planning (Development) Scheme(s) have been approved with the general object of serving the best possible development at the least cost to the community".
The Shires of Perth and Wanneroo combined to prepare Town Planning Scheme No.26 (Hamersley Development Scheme
), and by early March 1968, the scheme, which included provisions for water supply
, sewerage
, drainage, road construction and undergrounding
of power mains
, was presented to both councils for consideration. A time limit of 3½ years for developers to construct homes on released land was built into the scheme in an effort to prevent land speculation
, which the inter-departmental committee believed was a key factor in spiralling prices in Perth. By July, however, negotiations between the councils broke down, and the Shire of Perth (now City of Stirling) decided to administer its own part of the scheme independently. The scheme was divided into nine sections, with what is now the suburb of Hamersley being the first stage.
In April 1968 the R&I Bank, a government-owned bank, was granted permission to subdivide a small area in northern Ardleigh Crescent in the suburb's west. The first auction of 80 lots on Saturday, 14 December 1968 was anticipated on the front page of The West Australian
, with Premier Brand advising intending buyers to be cautious about their bids. At the auction, 76 lots were sold at an average price of $
4,784, compared to $6,700 at a recent R&I Bank sale in the nearby suburb of Karrinyup
, with newspapers agreeing that the Premier's warning had been heeded by bidders.
The western portion of Hamersley grew steadily over the following months and years, with segments being released, auctioned and developed by the R&I Bank, T&S Plunkett Homes and Parkland Housing. The Hamersley Development Scheme, however, was doomed almost before it started. Disagreements over issues such as undergrounding of power and the time limit clauses between the Town Planning Board and the Shire of Perth had caused delays in the scheme's approval. In July 1970, the Shire Planner reported that "there is little point in proceeding with the Scheme, especially in view of the large areas already subdivided", and recommended the council agree "that for all practical purposes, Town Planning Scheme No. 26. is defunct". By the February 1971 state election, over 1,000 eligible voters lived in the district.
(then known as Stephenson Freeway) and Reid Highway
(North Perimeter Freeway). The result of these changes was to allow the construction of Walter Way, Dutton Crescent and connecting streets, which were named after racing drivers from the 1920s and 1930s.
Between 1971 and 1973, reserves, public recreation areas and drainage sites were set aside in western Hamersley, and facilities were erected in quick succession - the 1st Hamersley Scout Group
in 1973, the colonial-style Holy Cross Anglican Church
in 1974, and a community hall at Aintree Street in 1975. Residents in the region were at this time on the fringe of Perth's suburban area, relying on partly built main roads, distant shopping centres and overstretched local facilities for several years after the suburb's construction. A locally produced fortnightly newspaper, the Hamersley Gazette, started in early 1973 by Peter Flanigan, from his home in Manton Court, covering the suburbs of Carine, Hamersley, Warwick and Greenwood, with the open aim of helping to form community associations and campaign for better facilities. A July 1973 article, for example, lamented that "work on Erindale Road appears to have come to a standstill... great piles of dirt and unmade road surfaces bear testimony to the fact that something is going on, or should be going on, but this one is taking a very long time."
However, there were also celebrations — the paper reported in detail on the annual Glendale Spring Fair, held between 1973 and 1976 by the Glendale P&C
Association on the second Saturday in November. It included activities for children, marching bands provided by The Salvation Army
and the Australian 10th Light Horse Regiment, and a parade along Glendale Avenue and Beach Road at 10:30 a.m. Intended originally as a fundraiser for the school, the Gazette reported that it was "a sort of glorified féte that rapidly outgrew its origins", with live coverage of the parade on ABC radio
and on television station TVW
-7 and personalities such as Jeff Newman
in attendance. The fair, however, became the victim of a dispute over naming rights between the Glendale P&C, community groups and commercial sponsors. Other events included the grand opening of Warwick Grove Shopping Centre on 13 November 1974, the greening of Aintree-Eglinton Reserve and the activities of the Hamersley Progress Association. The paper was acquired in February 1977 by Bill Marwick of the Wanneroo Times, and evolved into the Stirling Times in 1980.
Meanwhile, work was only starting in eastern Hamersley. In 1973 Project Homes acquired a poultry farm and agricultural holding, and completed the construction of Vickers Street and adjoining roads, with Don Place becoming a display village. In 1974 the City of Stirling agreed, after complex negotiations, to sell 4.2 hectares of land comprising Carine Road and Allen Street to the State Housing Commission and to War Service Homes in order to "facilitate a satisfactory subdivisional design of adjoining land held by the State Housing Commission" in the eastern portion of the suburb. All that remains of these two early roads are paved pathways within the Rannoch-Tay-Earn Reserve, which was gazetted in 1976. By July 1975, 200 defence service homes were under construction on land immediately to the east of Erindale Road, to be made available to veterans from March 1976. The rest of eastern Hamersley was built over the next few years, and by 1981 development was essentially complete. The community hall was redeveloped into a full-fledged community centre, which officially opened in 1990.
Despite Hamersley's stability in the years since 1981 and its relatively low crime rate, it has periodically drawn the attention of the Perth media. In July 2000, a man bludgeoned his former girlfriend, mother-of-two Deborah Boyd, to death in a rented home in Brabant Way. He was subsequently sentenced to strict-security life imprisonment. On 23 January 2006, a large scrub fire caused the closure of Reid Highway and delays in rail line services during the afternoon rush hour
.
2006 census, Hamersley had a population of 4,965 people. This was a decline of 263 people from the 2001 census, and a decline of 622 people from the 1996 census.
Hamersley residents had a median age of 39, compared to the Perth average of 36. Median incomes in Hamersley were above average for the region and for Perth—$545 per week compared with $526 and $513 per week respectively; however, 21.2% had incomes above $1,000 per week, compared with 22.9% regionally and 22.9% across Perth. The 2001 Census figures put Hamersley's unemployment rate at 1.0% below the Perth average. Industry sectors in which Hamersley residents worked (2001) were comparable with those in Perth generally, with the largest proportions working in retail trade (16.3%), property and business services (11.4%), health and community services (11.0%) and manufacturing (9.7%). However, a higher proportion were employed by the education (7.8%), government administration and defence (5.2%) and utilities sectors (1.3%) than elsewhere.
According to the City of Stirling, most of Hamersley's 2,084 dwellings are brick
homes with an average lot size of 750 m². At the 2006 census, the median monthly housing loan repayments in Hamersley were about $1100—slightly lower than both the region and Perth generally ($1300). However, 40.9% of Hamersley's dwellings were fully owned, compared to 29.6% across the whole of Perth. In the year to March 2007, Hamersley's median house price was $432,500 versus $431,500 for the whole of Perth.
The population of Hamersley is predominantly Australian-born, with some 69.4% of its residents being born in Australia as at the 2006 census. The second most prevalent birthplace was the United Kingdom
at 10.0%. 6.3% of Hamersley's population reported one or both parents of Italian
birth, with the strongest concentration in the Vickers Street district (15.3%). Other significant minorities included those of Macedonian (2.0%), Chinese
(1.7%) and Greek
(1.2%) heritage.
The most popular religious affiliations in descending order in the 2006 census were Roman Catholic
, no religion, Anglican
, Uniting
, Orthodox
and "Christian nfd". Holy Cross Hamersley is located on Glendale Ave, and is an Anglican Church in the evangelical tradition. All Saints Catholic Church is in neighbouring Warwick
and the local Uniting Churches are in Carine and Greenwood.
(formerly Warwick Grove) shopping centre on its northern boundary for commercial services, and is 7 kilometres (4 mi) by road from Karrinyup Shopping Centre
. A light industrial area is to the south in Balcatta
which includes a large Bunnings Warehouse
on Erindale Road approximately 200 metres (656.2 ft) south of Hamersley.
Aintree-Eglinton Reserve, a grassed area covering 3.38 hectares (8.36 acres), contains a cricket pitch
, several practice runs and night lights for Australian rules football
, which are utilised by local amateur and junior clubs. Within the reserve is the Hamersley Community Recreation Centre, first built in the 1970s as a community hall and opened in its present form on 22 April 1990. The centre is a small village area consisting of a central pergola
crossed with walking paths, flanked by four buildings: a sports hall with basketball
courts and kiosk, an arts and crafts building, a community hall and function building hosting discos and other social events, and a purpose-built children's centre. Near the centre are the 1st Hamersley Scout Group, a child health centre and the Holy Cross Anglican Church, a colonial-style building built in 1974 and consecrated on 14 December 1980 to serve the newly formed Balcatta-Hamersley Parish.
