Ellenbrook, Western Australia
Suburb of Perth, Western Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Suburb of Perth, Western Australia From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ellenbrook is an outer suburb and planned community in Perth, Western Australia, located 28 km (17 mi) northeast of Perth's central business district within the City of Swan.
Ellenbrook Perth, Western Australia | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coordinates | 31.765°S 115.988°E | ||||||||||||||
Population | 24,668 (SAL 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1992 | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 6069 | ||||||||||||||
LGA(s) | City of Swan | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Swan Hills, West Swan | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Hasluck | ||||||||||||||
|
At the time of the 2016 census there were 22,681 people living in Ellenbrook. By June 2018, it was estimated that the urban population for Ellenbrook and surrounds had grown to 41,382.[2][3]
Ellenbrook is a designated secondary activity centre[4] within the Perth metropolitan area, serving the adjoining communities of Aveley, The Vines and Henley Brook, with which it forms a contiguous urban area.
The suburb of Ellenbrook was principally built by LWP Property Group. Development was staged over two decades with a series of residential 'villages', each with a distinct theme in housing, streetscape and landscape architecture.[5]
Each village offers a range of differing dwellings, from apartments, micro-lots and townhouses to two-storey houses, large acreages and over-55s retirement housing. One of its primary design principles was to cater to as wide an array of ages, vocations and abilities as possible.
Stage | Village name | Theme | Planning and urban design consultants | Chief urban planner | Chief urban designer |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Village 1 | Woodlake Village | Roberts Day/Peter Cala & Associates | Tim Trefry | Mike Day | |
Village 2 | The Bridges | Tuscan | Roberts Day/Blackwell & Associates | Tim Trefry | Mike Day |
Village 3 | Coolamon | Contemporary Australian | Roberts Day/TRACT/Plan E | Tim Trefry | Mike Day |
Village 4 | Morgan Fields | Country Lifestyle | Roberts Day | Tim Trefry | Mike Day |
Village 5 | Charlotte's Vineyard | Swan Valley | Roberts Day/Plan E | Tim Trefry | Mike Day |
Village 6 | Malvern Springs | Naturaliste | Roberts Day/Plan E | Julie Harrold | Peter Ciemitis |
Village 7A | Lexia | Roberts Day/Plan E | Tim Trefry | Peter Ciemitis | |
Village 7B | Annie's Landing | Roberts Day | Tim Trefry | ||
Town Centre | Ellenbrook Town Centre | Roberts Day/Plan E | Tim Trefry | Mike Day |
The village of Morgan Fields is actually part of the adjoining suburb of Henley Brook. However, it was often promoted together with Ellenbrook as part of the larger community, as well as LWP's sales & branding exercise.
The name Ellenbrook is derived from the nearby Ellen Brook, a tributary of the Swan River. The brook in turn was named after Ellen Stirling, the wife of Captain James Stirling who was the first governor of Western Australia.[6] The roads Ellen Stirling Parade and Mangles Drive in the town centre are also named after her.[7]
The brook is situated close by in the neighbouring suburbs of The Vines and Belhus, but it no longer runs through Ellenbrook itself due to subsequent boundary changes. A tributary of the brook named Sawpit Gully still runs through the village of Annie's Landing in the north.
Prior to the modern-day suburb, the Ellenbrook area comprised uninhabited banksia and sheoak woodlands and wetlands. The wetlands were used by transient Whadjuk Noongar people, primarily for opportunistic hunting of game.[8] Two aboriginal artefact scatter sites were previously identified by surveyors around the eastern end of Gnangara Road, but both were subsequently destroyed by industrial development in the latter half of the 20th century.[9]
In 1829, the Swan River Colony was established by the British Empire, and the land along the Swan River consequently divided up into land grants to be allocated to pioneering settlers. The area of modern-day Ellenbrook was contained within Swan Location 1 and Swan Location A, two grants located at the upper Swan River near the confluence of the Ellen Brook. Location 1 was granted to English merchant George Leake, while Location A was granted to Irish pastoralist William Burges. The lands immediately around the river and brook were developed for farming and pastoral use.
In 1838, the Swan Location 1 land title was divided horizontally in half between Leake and his business partner Lt. Henry Bull, with Leake retaining the southern side and Bull taking the northern side.[10] The western two thirds of Leake's half of Swan 1, that today contains Ellenbrook, was also surrendered back to the Crown. Leake's remaining third at the Ellen Brook became Belhus.[11] The dividing line between Leake and Bull's holdings remains present in Ellenbrook today, dividing the villages of Malvern Springs and Coolamon, as well as forming the northern boundary of Aveley. The southern boundary of Swan Location A runs along Gnangara Road.
From there, the land holdings all passed through various owners and subdivision processes, into and throughout the 20th century, but saw little development beyond scattered industrial use, due to the poor agricultural value of their Bassendean Sands soils.
