Merriwa, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Merriwa is an outer suburb of Perth
, Western Australia
, located 36 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local authority
. It is a predominantly residential suburb, containing two RAAFA
retirement villages
.
to the north (Lukin Drive), Ridgewood
to the east (Connolly Drive), Quinns Rocks and Mindarie
to the west (Marmion Avenue) and Clarkson
to the south (Hester Avenue). The suburb was originally much larger, extending to the Joondalup railway line reserve in the east, but was split in two in 1998.
It is 2 kilometres away from Quinns Beach and the Indian Ocean
to the west.
due to conflict with the already-existing town of Hester
in south-west WA. "Merriwa", an Aboriginal
word meaning "a good place", was then proposed and approved for the area within the same year. The original name survives in Hester Avenue, an east-west arterial road that forms the southern boundary of the suburb.
A town also named Merriwa
exists in New South Wales
. The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales lists an alternate meaning for its name, as "plenty of grass seed and flour made from it."
. The original Quinns Beach Estate in the south of Merriwa was developed in the late 1980's and early 1990's by Smith Corporation, who were also responsible for the development of the marina in nearby Mindarie
at the time. Many early residents of Merriwa suffered from lack of facilities, poorly-built pavements and roads, lack of street-lighting and isolation from other areas (as Marmion Avenue hadn't yet been extended.) This led to the formation of the Merriwa Development Committee, with the purpose of lobbying the Council to support the issues raised.
Carnegie Private Estate was then built in the mid 90's in the area east of Connolly Drive by Town and Country Bank. In 1998, Merriwa was bifurcated along Connolly Drive by the City of Wanneroo, and the eastern half, including the Carnegie Estate, was gazzetted as the new suburb of Ridgewood
.
Seagrove Estate in the north was built much later in the early 2000's by Caversham Property, and is delineated from the Quinns Beach Estate by the Grand Paradiso Parade and Seagrove Boulevard roads. This development was also supported by a "Merriwa Structure Plan" devised by the City of Wanneroo, to provide adequate amounts of services and public open space for residents of the area.
Two RAAFA retirement villages, Merriwa Estate and Cambrai Village, are also located in the northern and southern extremes of the suburb.
2006 census, an increase of 1,167 people since the 2001 census. However, the suburb's population is predicted to remain stable in the future. Although Merriwa's 64.2% Australian-born population is below the national average of 70.9%, it is still significantly higher than all adjoining suburbs, which have important British
-born populations. Correspondingly, Merriwa's British-born population are a minority at 14.2%. The median age of Merriwa's residents is 33, compared to the national Australian average of 37. Median incomes in the area were considerably below the Australian average, with an average household income of $808 per week compared to $1,027 nationally.
The most popular religion in the suburb is Christianity
, comprising 48.6% of the population across various Christian denominations. However, more residents declared no religion (26.8%) than they did for the most popular Christian denomination, Anglicanism
(23.3%.) There is one Pentecostal church, Dream Life Church, located in the Seagrove area of the suburb.
and the nearby regional city of Joondalup for most other commercial and public services.
The Merriwa Plaza, within the Quinns Beach Estate area, accommodates a major Supa IGA supermarket branch, two bottle shops, a Chicken Treat
branch and Fred's Hardware, a local hardware store. In the north is a Gull
service station, along with several other small shops and take-away restaurants. Near the Supa IGA is the Merriwa Tavern, a pub and restaurant that serves as the hub for nightlife in the suburb.
Six large parks are scattered throughout the suburb, many with additional sporting facilities. Addison Park features clubrooms and a function hall, while Dalvik Park leads onto the Alkimos Baptist College campus. Also nearby is the Jenolan Way Community Centre that is used for its function rooms and offices.
Brighton Beach Medical Centre in northern Merriwa provides medical services to the suburb's residents. Within the vicinity is a St John ambulance station
, opened in 2008. The station operates 24 hours a day and serves all surrounding suburbs from Kinross to Butler.
Telephone services are provided by the Quinns Rocks telephone exchange.
. Located on the same campus is the Merriwa Education Support Centre, specializing in education for intellectually disabled
children. Senior Merriwa students from Year 8 onwards fall into the Clarkson Community High School catchment area.
A private school is also located on Dalvik Park in the centre of the suburb, which was known as Kingsway Christian College up until 2007 when it closed down. The campus remained vacant for the next three years until re-opening as Alkimos Baptist College, a private Baptist primary school for children from Kindergarten to Year 8. The staff and students of the college are expected to eventually move to a brand new, purpose-built facility in Alkimos
in the future.