Numerous small parks are throughout all parts of Hamersley, usually joining the ends of several cul-de-sac
s and in some cases containing wooden benches or children's play equipment. The Rannoch-Tay-Earn reserve in eastern Hamersley also contains two barbecue
s. The introduction of a barbecue and new playground equipment to the reserve first came in the late 1990s. 2008-2009 has seen the introduction of a new barbecue area due west of the playground with more introductions to the reserve to come.
The southeastern corner contains the ABC
50 kW radio tower which transmits ABC AM radio in Perth, including ABC Local Radio
(6WF
), Radio National
and ABC NewsRadio
. Several other towers, including a 20 kW and 10 kW tower, also are at the site. Some residents argue that electromagnetic interference
from the towers is adversely affecting their television and telephone reception, with the issue taken up in Federal parliament by local MPs.
, each of which includes facilities for pre-primary students, and a teaching resource centre. Hamersley is within the catchment area for Warwick Senior High School
for students from Years 8 to 12.
Hamersley's first school, Glendale Primary School in Glendale Avenue, opened in 1971 in the western portion of the suburb. The school and neighbouring kindergarten quickly became overcrowded as their catchment area
initially extended to Hepburn Avenue, taking in Warwick
and Greenwood
to its north. As schools were built in those suburbs in 1974–1976, congestion eased considerably. The school and kindergarten were also used as a hall and meeting place by residents and groups until the recreation centre opened in April 1975. In 2006, the school provided for 207 primary students between Year 1 and Year 7, and 35 pre-primary students.
From 1976 onward, the eastern portion of the suburb developed, and East Hamersley Primary School, in Doon Way, opened in February 1979. In 2006, the school provided for 96 primary, 16 pre-primary and 16 kindergarten students. Computer studies and Indonesian language
are required subjects for students from Years 3 to 7. In the 1990s, the West Coast Resource Centre, a specialist borrowing library for teachers of kindergarten, pre-primary and primary classes, was built on the East Hamersley site by the Department of Education (now Education and Training) to serve schools in the northern suburbs.
in the suburb. At the 2001 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics
reported that 70.7% of Hamersley's residents were drivers or passengers of cars in their commute to work, a figure only slightly lower than the north metropolitan average of 71.3%. Other private modes of transport included motorcycling (0.7%), cycling (0.7%) and walking (0.7%). The low number of walking commuters compared to the north metropolitan average of 1.1% and the Perth Statistical Region average of 1.81% is most likely due to the limited number of workplaces within walking distance.
Hamersley is situated at the intersection of several key arterial road
s and highways. It is connected to North Beach
(7 km), Scarborough
(10 km) and Perth Airport
(22 km) via Reid Highway
, to the Perth CBD (15 km) and to Joondalup (17 km) via Reid Highway and Mitchell Freeway
, and to the Balcatta industrial area and Karrinyup Shopping Centre (7 km) by Erindale Road. Traffic within Hamersley is distributed by a number of backbone streets, of which the main ones are Eglinton Crescent, Belvedere Road, Rannoch Circle, Blissett Way and Vickers Street.
However, the controlled access highways
on Hamersley's southern and western boundaries physically isolate the suburb from its neighbours and limit southbound exits to just two, Erindale Road and Wanneroo Road. This results in considerable rush hour congestion on the stretch of Erindale Road between Eglinton Crescent and Reid Highway. In 2004, Main Roads Western Australia provided a grant of $48,000 to the City of Stirling under its Black Spot Programme to improve the traffic flow in this area.
buses operated by Swan Transit
from the Warwick railway station
at its northwestern corner, linking via the Joondalup railway line to the Perth CBD
.
At the 2001 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics
reported that 8.9% of Hamersley's residents used public transport to get to work. Although this percentage had declined from 9.2% in the 1996 census, it was still higher than the north metropolitan average of 8.0%. Public transport usage was highest (14.7%) in the section of Hamersley closest to the train station, and lowest (2.5%) in the Vickers Street section to the southeast, where many residents live more than 10 minutes' walk from the nearest bus stop.
(Vickers Street)
During the morning and evening rush hour, the 449 route service ferries passengers along Erindale Road and Eglinton Crescent to and from Warwick railway station. Between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., the 347 route, an hourly bus between Warwick and Perth via Wanneroo Road
, covers the same area, while a number of routes travel along Beach Road to Centro Warwick
, and the 427 travels along Beach and Erindale Roads. The 457 route provides after-hours and weekend services along Erindale Road and Eglinton Crescent.
Eastern Hamersley does not have a direct service, other than those along Erindale and Wanneroo Roads. However, service along Wanneroo Road is very limited outside standard weekday hours.
Originally, Hamersley was served by a shuttle service to Wanneroo Road, Nollamara
, to connect with other routes to the Perth CBD. In September 1973, the Metropolitan Transport Trust introduced the 358 and 359 services, which linked Greenwood
to Perth via Eglinton Crescent and Glendale Avenue/Aintree Street respectively, traveling along Blissett Way, then becoming limited-stops Wanneroo Road services. An after-hours service, the 369, was also introduced. In 1987, following the construction of the Warwick Transfer Station and the Mitchell Freeway, services along Glendale Avenue and through East Hamersley ceased, with two new routes — the present-day 347 and the Freeway-bound 387 — being created to serve Eglinton Crescent.
On 21 March 1993, the Joondalup railway line came into operation as part of the Northern Suburbs Transit System
, resulting in the creation of the 449 and 457 services to replace the 387 service.
at both federal and state elections throughout its history. However, in the last two state elections, Hamersley booths recorded a majority for the centre-left Australian Labor Party
(ALP). Hamersley has also shown a higher preference than the regional average for progressive minor parties such as the Australian Greens
and Australian Democrats
. Hamersley is both socially and geographically between the safe Liberal suburbs west of the Mitchell Freeway
such as Carine
, Duncraig
and North Beach
, and the safe Labor suburbs east of Wanneroo Road
such as Balga
and Girrawheen
.
At federal level, Hamersley is within the Division of Stirling
, a marginal seat
which historically has alternated between the Liberal Party and the Australian Labor Party. It has been held since 2004 by Michael Keenan of the Liberal Party. At polling place and subdivision level, Hamersley has supported the Liberal Party at every election since its first in 1972, although in the 2001 election, the booth at East Hamersley Primary School was only won by the Liberal Party with a 0.3% two-party-preferred majority. Hamersley was in the Division of Cowan
for elections held between 1984 and 1996.
In the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
, Hamersley is split between the electorates of Girrawheen
and Balcatta
, both safe seats for the Australian Labor Party. At polling place level, Hamersley supported the Liberal Party at every election since its first in 1971 until the 1996 election. In both the 2001 and 2005 elections, polling places in Hamersley, as with those in many northern Perth suburbs, switched to the Australian Labor Party at state level. However, at the 2008 election, all booths except East Hamersley, which was tied, returned a majority for the Liberals.
At local level, Hamersley is represented within the City of Stirling by the two councillors of the Hamersley Ward, which covers the suburbs of Carine, Hamersley, Gwelup and northern Balcatta. At present, Ron Sebrechts, whose term expires in October 2009, and Peter Rose JP, whose term expires in October 2011, represent Hamersley Ward.
In the early 1970s, the Hamersley Progress Association was formed to represent the views of Hamersley residents to all levels of government. It was, however, fairly short-lived. In 1999, the Hamersley Reference Group was formed to advise then-Federal Member for Stirling Jann McFarlane
MHR on issues related to the ABC radio transmission towers and their effect on local residents. It was renamed to Radio Interference Group - Hamersley Towers after it moved to complete community management, and lobbies the government and makes submissions to public inquiries on behalf of the community on the issue.
Polling place statistics are presented below combining the votes from the Glendale and East Hamersley polling places in the federal and state elections as indicated.
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
of Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, the capital of Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, and six kilometres (4 mi) from the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
. The suburb adjoins two major arterial roads—Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway is a long freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth's central business district with its outer northern suburbs. It is allocated Route 2 for its entire length and is named after former state Premier and Governor Sir James Mitchell....
to the west and Reid Highway
Reid Highway
Reid Highway is a major arterial highway in Perth, Western Australia. It is allocated Route 3, and runs between Marmion Avenue, North Beach, and West Swan Road, West Swan, a distance of...
to the south—and is within the City of Stirling local government area. It was built during the late 1960s and 1970s as part of the Government of Western Australia
Government of Western Australia
The formation of the Government of Western Australia is prescribed in its Constitution, which dates from 1890, although it has been amended many times since then...
's response to rapidly increasing land prices across the metropolitan area.