In 1871, the passing of the Districts Road Act by the State Government brought the area's landholdings under the local governance of the Swan Road District, which ultimately became the Shire of Swan and latterly, the City of Swan.
In the early 1900s, the Gnangara Pine Plantation was started by the state Forests Department, covering a wide area around Lake Gnangara and reaching into the western part of Ellenbrook. A residential townsite for workers, known as the Gnangara Settlement, was built by the Department at the modern-day interchange of Tonkin Highway and The Promenade. A timber mill was also built on Weatherill Road in Ellenbrook, which is now modern day Forestview Park. The settlement was eventually shuttered and had been demolished by the 1980s.[12]
In 1972, the Shire of Swan gazetted new postal localities,[13] covering all of the Ellenbrook area - the northern half of the former Swan Location 1 was gazetted as the locality of Upper Swan, while the southern half was made into the locality of Belhus.
In the early 1970s, Boral opened and operated a large sand quarry in the south of Ellenbrook, where the modern-day Woodlake Village was built. This had been largely closed and rehabilitated by the time of Ellenbrook's development.[14]
By the mid 1980s, the subdivisions of the Ellenbrook area had fallen under the ownership of four corporate entities, dividing the land roughly into quarters:
The Ellenbrook area and north-eastern corridor was first highlighted for suburban development in 1987 in a report by the WA State Planning Commission. In 1990, the Department of Planning and Urban Development officially declared the area a growth corridor for Perth in their 'Metroplan' policy publication. In response, the four land-owners commenced re-zoning discussions with the Shire of Swan, and subsequently various agencies of the State Government.[16]
Sanwa were the first landowners to affect urban development in 1989, going on to develop The Vines Resort; a 36 hole golf course, hotel and country club estate in the north-east of Ellenbrook, in partnership with the State Government.
In 1992, Ellenbrook was officially split from Belhus and Upper Swan and gazetted as its own suburb/locality by the Shire of Swan,[17] It covered all of the lots owned by Homeswest, Sanwa, Mt Lawley Pty Ltd and Multiplex, defining the boundaries of the new development project. Shortly afterwards, Sanwa and Homeswest representatives sought to create a joint venture company to coordinate and deliver the project across all participating land holdings. Multiplex and Mt Lawley both declined to join the venture,[18] removing their lands from the scope of development. The joint venture was created as Ellenbrook Management Pty Ltd, with a 53%-47% split between Sanwa and Homeswest respectively.[19]
Multiplex pursued their own independent environmental and development review processes separately from Ellenbrook, leading to the creation of Aveley in the mid-2000s. Martin Copley initially sought to create a wildlife sanctuary on the Mt Lawley land, but chose to establish Karakamia Sanctuary in Chidlow instead.[20] Nonetheless, the bulk of the Mt Lawley land was re-zoned Parks and Recreation due to its high conservation value, and subsequently transferred to the adjoining rural locality of Melaleuca.
In the same year, the Environmental Protection Authority released its report on the Ellenbrook area, ultimately approving the project to go ahead subject to various conservation and environmental approvals. In August 1992, the Homeswest, Sanwa and Multiplex land holdings were all re-zoned from Rural to Urban Deferred via amendment to the Metropolitan Region Scheme. In late 1993, the Homeswest and Sanwa lands were successfully re-zoned again from Urban Deferred to Urban in late 1993, giving the green light for the joint venturet to proceed with development.
With structural, environmental and town planning already well advanced, water and sewerage infrastructure was built along Gnangara Road by Water Corporation to the area.[21] This allowed development of the first village, Woodlake to begin in 1995. The first primary school, Ellenbrook Primary School, opened in Woodlake in 1997, followed by St Helena's Catholic Primary School nearby in 1999. Woodlake also gained a small town centre with an IGA store and restaurants. Development of the second village, The Bridges followed shortly after in 1997, followed by Coolamon in 1999.
In 1996, the area containing The Vines Resort and estate was split from Ellenbrook into a separate suburb named "The Vines".
In 2000, Sanwa's parent holding company entered financial difficulties and became insolvent. Sanwa sold their 53% stake of the Ellenbrook joint venture to a syndicate of investors known as Morella Pty Ltd. Simultaneously, a new company named LWP Property Group Pty Ltd, was created and engaged by the joint venture to take over project management and handle sales and marketing.[22]
In 2003, Ellenbrook expanded with construction of both the village of Charlotte's Vineyard and the Town Centre precinct starting. The town centre featured two roads - Main Street and The Parkway - and the Ellenbrook Central shopping centre.
In 2006, the Multiplex portion of Ellenbrook was split into a separate suburb named Aveley - urban development of Aveley followed shortly thereafter.