Marmion Avenue
and Connolly Drive, two parallel arterial roads that run along Merriwa's western and eastern boundaries respectively. Hester Avenue in the south of Merriwa also links directly to
Wanneroo Road
in the east.
There is one backbone road, Baltimore Parade, that cuts through the middle of Merriwa from north to south and links the whole suburb together. The road originally looped westwards onto Marmion Avenue, but was re-aligned during the development of the Seagrove Estate to exit north onto Lukin Drive instead. The old alignment of the road was re-named Hughie Edwards Drive.
Cars are the preferred mode of transport
in Merriwa, due to its outer-suburban location past the terminus of the Joondalup railway line.
The nearest railway station to Merriwa is Clarkson station
immediately south, which provides a rail link to the Perth CBD via the Joondalup line. The suburb is also served by the 483 bus route, running from Butler to Clarkson railway station.
at State level and Liberal Party
at Federal level, in line with other "mortgage belt
" suburbs in the area, such as Clarkson. The Family First Party
is also generally preferred over the Christian Democratic Party
at minority level.
Merriwa was historically part of the Electoral district of Wanneroo
before becoming a member of Mindarie
at the 2003 redistribution. It also forms the southern boundary of the Federal Division of Pearce
.
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....
, 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...
, located 36 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local authority
Local Government Areas of Western Australia
The Australian state of Western Australia is divided into 141 local government areas...
. It is a predominantly residential suburb, containing two RAAFA
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
retirement villages
Retirement community
A retirement community, or active adult community, is a very broad, generic term that covers many varieties of housing for retirees and seniors - especially designed or geared for people who no longer work, or restricted to those over a certain age . It differs from a retirement home which is a...
.
Geography
Merriwa is bounded by ButlerButler, Western Australia
Butler is an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 41 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area...
to the north (Lukin Drive), Ridgewood
Ridgewood, Western Australia
Ridgewood is an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 37 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. Is is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area.-Geography:...
to the east (Connolly Drive), Quinns Rocks and Mindarie
Mindarie, Western Australia
Mindarie is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, considered to be northernmost of Perth's affluent beachside suburbs. It is located 36 kilometres north of Perth's central business district via Marmion Avenue and is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area.After being...
to the west (Marmion Avenue) and Clarkson
Clarkson, Western Australia
Clarkson is an outer northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 34 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. While mostly a residential area, it also functions as a town centre, serving many surrounding areas with a...
to the south (Hester Avenue). The suburb was originally much larger, extending to the Joondalup railway line reserve in the east, but was split in two in 1998.
It is 2 kilometres away from Quinns Beach and 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...
to the west.
Name
The name "Hester" was originally approved for the suburb by the Shire of Wanneroo in 1980, after Thomas Hester, one of the first land owners in the vicinity. The neighbouring suburbs of Clarkson and Butler were also named this way. However, the name was opposed by Australia PostAustralia Post
Australia Post is the trading name of the Australian Government-owned Australian Postal Corporation .-History:...
due to conflict with the already-existing town of Hester
Hester, Western Australia
Hester is a small town in the South West region of Western Australia, 7 km north of Bridgetown on the railway.It was gazetted a townsite in 1899, and was originally a siding on the Donnybrook to Bridgetown railway, opened in 1898. The town derives its name from the nearby Hester Brook, a name...
in south-west WA. "Merriwa", an Aboriginal
Australian Aborigines
Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...
word meaning "a good place", was then proposed and approved for the area within the same year. The original name survives in Hester Avenue, an east-west arterial road that forms the southern boundary of the suburb.
A town also named Merriwa
Merriwa, New South Wales
Merriwa is a town in the far west of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia, in Upper Hunter Shire. It is located on the Golden Highway, 273 kilometres northwest of Sydney and about half way between Newcastle and Dubbo...
exists in New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales lists an alternate meaning for its name, as "plenty of grass seed and flour made from it."
Suburban development
Up until the late 1980's, Merriwa was unpopulated bushland with no notable land features other than Quinns Road, a two-lane arterial road linking the adjacent townsite of Quinns Rocks to Wanneroo RoadWanneroo 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...
. The original Quinns Beach Estate in the south of Merriwa was developed in the late 1980's and early 1990's by Smith Corporation, who were also responsible for the development of the marina in nearby Mindarie
Mindarie, Western Australia
Mindarie is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, considered to be northernmost of Perth's affluent beachside suburbs. It is located 36 kilometres north of Perth's central business district via Marmion Avenue and is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area.After being...
at the time. Many early residents of Merriwa suffered from lack of facilities, poorly-built pavements and roads, lack of street-lighting and isolation from other areas (as Marmion Avenue hadn't yet been extended.) This led to the formation of the Merriwa Development Committee, with the purpose of lobbying the Council to support the issues raised.