Before development, Hamersley was a remote district covered in jarrah, marri
Corymbia calophylla
Corymbia calophylla is a bloodwood native to Western Australia. Common names include Marri and Port Gregory Gum, and a long standing usage has been Red Gum due to the red gum effusions often found on trunks.It is distinctive among bloodwoods for its very large buds and fruit Corymbia calophylla...
, banksia
Banksia
Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
and other vegetation typical of the Swan Coastal Plain
Swan Coastal Plain
The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geological and biological zone, one of Western Australia's...
, with small areas cleared for small-scale agriculture such as market gardening
Market gardening
A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. It is distinguishable from other types of farming by the diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically, from under one acre ...
and poultry
Poultry
Poultry are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of producing eggs, meat, and/or feathers. These most typically are members of the superorder Galloanserae , especially the order Galliformes and the family Anatidae , commonly known as "waterfowl"...
farming. By 1974, six years after the first subdivision, Hamersley was home to the district's first community hall, an annual parade and fair which were broadcast on Perth TV and radio, an active progress association, and its own newspaper, the Hamersley Gazette, a forerunner to today's Stirling Times. Rapid growth further north removed the focus from Hamersley, which was completed in 1981 and has remained relatively stable since then.
Significant reserves of remnant bushland
The Bush
"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...
remain in parts of the suburb. The largest of these is an exclusion zone around the 208 metres (682 ft) high ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
radio tower in the suburb's southeast, which broadcasts AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
stations to the Perth metropolitan area. The guyed tower
Radio masts and towers
Radio masts and towers are, typically, tall structures designed to support antennas for telecommunications and broadcasting, including television. They are among the tallest man-made structures...
was built in 1939 and is a landmark in the region, although it has become a local political issue over the past decade.
Geography
Hamersley is in the northern suburbs of PerthPerth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, within the City of Stirling, and 6 kilometres (4 mi) from the Indian Ocean. Its borders are the Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway is a long freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth's central business district with its outer northern suburbs. It is allocated Route 2 for its entire length and is named after former state Premier and Governor Sir James Mitchell....
to the west, Reid Highway
Reid Highway
Reid Highway is a major arterial highway in Perth, Western Australia. It is allocated Route 3, and runs between Marmion Avenue, North Beach, and West Swan Road, West Swan, a distance of...
and the Balcatta
Balcatta, Western Australia
Balcatta is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling. It is a primarily middle-class suburb made up of mainly Italian Catholic, Greek and Macedonian Orthodox families, as well as many families from other European Orthodox religions. It is also one of...
industrial area to the south, Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road is an important arterial road in Perth, Australia. It is about 75 kilometres long. It links Perth with the City of Wanneroo, and the Towns of Yanchep and Lancelin...
to the east, and Beach Road
Beach Road, Perth
Beach Road is a major east-west road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, connecting Perth's inner northern beachside suburbs and inland state housing areas with shopping and public transport facilities at Warwick and the Malaga industrial area...
and the City of Joondalup
City of Joondalup
The City of Joondalup is a council and Local Government Area with City status in Perth, Western Australia. It covers the metropolitan Perth city of Joondalup in its entirety, as well as the town centres of Hillarys and Warwick....
to the north. The suburb is divided into western and eastern portions by Erindale Road. Hamersley was one of the first Perth suburbs to be guided by the principles of cul-de-sac
Cul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
design, and many of its minor streets are joined by parks and pathways.
Hamersley covers 3.267 square kilometres (807 acres) and averages 29 metres (95 ft) above sea level, although portions of the loop formed by Rannoch Circle in the eastern portion are 50–55 metres (165–180 ft) above sea level. A real estate magazine remarked in 1994 that "homes around the Rannoch circle enjoy some spectacular views to the city and the hills", and that "a few lucky householders... could even catch ocean glimpses, despite being more than six kilometres from the water."
The restricted-access bushland reserve surrounding the ABC radio tower in the suburb's southeast covers 14.4% (0.47 km²/117 acres) of its area, while parks and areas of natural bushland are spread throughout. The largest of these are Aintree-Eglinton Reserve, a 3.38 hectare (8.35 acre) grassed reserve next to the community centre complex, and Rannoch-Tay-Earn Reserve, a 4.83 hectare (11.94 acre) reserve containing large areas of native bushland interspersed with grassed and paved walkways. A biodiversity site north of the community centre is recognised by the City of Stirling's Green Plan 2.
Streets in western Hamersley are generally named after English towns, while eastern Hamersley uses the names of Scottish Highland
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
and Perthshire
Perthshire
Perthshire, officially the County of Perth , is a registration county in central Scotland. It extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, Rannoch Moor and Ben Lui in the west, and Aberfoyle in the south...
towns and loch
Loch
Loch is the Irish and Scottish Gaelic word for a lake or a sea inlet. It has been anglicised as lough, although this is pronounced the same way as loch. Some lochs could also be called a firth, fjord, estuary, strait or bay...
s. There are exceptions - the origins of Vickers Street precinct street names are unknown, while streets in the south-western corner are named after the "Bentley Boys
Bentley Boys
The Bentley Boys were a group of wealthy British motorists who drove Bentley sports cars to victory in the 1920s and kept the marque's reputation for high performance alive...
", a group of British racing drivers from the 1920s and 1930s, and their car designer Walter Owen Bentley
W. O. Bentley
Walter Owen Bentley, MBE engineer; designer of aero engines, designer and racer of motor cars, founder of Bentley Motors Limited in Cricklewood near London.He was known as "W.O." without any need to add the word Bentley....
.
Natural history
Hamersley's soil is an infertile yellow-brown sand composed of fine to coarse quartzQuartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
grains, with Tamala Limestone
Tamala Limestone
Tamala Limestone is the geological name given to the widely occurring eolianite limestone deposits on the western coastline of Western Australia, between Shark Bay in the north and nearly to Albany in the south...
beneath. Locally known as Karrakatta Sand, it is almost certainly the leached
Leaching (chemical science)
Leaching is the process of extracting minerals from a solid by dissolving them in a liquid, either in nature or through an industrial process. In the chemical processing industry, leaching has a variety of commercial applications, including separation of metal from ore using acid, and sugar from...
remnants of coastal sand deposited by eolian processes
Eolian processes
Aeolian processes pertain to the activity of the winds and more specifically, to the winds' ability to shape the surface of the Earth and other planets. Winds may erode, transport, and deposit materials, and are effective agents in regions with sparse vegetation and a large supply of...
in the late Pleistocene
Pleistocene
The Pleistocene is the epoch from 2,588,000 to 11,700 years BP that spans the world's recent period of repeated glaciations. The name pleistocene is derived from the Greek and ....
period, between 11,000 and 100,000 years ago. Below the sand are Paleozoic
Paleozoic
The Paleozoic era is the earliest of three geologic eras of the Phanerozoic eon, spanning from roughly...
rocks of the Perth Basin
Perth basin
The Perth Basin is a thick sedimentary basin in Western Australia. It lies beneath the Swan Coastal Plain west of the Darling Scarp, representing the western limit of the much older Yilgarn Craton, and extends further west offshore...
. The sand contains an unconfined aquifer
Aquifer
An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials from which groundwater can be usefully extracted using a water well. The study of water flow in aquifers and the characterization of aquifers is called hydrogeology...
with large supplies of low-salinity potable groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
which is recharged by rainfall.
As with other infertile areas of the Swan Coastal Plain
Swan Coastal Plain
The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geological and biological zone, one of Western Australia's...
, Hamersley would have supported open forests of Eucalyptus marginata (Jarrah) with Corymbia calophylla
Corymbia calophylla
Corymbia calophylla is a bloodwood native to Western Australia. Common names include Marri and Port Gregory Gum, and a long standing usage has been Red Gum due to the red gum effusions often found on trunks.It is distinctive among bloodwoods for its very large buds and fruit Corymbia calophylla...
(Marri) or Eucalyptus gomphocephala
Eucalyptus gomphocephala
Eucalyptus gomphocephala is a species of tree, also known as Tuart, in the genus Eucalyptus. Native to the southwest of Western Australia the tree grows to over 35m tall. As a durable hardwood the timber is sought after for scantlings, structural timber, the construction of railway carriages, and...
(Tuart), and an understorey of Banksia attenuata
Banksia attenuata
Banksia attenuata, commonly known as the candlestick banksia or slender banksia, is a species of plant in the proteaceae family. Commonly a tree, it reaches 10 m high, but is often a shrub in dryer areas 0.4 to 2 m high...