In the same year, Mt Lawley Pty Ltd sued the Western Australian Planning Commission, after the latter sought to compulsorily purchase the former's Ellenbrook land holding at below market value.[23] The Supreme Court found in favour of the WAPC. It remains protected wetlands today, separated from the rest of Ellenbrook by Tonkin Highway.
In 2007, the village of Malvern Springs began construction, north of Coolamon. Ellenbrook Secondary College opened in the Town Centre, giving Ellenbrook its first high school, and Ellen Stirling Primary School also opened in Coolamon.
In 2010, Ellenbrook Central shopping centre was expanded, and The Brook Bar and Bistro was built nearby giving Ellenbrook its first restaurant and pub. In the north of the suburb, the village of Lexia began construction, and the private Holy Cross College high school was built and opened in Coolamon.
In 2013, the final village of Annie's Landing began construction in the far north of the suburb.
In 2014, a small Urban-zoned 12 hectare pocket of the original Mt Lawley Pty Ltd landholding was also developed and marketed as the Lawley Private Estate. Although developed independently of the Ellenbrook Joint Venture, it was designed as to flow naturally into Charlotte's Vineyard as an unofficial extension of that village.[24]
In 2020, the Brooklane shopping centre and retail precinct was built at the District Centre near Malvern Springs, providing Ellenbrook's third neighbourhood centre. The original Town Centre area also began to be built out with townhouses, medium-density apartments and microlot houses.
In 2023, LWP Property Group ceased operations, transferring their remaining selling rights and management responsibilities to Satterley Property Group.[25]
For the first two decades of its existence, Ellenbrook was connected to the Perth metro area by three pre-existing highways - Lord Street and West Swan Road to the south, and Gnangara Road to the west. All three roads were two-lanes wide and built to only rural standards.
In 2006, Ellenbrook Transfer Station was opened near Woodlake Village, providing residents with a small bus terminal for access to other metro area centres.
During the campaign for the 2008 Western Australian election, incumbent Labor premier Alan Carpenter and Liberal opposition leader Colin Barnett both publicly pledged to build a new passenger rail line for Ellenbrook if elected. The 15 km line was expected to cost $850 million and be finished around 2015, with construction starting around 2012.[26] Although the Liberal Party won the election, in May 2010 Barnett announced that the government had cancelled the project,[27] declaring it uneconomical to proceed with. The cancellation attracted harsh criticism of the Barnett government.[28]
In 2015, Gnangara Road was duplicated to a four-lane dual carriageway, providing a significant increase in capacity and safety for Ellenbrook commuters and residents.
In 2017, Transperth introduced upgraded bus services to Ellenbrook, including an hourly evening connection to Bassendean railway station on the Midland Line.[29] In August, another bus route was introduced which connected Ellenbrook to Whitfords railway station on the Yanchep Line, via Gnangara Road.[30]
In 2018, a new road bridge across the Ellen Brook was constructed at Railway Parade outside of The Vines, providing a link between Annie's Landing and Upper Swan.
In 2019, Tonkin Highway was extended to Muchea for the NorthLink WA project, providing a full north-south freeway link for Ellenbrook. Two freeway interchanges into Ellenbrook were constructed, at Gnangara Road and The Promenade. At the same time, the New Lord Street project delivered a second dual carriageway north-south link known as Drumpellier Drive, bypassing Lord Street.
Following the defeat of the Liberals and the election of Mark McGowan's Labor government in 2017, the stalled Ellenbrook railway line project was resurrected as part of Labor's Metronet campaign. Construction of the railway line and town centre terminus station commenced in 2022 and is due to finish in 2025, connecting Ellenbrook to Perth and the rest of the Transperth rail network.[31]
Ellenbrook is bounded by the Tonkin Highway to the west, Gnangara Road to the south and Maralla Road to the north. The Millendon Junction to Narngulu railway line forms part of the boundary in the north-east. Its eastern boundaries are blended across the suburbs of The Vines and Aveley, both of which were formerly part of Ellenbrook in earlier years. The suburb sits in the south-east corner of the Gnangara Mound[32] at the northern end of the Swan Valley region, close to the Darling Scarp.
The Gnangara pine plantation west of the suburb features walks and picnic facilities accessible from Ellenbrook. To the south and south west lies Whiteman Park and the rural community of Cullacabardee respectively. For a long time, these areas segregated Ellenbrook from the frontier of the Perth metropolitan area. With suburban development occurring in Henley Brook and Brabham to the south, this is no longer the case and Ellenbrook now forms part of the contiguous Swan Urban Growth Corridor.[33]
Conservation category wetlands were incorporated as public open spaces throughout the suburb. In the far north of Ellenbrook's boundary are over 300 hectares of wetlands that were ceded for conservation, on the recommendation of the Environmental Protection Authority. These are protected under the Perth metropolitan Bush Forever strategy.