(Candlestick Banksia), B. menziesii
Banksia menziesii
Banksia menziesii, commonly known as firewood banksia, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Banksia. It is a gnarled tree up to 10 m tall, or a lower spreading 1–3 m shrub in the more northern parts of its range. The serrated leaves are dull green with new growth a paler grey...
(Firewood Banksia), B. grandis
Banksia grandis
Banksia grandis, commonly known as Bull Banksia, Giant Banksia or Mangite, is a common and distinctive tree in South West Western Australia....
(Bull Banksia), Allocasuarina fraseriana
Allocasuarina fraseriana
Allocasuarina fraseriana, commonly known as western sheoak, common sheoak or just sheoak, is a tree in the family Casuarinaceae. Endemic to Western Australia, it occurs near the coast in the south west corner of the State, from Jurien to Albany .In ideal conditions, Western Sheoak grows to a...
(Western Sheoak) and Agonis flexuosa
Agonis flexuosa
Agonis flexuosa is a species of tree that grows in the south west of Western Australia. It is easily the most common of the Agonis species, and is one of the most recognisable trees of Western Australia, being commonly grown in parks and on road verges in Perth.The species is commonly known as...
(Swan River Peppermint). The main shrub species would have been Jacksonia sternbergiana
Jacksonia sternbergiana
Jacksonia sternbergiana, commonly known as Stinkwood or Green Stinkwood, is a species of shrub or small tree that occurs in the south-west of Western Australia. It grows to between 1.5 and 5 metres high, has a weeping habit, and produces yellow and orange pea flowers in the...
(Stinkwood), J. furcellata
Jacksonia furcellata
Jacksonia furcellata, commonly known as Grey Stinkwood, is a species of leafless broom-like shrub or small tree that occurs in the south west of Western Australia. One of the most common plants of the Swan Coastal Plain, it is an excellent colonizer of newly cleared land. It is often seen growing...
(Grey Stinkwood), Acacia cyclops
Acacia cyclops
Acacia cyclops, commonly known as red-eyed wattle or western coastal wattle, is a coastal shrub or small tree in the family Fabaceae...
(Coastal Wattle), Acacia saligna
Acacia saligna
Acacia saligna, commonly known by various names including coojong, golden wreath wattle, orange wattle, blue-leafed wattle, Western Australian golden wattle, and, in Africa, Port Jackson willow, is a small tree in the family Fabaceae...
(Orange Wattle), Hibbertia
Hibbertia
Hibbertia, or Guinea flower, is a genus of trees, shrubs, trailing shrubs and climbers of the family Dilleniaceae. The five-petalled flowers of all species are varying shades of yellow, with the exception of H. stellaris, H. miniata and H. selkii, a recently named species from the Stirling...
species, Allocasuarina humilis
Allocasuarina humilis
Allocasuarina humilis, commonly known as the dwarf sheoak or dwarf casuarina, is a woody shrub of the family Casuarinaceae endemic to the south-west of Western Australia.-Description:...
(Dwarf Sheoak), Calothamnus quadrifidus
Calothamnus quadrifidus
Calothamnus quadrifidus is a shrub from the south-west of Western Australia. Its common name is the One-sided Bottlebrush which alludes to the arrangement of the stamens of its inflorescence which line up on one side of the stem....
(One-sided Bottlebrush) and Grevillea thelemanniana
Grevillea thelemanniana
The Spider-net Grevillea is a small, spreading shrub which is endemic to Western Australia. The pink or red flowers appear between late autumn and late spring. The species occurs in the Perth region in low-lowing areas on sandy and sandy-clay soils which are generally wet in the winter...
(Spider Net Grevillea). Biodiversity surveys in 2006 have also identified a relatively rare species, Jacksonia sericea
Jacksonia sericea
Jacksonia sericea, commonly known as Waldjumi, is a species of low-spreading shrub or small tree that occurs in the south west of Western Australia. Found on the Swan Coastal Plain, it grows to 0.6m, has orange flowers from December to February and grows in calcareous and sandy soils...
(Waldjumi), in two eastern Hamersley reserves.
Name
Hamersley was named after the Hamersley familyHamersley family
The Hamersley family were a wealthy and well-connected family of early settlers in the colony of Western Australia. Members of the Hamersley family emigrated to Western Australia from England in 1837.Prominent members and connections of the family include:...
who arrived in the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
in 1837 and established themselves at Guildford
Guildford, Western Australia
Guildford is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 13 km northeast of the city. Its Local Government Area is the City of Swan.-History:Guildford was established in 1829 on the Swan River, being sited near a permanent fresh water supply...
. There is no evidence they ever visited modern Hamersley, but in 1869 they built a summer home in what is now North Beach
North Beach, Western Australia
North Beach is a northern coastal suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located from Perth's central business district via Mitchell Freeway and Reid Highway. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History:...
, 6 kilometres (4 mi) to the west, and bought considerable holdings in the area over the following years.
The name first came into use to describe the north-western section of the Perth Road District in 1906. Hamersley Ward was a large area of land covering what is now Hamersley, Carine
Carine, Western Australia
Carine is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located north of Perth's central business district between Marmion Avenue and Mitchell Freeway. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History:...
, Watermans Bay
Watermans Bay, Western Australia
Watermans Bay is a northern coastal suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History:...
, North Beach
North Beach, Western Australia
North Beach is a northern coastal suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located from Perth's central business district via Mitchell Freeway and Reid Highway. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History:...
, Gwelup
Gwelup, Western Australia
Gwelup is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located 12 km north of Perth's central business district along the Mitchell Freeway. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History and Environment:...
and parts of Balcatta
Balcatta, Western Australia
Balcatta is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling. It is a primarily middle-class suburb made up of mainly Italian Catholic, Greek and Macedonian Orthodox families, as well as many families from other European Orthodox religions. It is also one of...
, Karrinyup
Karrinyup, Western Australia
Karrinyup is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located 12 km north of Perth's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling...
and Trigg
Trigg, Western Australia
Trigg is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling. Trigg is also the name of a small island off the coast of the suburb of Trigg....
. The Hamersley townsite, consisting of Hamersley Ward, was gazetted in 1945. As a result, many facilities in North Beach, including a primary school, a golf course, several sporting clubs and residents' and seniors' associations, were called Hamersley. After the Hamersley Development Scheme started in 1968, confusion as to exactly what Hamersley referred to led to conflict between established organisations in North Beach and emerging ones in Hamersley - the Hamersley Gazette noted in 1973 that "North Beach people have the prior claim but ours is more officially accepted".
The suburb was gazetted as a locality by the City of Stirling on 24 October 1975, although it had existed as a postal locality since 1971.
Early history
Before European settlement, Hamersley was part of a larger area of land that was occupied by the MooroMooro
The Mooro were a Nyungar Indigenous clan who lived in and to the north of Perth, Western Australia, until shortly after European settlement at the Swan River Colony in 1829. Their territory stretched from the Swan River north to the Moore River beyond the northern limits of metropolitan Perth and...
people, an Indigenous Australian
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
people who traversed the lakes and wetlands running parallel to the coast between what is now Perth and Yanchep
Yanchep, Western Australia
Yanchep is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 56 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. It was built by entrepreneur Alan Bond in the 1970s for the 1977 America's Cup...
.
Soon after the establishment of the Swan River Colony
Swan River Colony
The Swan River Colony was a British settlement established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. The name was a pars pro toto for Western Australia. In 1832, the colony was officially renamed Western Australia, when the colony's founding Lieutenant-Governor, Captain James Stirling,...
, colonial authorities divided up the land into grants which were given to settlers who had brought capital and to the new settlement. Southern Hamersley became part of Location K, a 2,585 hectare (6,388 acre) strip of land extending 19 kilometres (12 mi) west from Caversham
Caversham, Western Australia
Caversham is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the City of Swan....
on the Swan River
Swan River (Western Australia)
The Swan River estuary flows through the city of Perth, in the south west of Western Australia. Its lower reaches are relatively wide and deep, with few constrictions, while the upper reaches are usually quite narrow and shallow....
to Big Carine Swamp, which was granted to Robert Ansell Partridge in September 1829. The western part of this, first surveyed by P.L.S. Chauncy in 1843, remained fairly inaccessible, and the only development in the area was the construction of the Daviot Park cottage on Old Balcatta Road 500 metres (0.31 mi) southwest of Hamersley. By the late 1930s, portions in the far west and south-east of the suburb had been cleared for small-scale agriculture such as market gardening, and in 1939 the Department of the Interior constructed a 208 metre (682 ft) tower and other facilities for ABC AM
AM broadcasting
AM broadcasting is the process of radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation. AM was the first method of impressing sound on a radio signal and is still widely used today. Commercial and public AM broadcasting is carried out in the medium wave band world wide, and on long wave and short wave...
and shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
radio broadcasts on Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road is an important arterial road in Perth, Australia. It is about 75 kilometres long. It links Perth with the City of Wanneroo, and the Towns of Yanchep and Lancelin...
.
Northern Hamersley, meanwhile, became part of Swan
Swan Land District
Swan Land District is one of the land districts of Western Australia, which is located within the South West Division. It covers all of the northern and eastern suburbs of Perth, as well as some inner southern areas such as Belmont and Applecross and the area to the north up to the Moore River,...
Location 1315, which extended north to Lake Goollelal and west to the coast and was granted in the 1890s to the Midland Railway Company after being surveyed by Crossland & Co. in 1892, and by N. Lymburner in 1894.* Crossland & Co. (1892). Loc. 1315 Western Survey for Midland Railway Co. Later additions to 1900. Scale: 20 chains to 1 inch; approx. 1:16,000. Located at State Records Office, Perth, under "Swan 172"
* Bartlett, N.S. (1903). Loc 1315 - Vicinity of Marmion Townsite and Wanneroo Road (Compiled from various surveys 1841-1907). Scale: 15 chains to 1 inch; approx. 1:12,000. Accessed at State Records Office, Perth, under "Swan 270". It appears that no development occurred in northern Hamersley, other than the construction of Beach and Carine Roads in 1900, and the State Housing Commission resumed the land in November 1950. In 1962, a lucerne
Alfalfa
Alfalfa is a flowering plant in the pea family Fabaceae cultivated as an important forage crop in the US, Canada, Argentina, France, Australia, the Middle East, South Africa, and many other countries. It is known as lucerne in the UK, France, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, and known as...
grower with a property on Duffy Road, Carine applied to use the northern half of the suburb as a sheep run. The Shire President, Herbert R. Robinson, refused to grant permission, saying that "land might soon be needed for housing". The West Australian reported in 1967 that the area was still "virtually untouched bushland".
Hamersley Development Scheme
Consumer price index
A consumer price index measures changes in the price level of consumer goods and services purchased by households. The CPI, in the United States is defined by the Bureau of Labor Statistics as "a measure of the average change over time in the prices paid by urban consumers for a market basket of...
, led to the Premier of Western Australia
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
, David Brand
David Brand
Sir David Brand KCMG was the 19th and longest serving Premier of Western Australia and a Member of the Legislative Assembly from 1945 to 1975.-Early life:...
, convening an inter-departmental committee to study the problem. One of the committee's recommendations to Cabinet was to release 300 hectares of land owned by the State Housing Commission in Hamersley, Warwick and Greenwood which was on a much larger area that had been designated as "deferred urban" land under the Metropolitan Region Scheme in 1963. On 13 December 1967, the Metropolitan Region Planning Authority decided to rezone as urban all land bounded by Hepburn Avenue, Marmion Avenue
Marmion Avenue
Marmion Avenue is a major arterial road in Perth, Western Australia, designated State Route 71.It runs through the northern coastal suburbs of Perth from the end of West Coast Highway in Trigg and Karrinyup, to the outer northern suburb of Yanchep...
, North Perimeter Highway
Reid Highway
Reid Highway is a major arterial highway in Perth, Western Australia. It is allocated Route 3, and runs between Marmion Avenue, North Beach, and West Swan Road, West Swan, a distance of...
and Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road is an important arterial road in Perth, Australia. It is about 75 kilometres long. It links Perth with the City of Wanneroo, and the Towns of Yanchep and Lancelin...
, on the condition that subdivision
Subdivision (land)
Subdivision is the act of dividing land into pieces that are easier to sell or otherwise develop, usually via a plat. The former single piece as a whole is then known in the United States as a subdivision...
would be approved when "Town Planning (Development) Scheme(s) have been approved with the general object of serving the best possible development at the least cost to the community".
The Shires of Perth and Wanneroo combined to prepare Town Planning Scheme No.26 (Hamersley Development Scheme
Hamersley Development Scheme
The Hamersley Development Scheme was conceived in 1967 and built over the ensuing years as part of a major effort by the Government of Western Australia to force down the price of land elsewhere in the Perth metropolitan area by opening up and developing land for housing as quickly as possible...
), and by early March 1968, the scheme, which included provisions for water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
, sewerage
Sanitary sewer
A sanitary sewer is a separate underground carriage system specifically for transporting sewage from houses and commercial buildings to treatment or disposal. Sanitary sewers serving industrial areas also carry industrial wastewater...
, drainage, road construction and undergrounding
Undergrounding
Undergrounding refers to the replacement of overhead cables providing electrical power or telecommunications, with underground cables. This is typically performed for aesthetic purposes, and increases distribution cost.- Overview and Comparison :...
of power mains
Electricity distribution
File:Electricity grid simple- North America.svg|thumb|380px|right|Simplified diagram of AC electricity distribution from generation stations to consumers...
, was presented to both councils for consideration. A time limit of 3½ years for developers to construct homes on released land was built into the scheme in an effort to prevent land speculation
Speculation
In finance, speculation is a financial action that does not promise safety of the initial investment along with the return on the principal sum...
, which the inter-departmental committee believed was a key factor in spiralling prices in Perth. By July, however, negotiations between the councils broke down, and the Shire of Perth (now City of Stirling) decided to administer its own part of the scheme independently. The scheme was divided into nine sections, with what is now the suburb of Hamersley being the first stage.
In April 1968 the R&I Bank, a government-owned bank, was granted permission to subdivide a small area in northern Ardleigh Crescent in the suburb's west. The first auction of 80 lots on Saturday, 14 December 1968 was anticipated on the front page of The West Australian
The West Australian
The West Australian is the only locally-edited daily newspaper published in Perth, Western Australia, and is owned by ASX-listed Seven West Media . The West is published in tabloid format, as is the state's other major newspaper, The Sunday Times, a News Limited publication...
, with Premier Brand advising intending buyers to be cautious about their bids. At the auction, 76 lots were sold at an average price of $
Australian dollar
The Australian dollar is the currency of the Commonwealth of Australia, including Christmas Island, Cocos Islands, and Norfolk Island, as well as the independent Pacific Island states of Kiribati, Nauru and Tuvalu...
4,784, compared to $6,700 at a recent R&I Bank sale in the nearby suburb of Karrinyup
Karrinyup, Western Australia
Karrinyup is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located 12 km north of Perth's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling...
, with newspapers agreeing that the Premier's warning had been heeded by bidders.
The western portion of Hamersley grew steadily over the following months and years, with segments being released, auctioned and developed by the R&I Bank, T&S Plunkett Homes and Parkland Housing. The Hamersley Development Scheme, however, was doomed almost before it started. Disagreements over issues such as undergrounding of power and the time limit clauses between the Town Planning Board and the Shire of Perth had caused delays in the scheme's approval. In July 1970, the Shire Planner reported that "there is little point in proceeding with the Scheme, especially in view of the large areas already subdivided", and recommended the council agree "that for all practical purposes, Town Planning Scheme No. 26. is defunct". By the February 1971 state election, over 1,000 eligible voters lived in the district.
Suburban development
In June 1970, the Metropolitan Region Planning Authority released land in the southwestern corner of Hamersley, which had previously been held in reserve under the Metropolitan Region Scheme for a large freeway interchange between the future Mitchell FreewayMitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway is a long freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth's central business district with its outer northern suburbs. It is allocated Route 2 for its entire length and is named after former state Premier and Governor Sir James Mitchell....
(then known as Stephenson Freeway) and Reid Highway
Reid Highway
Reid Highway is a major arterial highway in Perth, Western Australia. It is allocated Route 3, and runs between Marmion Avenue, North Beach, and West Swan Road, West Swan, a distance of...
(North Perimeter Freeway). The result of these changes was to allow the construction of Walter Way, Dutton Crescent and connecting streets, which were named after racing drivers from the 1920s and 1930s.
Between 1971 and 1973, reserves, public recreation areas and drainage sites were set aside in western Hamersley, and facilities were erected in quick succession - the 1st Hamersley Scout Group
Scout Group
The Scout Group is the local organisation for Scouting in most countries where it is active. It combines together the different sections into a single body. Scout Groups can consist of any number of sections in the different Age Groups in Scouting and Guiding...
in 1973, the colonial-style Holy Cross Anglican Church
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
in 1974, and a community hall at Aintree Street in 1975. Residents in the region were at this time on the fringe of Perth's suburban area, relying on partly built main roads, distant shopping centres and overstretched local facilities for several years after the suburb's construction. A locally produced fortnightly newspaper, the Hamersley Gazette, started in early 1973 by Peter Flanigan, from his home in Manton Court, covering the suburbs of Carine, Hamersley, Warwick and Greenwood, with the open aim of helping to form community associations and campaign for better facilities. A July 1973 article, for example, lamented that "work on Erindale Road appears to have come to a standstill... great piles of dirt and unmade road surfaces bear testimony to the fact that something is going on, or should be going on, but this one is taking a very long time."