At the 2021 Australian census, 48.8% of Ellenbrook residents were male and 51.2% were female. Ellenbrook's median age was 32, much lower than the state and national average of 38. The most common ancestries in Ellenbrook as of 2021 were English (37%), Australian (30.8%), Scottish (7.6%), Irish (7%) and Indian (4.3%). 3.8% of residents identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. 63.1% of residents were born in Australia.[34]
Ellenbrook is a primary activity hub for the surrounding areas and is designated a Secondary Centre within the City of Swan. Its town centre runs along Main Street providing a variety of pubs, cafes, restaurants, health centres and mixed use office developments. Key civic buildings in the town centre include Ellenbrook Central shopping centre, Ellenbrook Secondary College, Ellenbrook Public Library and the Ellenbrook railway station and bus interchange.
Ellenbrook also has two smaller secondary town centres. In the south, Woodlake has its own smaller high street on Highpoint Boulevard with a range of groceries, health, retail and restaurant offerings and two primary schools in its vicinity. In the north, the District Centre area on Maffina Parade services the northern villages of Ellenbrook, as well as nearby parts of Aveley and The Vines. It is anchored around the Brooklane Shopping Centre, Aveley Secondary College, the Ellenbrook Community Centre and the Ellenbrook District Open Space (EDOS). The area is variously referred to as Brooklane or Malvern Springs after the adjoining village nearby.
Further minor education and health precincts are spread throughout the suburb. A large strip of big-box retail malls, service stations and fast food restaurants runs along the length of The Promenade.
The community relies on the regional centre of Midland for other essential community and government services such as Centrelink, the Department of Transport centre and the Midland Magistrates Court.
Ellenbrook has its own community radio station, known as Radio VCA 88.5FM. It was launched in December 2006. The studio is located in Coolamon and the station is broadcast from a transmitter in the Swan Valley locality of Brigadoon.[35]
The Ellenbrook Police Station is located in the town centre. It is part of WAPOL's Midland District and serves the wider area, including the adjacent suburbs of Aveley, The Vines and Henley Brook and the towns of Upper Swan and Bullsbrook.[36]
The nearest hospital to Ellenbrook is St John of God Midland Hospital in Midland. Although Ellenbrook lacks a hospital, St John does operate a local ambulance depot and first aid training centre in the town.[37]
Ellenbrook Fire Station, operated by DFES, is located on the border of the suburb in Henley Brook.
There are four main sporting grounds in Ellenbrook: Woodlake Sports Ground, Coolamon Oval, Charlotte's Vineyard Oval and Ellenbrook District Open Space (EDOS). Coolamon Oval and Ellenbrook District Open Space (EDOS) have clubroom and changing facilities and are the home of the Ellenbrook Eels Senior Football Club, the Ellenbrook Dockers Junior Football club (Australian Rules) and the Ellenbrook Rangers.[38]
Other facilities include:
The suburb is also home to a junior and senior soccer club, Ellenbrook United FC.
Planning for a recreation and aquatic centre adjacent to EDOS and Aveley Secondary College in Ellenbrook has commenced and will host: a 25m indoor lane lap pool, warm water pool, spa, sauna, steam facilities, indoor multipurpose sports courts, gym/ health club, group fitness rooms, café, crèche, changing facilities and car parking.[39]
A sedan race track named Ellenbrook Speedway exists near Annie's Landing, just outside of the suburb boundary. It is operated by the Racing Drivers' Association of WA and was opened in 1975.
Ellenbrook contains the following five state primary schools and two state high schools, dotted throughout the suburb across various catchment & intake areas:
It also contains the following three private Christian schools:
Ellenbrook Community Library,[48] operated by the City of Swan, is co-located within Ellenbrook Secondary College and Performing Arts Centre.
There are no higher/tertiary education facilities in Ellenbrook, such as TAFE or university - students must commute to Midland, Joondalup or Perth to access these institutions.
Tonkin Highway (State Route 4) runs north-south along the western edge of Ellenbrook, connecting it to Perth's freeway network and providing a direct link to the metropolitan centres of Morley, Perth Airport and Armadale, as well as Great Northern Highway into the Mid-West region. Drumpellier Drive and West Swan Road (State Route 52) provide additional southbound links to the metro area, while Gnangara Road (State Route 84) runs westbound to Joondalup and the coast.
Local roads The Promenade, The Broadway, Banrock Drive and Pinaster Parade serve as the primary distributor roads throughout the suburb.
Ellenbrook is the terminus of the Morley-Ellenbrook railway line from Perth, with its terminus station located in the town centre. The railway line runs at-grade through the town centre and the village of The Bridges, before joining up with Drumpellier Drive as it leaves the town.
Bus services link Ellenbrook with Morley and Bassendean railway station. A journey to the Perth CBD by public transport takes approximately 60 minutes.[49]
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.