However, there were also celebrations — the paper reported in detail on the annual Glendale Spring Fair, held between 1973 and 1976 by the Glendale P&C
Parents and Citizens
Some Australian State Schools, both primary and high, are supported by Parents and Citizens Associations. These groups provide volunteer support, raise funds for infrastructure and other expenses and assist in the administration of their school....
Association on the second Saturday in November. It included activities for children, marching bands provided by The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
and the Australian 10th Light Horse Regiment, and a parade along Glendale Avenue and Beach Road at 10:30 a.m. Intended originally as a fundraiser for the school, the Gazette reported that it was "a sort of glorified féte that rapidly outgrew its origins", with live coverage of the parade on ABC radio
720 ABC Perth
720 ABC Perth is a radio station located in Perth, Western Australia broadcasting on 720 kHz on the AM band. The station is a member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio network.-History:...
and on television station TVW
TVW
TVW can mean:*TVW, a Seven Network owned station in Perth, Western Australia*TVW, a public affairs network in the state of Washington*"tvw", the false branding callsign of WISC-TV's digital subchannel and Madison, Wisconsin's MyNetworkTV affiliate...
-7 and personalities such as Jeff Newman
Jeff Newman (TV personality)
Jeff Newman OAM was the Seven Network's weather presenter in Perth from 1991 to 2009.He has won five Logie Awards for the state's most popular male television personality....
in attendance. The fair, however, became the victim of a dispute over naming rights between the Glendale P&C, community groups and commercial sponsors. Other events included the grand opening of Warwick Grove Shopping Centre on 13 November 1974, the greening of Aintree-Eglinton Reserve and the activities of the Hamersley Progress Association. The paper was acquired in February 1977 by Bill Marwick of the Wanneroo Times, and evolved into the Stirling Times in 1980.
Meanwhile, work was only starting in eastern Hamersley. In 1973 Project Homes acquired a poultry farm and agricultural holding, and completed the construction of Vickers Street and adjoining roads, with Don Place becoming a display village. In 1974 the City of Stirling agreed, after complex negotiations, to sell 4.2 hectares of land comprising Carine Road and Allen Street to the State Housing Commission and to War Service Homes in order to "facilitate a satisfactory subdivisional design of adjoining land held by the State Housing Commission" in the eastern portion of the suburb. All that remains of these two early roads are paved pathways within the Rannoch-Tay-Earn Reserve, which was gazetted in 1976. By July 1975, 200 defence service homes were under construction on land immediately to the east of Erindale Road, to be made available to veterans from March 1976. The rest of eastern Hamersley was built over the next few years, and by 1981 development was essentially complete. The community hall was redeveloped into a full-fledged community centre, which officially opened in 1990.
Despite Hamersley's stability in the years since 1981 and its relatively low crime rate, it has periodically drawn the attention of the Perth media. In July 2000, a man bludgeoned his former girlfriend, mother-of-two Deborah Boyd, to death in a rented home in Brabant Way. He was subsequently sentenced to strict-security life imprisonment. On 23 January 2006, a large scrub fire caused the closure of Reid Highway and delays in rail line services during the afternoon rush hour
Rush hour
A rush hour or peak hour is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice a day—once in the morning and once in the evening, the times during when the most people commute...
.
Demographics
At the ABSAustralian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
2006 census, Hamersley had a population of 4,965 people. This was a decline of 263 people from the 2001 census, and a decline of 622 people from the 1996 census.
Hamersley residents had a median age of 39, compared to the Perth average of 36. Median incomes in Hamersley were above average for the region and for Perth—$545 per week compared with $526 and $513 per week respectively; however, 21.2% had incomes above $1,000 per week, compared with 22.9% regionally and 22.9% across Perth. The 2001 Census figures put Hamersley's unemployment rate at 1.0% below the Perth average. Industry sectors in which Hamersley residents worked (2001) were comparable with those in Perth generally, with the largest proportions working in retail trade (16.3%), property and business services (11.4%), health and community services (11.0%) and manufacturing (9.7%). However, a higher proportion were employed by the education (7.8%), government administration and defence (5.2%) and utilities sectors (1.3%) than elsewhere.
According to the City of Stirling, most of Hamersley's 2,084 dwellings are brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
homes with an average lot size of 750 m². At the 2006 census, the median monthly housing loan repayments in Hamersley were about $1100—slightly lower than both the region and Perth generally ($1300). However, 40.9% of Hamersley's dwellings were fully owned, compared to 29.6% across the whole of Perth. In the year to March 2007, Hamersley's median house price was $432,500 versus $431,500 for the whole of Perth.
The population of Hamersley is predominantly Australian-born, with some 69.4% of its residents being born in Australia as at the 2006 census. The second most prevalent birthplace was the United Kingdom
Anglo-Celtic Australian
Anglo-Celtic Australian are citizens of Australia with British and/or Irish ancestral origins.-Demography:From the beginning of the colonial era until the mid-20th century, the vast majority of settlers were British or Irish...
at 10.0%. 6.3% of Hamersley's population reported one or both parents of Italian
Italian Australians
-Characteristics :The 2006 Census counted 199,124 persons who were born in Italy. However, 852,417 persons identified themselves as having Italian ancestry, either alone or in combination with another ancestry . Italian is the fifth most identified ancestry in Australia behind 'Australian',...
birth, with the strongest concentration in the Vickers Street district (15.3%). Other significant minorities included those of Macedonian (2.0%), Chinese
Chinese Australian
Chinese Australian is an Australian of Chinese heritage. In the 2006 Australian Census, 669,890 Australian residents identified themselves as having Chinese ancestry, either alone or with another ancestry....
(1.7%) and Greek
Greek Australian
Greeks are the seventh-largest ethnic group in Australia, after those declaring their ancestry simply as "Australian". In the 2006 census, 365,147 persons declared having Greek ancestry, either alone or in conjunction with another ethnicity....
(1.2%) heritage.
The most popular religious affiliations in descending order in the 2006 census were Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church in Australia
The Catholic Church in Australia is part of the worldwide Catholic Church under the spiritual and administrative leadership of the Pope.Australia is a majority Christian but pluralistic society with no established religion. There are approximately 5.1 million Australian Catholics . Catholicism...
, no religion, Anglican
Anglican Church of Australia
The Anglican Church of Australia is a member church of the Anglican Communion. It was previously officially known as the Church of England in Australia and Tasmania...
, Uniting
Uniting Church in Australia
The Uniting Church in Australia was formed on 22 June 1977 when many congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, the Presbyterian Church of Australia and the Congregational Union of Australia came together under the Basis of Union....
, Orthodox
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
and "Christian nfd". Holy Cross Hamersley is located on Glendale Ave, and is an Anglican Church in the evangelical tradition. All Saints Catholic Church is in neighbouring Warwick
Warwick, Western Australia
Warwick is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Joondalup. Its postcode is 6024. The eastern third of the suburb is a native bushland area known as the Warwick Open Space....
and the local Uniting Churches are in Carine and Greenwood.
Amenities and facilities
Hamersley is a residential suburb, relying on the Centro WarwickCentro Warwick
Centro Warwick is a major shopping centre in Warwick, a suburb of Perth in western Australia. The centre was originally known as Warwick Grove Shopping Centre prior to its purchase by Centro in 2001.-History and Development:*1972 - Opened...
(formerly Warwick Grove) shopping centre on its northern boundary for commercial services, and is 7 kilometres (4 mi) by road from Karrinyup Shopping Centre
Karrinyup Shopping Centre
Karrinyup Shopping Centre is a major shopping centre, located in Karrinyup, a suburb of Perth, that was established in 1973.-History and development:...
. A light industrial area is to the south in Balcatta
Balcatta, Western Australia
Balcatta is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling. It is a primarily middle-class suburb made up of mainly Italian Catholic, Greek and Macedonian Orthodox families, as well as many families from other European Orthodox religions. It is also one of...
which includes a large Bunnings Warehouse
Bunnings Warehouse
Bunnings Warehouse is Australia's largest hardware chain with stores in Australia and New Zealand. The chain is owned by Wesfarmers Limited.-History:-Pre 1900s:...
on Erindale Road approximately 200 metres (656.2 ft) south of Hamersley.
Aintree-Eglinton Reserve, a grassed area covering 3.38 hectares (8.36 acres), contains a cricket pitch
Cricket pitch
In the game of cricket, the cricket pitch consists of the central strip of the cricket field between the wickets - 1 chain or 22 yards long and 10 feet wide. The surface is very flat and normally covered with extremely short grass though this grass is soon removed by wear at the ends of the...
, several practice runs and night lights for Australian rules football
Australian rules football
Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...
, which are utilised by local amateur and junior clubs. Within the reserve is the Hamersley Community Recreation Centre, first built in the 1970s as a community hall and opened in its present form on 22 April 1990. The centre is a small village area consisting of a central pergola
Pergola
A pergola, arbor or arbour is a garden feature forming a shaded walkway, passageway or sitting area of vertical posts or pillars that usually support cross-beams and a sturdy open lattice, often upon which woody vines are trained...
crossed with walking paths, flanked by four buildings: a sports hall with basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
courts and kiosk, an arts and crafts building, a community hall and function building hosting discos and other social events, and a purpose-built children's centre. Near the centre are the 1st Hamersley Scout Group, a child health centre and the Holy Cross Anglican Church, a colonial-style building built in 1974 and consecrated on 14 December 1980 to serve the newly formed Balcatta-Hamersley Parish.
Numerous small parks are throughout all parts of Hamersley, usually joining the ends of several cul-de-sac
Cul-de-sac
A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet...
s and in some cases containing wooden benches or children's play equipment. The Rannoch-Tay-Earn reserve in eastern Hamersley also contains two barbecue
Barbecue
Barbecue or barbeque , used chiefly in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia is a method and apparatus for cooking meat, poultry and occasionally fish with the heat and hot smoke of a fire, smoking wood, or hot coals of...
s. The introduction of a barbecue and new playground equipment to the reserve first came in the late 1990s. 2008-2009 has seen the introduction of a new barbecue area due west of the playground with more introductions to the reserve to come.
The southeastern corner contains the ABC
720 ABC Perth
720 ABC Perth is a radio station located in Perth, Western Australia broadcasting on 720 kHz on the AM band. The station is a member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio network.-History:...
50 kW radio tower which transmits ABC AM radio in Perth, including ABC Local Radio
ABC Local Radio
ABC Local Radio is a network of publicly owned radio stations in Australia, operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.ABC Local Radio stations broadcast across the continent using terrestrial transmitters and satellites...
(6WF
720 ABC Perth
720 ABC Perth is a radio station located in Perth, Western Australia broadcasting on 720 kHz on the AM band. The station is a member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio network.-History:...
), Radio National
Radio National
ABC Radio National is an Australia-wide non-commercial radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.Radio National broadcasts national programming in areas that include news and current affairs, the arts, social issues, science, drama and comedy...
and ABC NewsRadio
ABC NewsRadio
ABC NewsRadio is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio service devoted to delivering live and 24-hour news updates and information. The service is available on a number of broadcasts right around Australia, including AM/FM radio, some pay-TV platforms and online via the Internet.Originally...
. Several other towers, including a 20 kW and 10 kW tower, also are at the site. Some residents argue that electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference
Electromagnetic interference is disturbance that affects an electrical circuit due to either electromagnetic induction or electromagnetic radiation emitted from an external source. The disturbance may interrupt, obstruct, or otherwise degrade or limit the effective performance of the circuit...
from the towers is adversely affecting their television and telephone reception, with the issue taken up in Federal parliament by local MPs.
Education
Hamersley contains two state primary schoolsEducation in Australia
Education in Australia is primarily the responsibility of the states and territories. Each state or territory government provides funding and regulates the public and private schools within its governing area. The federal government helps fund the public universities, but is not involved in setting...
, each of which includes facilities for pre-primary students, and a teaching resource centre. Hamersley is within the catchment area for Warwick Senior High School
Warwick Senior High School
Warwick Senior High School is a co-educational government school in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It teaches years 8 to 12 in the Australian education system, and has around 900 students...
for students from Years 8 to 12.
Hamersley's first school, Glendale Primary School in Glendale Avenue, opened in 1971 in the western portion of the suburb. The school and neighbouring kindergarten quickly became overcrowded as their catchment area
Catchment area (human geography)
In human geography, a catchment area is the area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school...
initially extended to Hepburn Avenue, taking in Warwick
Warwick, Western Australia
Warwick is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Joondalup. Its postcode is 6024. The eastern third of the suburb is a native bushland area known as the Warwick Open Space....
and Greenwood
Greenwood, Western Australia
Greenwood, is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the City of Joondalup. The suburb is located 18 km from Perth's central business district.-History:...
to its north. As schools were built in those suburbs in 1974–1976, congestion eased considerably. The school and kindergarten were also used as a hall and meeting place by residents and groups until the recreation centre opened in April 1975. In 2006, the school provided for 207 primary students between Year 1 and Year 7, and 35 pre-primary students.
From 1976 onward, the eastern portion of the suburb developed, and East Hamersley Primary School, in Doon Way, opened in February 1979. In 2006, the school provided for 96 primary, 16 pre-primary and 16 kindergarten students. Computer studies and Indonesian language
Indonesian language
Indonesian is the official language of Indonesia. Indonesian is a normative form of the Riau Islands dialect of Malay, an Austronesian language which has been used as a lingua franca in the Indonesian archipelago for centuries....
are required subjects for students from Years 3 to 7. In the 1990s, the West Coast Resource Centre, a specialist borrowing library for teachers of kindergarten, pre-primary and primary classes, was built on the East Hamersley site by the Department of Education (now Education and Training) to serve schools in the northern suburbs.
Transport
Cars are the preferred mode of transportTransport in Australia
-Roads:Australia has the second highest level of car ownership in the world. It has three to four times more road per capita than Europe and seven to nine times more than Asia. Australia also has the third highest per capita rate of fuel consumption in the world. Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane are...
in the suburb. At the 2001 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
reported that 70.7% of Hamersley's residents were drivers or passengers of cars in their commute to work, a figure only slightly lower than the north metropolitan average of 71.3%. Other private modes of transport included motorcycling (0.7%), cycling (0.7%) and walking (0.7%). The low number of walking commuters compared to the north metropolitan average of 1.1% and the Perth Statistical Region average of 1.81% is most likely due to the limited number of workplaces within walking distance.
Hamersley is situated at the intersection of several key arterial road
Arterial road
An arterial road, or arterial thoroughfare, is a high-capacity urban road. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector roads to freeways, and between urban centres at the highest level of service possible. As such, many arteries are limited-access roads, or feature...
s and highways. It is connected to North Beach
North Beach, Western Australia
North Beach is a northern coastal suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located from Perth's central business district via Mitchell Freeway and Reid Highway. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History:...
(7 km), Scarborough
Scarborough, Western Australia
Scarborough is a coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located approximately 14 km northwest of the city centre in the local government area of the City of Stirling...
(10 km) and Perth Airport
Perth Airport
Perth Airport is an Australian domestic and international airport serving Perth, the capital and largest city of Western Australia. The airport itself is located in the suburb of Perth Airport....
(22 km) via Reid Highway
Reid Highway
Reid Highway is a major arterial highway in Perth, Western Australia. It is allocated Route 3, and runs between Marmion Avenue, North Beach, and West Swan Road, West Swan, a distance of...
, to the Perth CBD (15 km) and to Joondalup (17 km) via Reid Highway and Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway is a long freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth's central business district with its outer northern suburbs. It is allocated Route 2 for its entire length and is named after former state Premier and Governor Sir James Mitchell....
, and to the Balcatta industrial area and Karrinyup Shopping Centre (7 km) by Erindale Road. Traffic within Hamersley is distributed by a number of backbone streets, of which the main ones are Eglinton Crescent, Belvedere Road, Rannoch Circle, Blissett Way and Vickers Street.
However, the controlled access highways
Limited-access road
A limited-access road known by various terms worldwide, including limited-access highway, dual-carriageway and expressway, is a highway or arterial road for high-speed traffic which has many or most characteristics of a controlled-access highway , including limited or no access to adjacent...
on Hamersley's southern and western boundaries physically isolate the suburb from its neighbours and limit southbound exits to just two, Erindale Road and Wanneroo Road. This results in considerable rush hour congestion on the stretch of Erindale Road between Eglinton Crescent and Reid Highway. In 2004, Main Roads Western Australia provided a grant of $48,000 to the City of Stirling under its Black Spot Programme to improve the traffic flow in this area.
Public transport
Public transport in Hamersley is generally in the form of TransperthTransperth
Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system in Perth, Western Australia. It is operated by the Public Transport Authority.-History:...
buses operated by Swan Transit
SWAn transit
Swan Transit is a private bus operator whose primary purpose is to provide commuter bus services in and near the city of Perth, Western Australia. It is part of Transit Systems Australia.-History:...
from the Warwick railway station
Warwick railway station, Perth
Warwick railway station is a Transperth train and bus interchange located north-northwest of Perth railway station in Western Australia, on the Joondalup Line.-History:...
at its northwestern corner, linking via the Joondalup railway line to the Perth CBD
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
.
At the 2001 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...
reported that 8.9% of Hamersley's residents used public transport to get to work. Although this percentage had declined from 9.2% in the 1996 census, it was still higher than the north metropolitan average of 8.0%. Public transport usage was highest (14.7%) in the section of Hamersley closest to the train station, and lowest (2.5%) in the Vickers Street section to the southeast, where many residents live more than 10 minutes' walk from the nearest bus stop.
(Vickers Street)
During the morning and evening rush hour, the 449 route service ferries passengers along Erindale Road and Eglinton Crescent to and from Warwick railway station. Between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., the 347 route, an hourly bus between Warwick and Perth via Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road is an important arterial road in Perth, Australia. It is about 75 kilometres long. It links Perth with the City of Wanneroo, and the Towns of Yanchep and Lancelin...
, covers the same area, while a number of routes travel along Beach Road to Centro Warwick
Centro Warwick
Centro Warwick is a major shopping centre in Warwick, a suburb of Perth in western Australia. The centre was originally known as Warwick Grove Shopping Centre prior to its purchase by Centro in 2001.-History and Development:*1972 - Opened...
, and the 427 travels along Beach and Erindale Roads. The 457 route provides after-hours and weekend services along Erindale Road and Eglinton Crescent.
Eastern Hamersley does not have a direct service, other than those along Erindale and Wanneroo Roads. However, service along Wanneroo Road is very limited outside standard weekday hours.
Originally, Hamersley was served by a shuttle service to Wanneroo Road, Nollamara
Nollamara, Western Australia
Nollamara is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.The name "Nollamara" is the Aboriginal word for the plant known as the Black Kangaroo Paw.-Transport:...
, to connect with other routes to the Perth CBD. In September 1973, the Metropolitan Transport Trust introduced the 358 and 359 services, which linked Greenwood
Greenwood, Western Australia
Greenwood, is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located in the City of Joondalup. The suburb is located 18 km from Perth's central business district.-History:...
to Perth via Eglinton Crescent and Glendale Avenue/Aintree Street respectively, traveling along Blissett Way, then becoming limited-stops Wanneroo Road services. An after-hours service, the 369, was also introduced. In 1987, following the construction of the Warwick Transfer Station and the Mitchell Freeway, services along Glendale Avenue and through East Hamersley ceased, with two new routes — the present-day 347 and the Freeway-bound 387 — being created to serve Eglinton Crescent.
On 21 March 1993, the Joondalup railway line came into operation as part of the Northern Suburbs Transit System
Northern Suburbs Transit System
The Northern Suburbs Transit System is the name given to the project initiated and funded by the Government of Western Australia to provide high-speed passenger rail services to the northern corridor of metropolitan Perth, the capital city of Western Australia...
, resulting in the creation of the 449 and 457 services to replace the 387 service.
Politics
Hamersley has consistently favoured the centre-right Liberal PartyLiberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
at both federal and state elections throughout its history. However, in the last two state elections, Hamersley booths recorded a majority for the centre-left Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
(ALP). Hamersley has also shown a higher preference than the regional average for progressive minor parties such as the Australian Greens
Australian Greens
The Australian Greens, commonly known as The Greens, is an Australian green political party.The party was formed in 1992; however, its origins can be traced to the early environmental movement in Australia and the formation of the United Tasmania Group , the first Green party in the world, which...
and Australian Democrats
Australian Democrats
The Australian Democrats is an Australian political party espousing a socially liberal ideology. It was formed in 1977, by a merger of the Australia Party and the New LM, after principals of those minor parties secured the commitment of former Liberal minister Don Chipp, as a high profile leader...
. Hamersley is both socially and geographically between the safe Liberal suburbs west of the Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway
Mitchell Freeway is a long freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth's central business district with its outer northern suburbs. It is allocated Route 2 for its entire length and is named after former state Premier and Governor Sir James Mitchell....
such as Carine
Carine, Western Australia
Carine is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located north of Perth's central business district between Marmion Avenue and Mitchell Freeway. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History:...
, Duncraig
Duncraig, Western Australia
Duncraig is a large northern suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, Australia, and is located north of Perth's central business district between Marmion Avenue and Mitchell Freeway...
and North Beach
North Beach, Western Australia
North Beach is a northern coastal suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located from Perth's central business district via Mitchell Freeway and Reid Highway. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling.-History:...
, and the safe Labor suburbs east of Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road
Wanneroo Road is an important arterial road in Perth, Australia. It is about 75 kilometres long. It links Perth with the City of Wanneroo, and the Towns of Yanchep and Lancelin...
such as Balga
Balga, Western Australia
Balga is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and is located north of Perth's central business district . Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling....
and Girrawheen
Girrawheen, Western Australia
Girrawheen is a northern suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. Its Local Government Area is the City of Wanneroo.-History:...
.
At federal level, Hamersley is within the Division of Stirling
Division of Stirling
The Division of Stirling is an Australian Electoral Division in the inner northern and beachside suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It includes the suburbs of Balcatta, Balga, Carine, Innaloo, Nollamara, North Beach, Scarborough, Stirling, Trigg and Yokine....
, a marginal seat
Marginal seat
A marginal seat, or swing seat, is a constituency held with a particularly small majority in a legislative election, generally conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat....
which historically has alternated between the Liberal Party and the Australian Labor Party. It has been held since 2004 by Michael Keenan of the Liberal Party. At polling place and subdivision level, Hamersley has supported the Liberal Party at every election since its first in 1972, although in the 2001 election, the booth at East Hamersley Primary School was only won by the Liberal Party with a 0.3% two-party-preferred majority. Hamersley was in the Division of Cowan
Division of Cowan
The Division of Cowan is an Australian Electoral Division in Western Australia. The division was created in 1984 and is named for Edith Cowan, the first woman elected to an Australian Parliament. It is located in the northern suburbs of Perth, including the suburbs of Girrawheen, Greenwood,...
for elections held between 1984 and 1996.
In the Western Australian Legislative Assembly
Western Australian Legislative Assembly
The Legislative Assembly, or lower house, is one of the two chambers of parliament in the Australian state of Western Australia. It sits in Parliament House in the state capital, Perth....
, Hamersley is split between the electorates of Girrawheen
Electoral district of Girrawheen
Girrawheen is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is based in Perth's northern suburbs. Politically, it is a safe Labor seat.-Geography:...
and Balcatta
Electoral district of Balcatta
The Electoral district of Balcatta is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of Western Australia.The district is based in Perth's northern suburbs. Politically, it has been considered a safe Labor seat throughout its history, although is presently marginal...
, both safe seats for the Australian Labor Party. At polling place level, Hamersley supported the Liberal Party at every election since its first in 1971 until the 1996 election. In both the 2001 and 2005 elections, polling places in Hamersley, as with those in many northern Perth suburbs, switched to the Australian Labor Party at state level. However, at the 2008 election, all booths except East Hamersley, which was tied, returned a majority for the Liberals.
At local level, Hamersley is represented within the City of Stirling by the two councillors of the Hamersley Ward, which covers the suburbs of Carine, Hamersley, Gwelup and northern Balcatta. At present, Ron Sebrechts, whose term expires in October 2009, and Peter Rose JP, whose term expires in October 2011, represent Hamersley Ward.
In the early 1970s, the Hamersley Progress Association was formed to represent the views of Hamersley residents to all levels of government. It was, however, fairly short-lived. In 1999, the Hamersley Reference Group was formed to advise then-Federal Member for Stirling Jann McFarlane
Jann McFarlane
Jann Sonya McFarlane , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from October 1998 to October 2004, representing the Division of Stirling, Western Australia. She was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and was educated at Macquarie...
MHR on issues related to the ABC radio transmission towers and their effect on local residents. It was renamed to Radio Interference Group - Hamersley Towers after it moved to complete community management, and lobbies the government and makes submissions to public inquiries on behalf of the community on the issue.
Polling place statistics are presented below combining the votes from the Glendale and East Hamersley polling places in the federal and state elections as indicated.
External links
- Zoning map covering Carine and Hamersley (City of Stirling)