Carnegie Private Estate was then built in the mid 90's in the area east of Connolly Drive by Town and Country Bank. In 1998, Merriwa was bifurcated along Connolly Drive by the City of Wanneroo, and the eastern half, including the Carnegie Estate, was gazzetted as the new suburb of Ridgewood
Ridgewood, Western Australia
Ridgewood is an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 37 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. Is is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area.-Geography:...
.
Seagrove Estate in the north was built much later in the early 2000's by Caversham Property, and is delineated from the Quinns Beach Estate by the Grand Paradiso Parade and Seagrove Boulevard roads. This development was also supported by a "Merriwa Structure Plan" devised by the City of Wanneroo, to provide adequate amounts of services and public open space for residents of the area.
Two RAAFA retirement villages, Merriwa Estate and Cambrai Village, are also located in the northern and southern extremes of the suburb.
Demographics
Merriwa had a population of 5,220 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, an increase of 1,167 people since the 2001 census. However, the suburb's population is predicted to remain stable in the future. Although Merriwa's 64.2% Australian-born population is below the national average of 70.9%, it is still significantly higher than all adjoining suburbs, which have important British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-born populations. Correspondingly, Merriwa's British-born population are a minority at 14.2%. The median age of Merriwa's residents is 33, compared to the national Australian average of 37. Median incomes in the area were considerably below the Australian average, with an average household income of $808 per week compared to $1,027 nationally.
The most popular religion in the suburb is Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, comprising 48.6% of the population across various Christian denominations. However, more residents declared no religion (26.8%) than they did for the most popular Christian denomination, Anglicanism
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
(23.3%.) There is one Pentecostal church, Dream Life Church, located in the Seagrove area of the suburb.
Amenities and facilities
Merriwa is primarily residential, but does contain some shopping and retail facilities. It relies on ClarksonClarkson, Western Australia
Clarkson is an outer northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located 34 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. While mostly a residential area, it also functions as a town centre, serving many surrounding areas with a...
and the nearby regional city of Joondalup for most other commercial and public services.
The Merriwa Plaza, within the Quinns Beach Estate area, accommodates a major Supa IGA supermarket branch, two bottle shops, a Chicken Treat
Chicken Treat
Chicken Treat is an Australian barbecue chicken fast food restaurant chain that originated in 1974 in Perth, Western Australia and later expanded throughout Australia....
branch and Fred's Hardware, a local hardware store. In the north is a Gull
Gull Petroleum
Gull Petroleum is a Perth, Western Australian based petroleum company, which retails fuel in Western Australia and New Zealand....
service station, along with several other small shops and take-away restaurants. Near the Supa IGA is the Merriwa Tavern, a pub and restaurant that serves as the hub for nightlife in the suburb.
Six large parks are scattered throughout the suburb, many with additional sporting facilities. Addison Park features clubrooms and a function hall, while Dalvik Park leads onto the Alkimos Baptist College campus. Also nearby is the Jenolan Way Community Centre that is used for its function rooms and offices.
Brighton Beach Medical Centre in northern Merriwa provides medical services to the suburb's residents. Within the vicinity is a St John ambulance station
St John Ambulance Australia
St John Ambulance Australia is a self-funding charitable organisation dedicated to helping people in sickness, distress, suffering or danger. It is part of an international organisation that consists of eight Priories that form the Order of St John.- History :St John First Aid training centres...
, opened in 2008. The station operates 24 hours a day and serves all surrounding suburbs from Kinross to Butler.
Telephone services are provided by the Quinns Rocks telephone exchange.
Education
Merriwa contains one primary school, Merriwa Primary School, catering for the whole suburb from Kindergarten to Year 7Education 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...
. Located on the same campus is the Merriwa Education Support Centre, specializing in education for intellectually disabled
Intellectual disability
Intellectual disability is a broad concept encompassing various intellectual deficits, including mental retardation , deficits too mild to properly qualify as MR, various specific conditions , and problems acquired later in life through acquired brain injuries or neurodegenerative diseases like...
children. Senior Merriwa students from Year 8 onwards fall into the Clarkson Community High School catchment area.
A private school is also located on Dalvik Park in the centre of the suburb, which was known as Kingsway Christian College up until 2007 when it closed down. The campus remained vacant for the next three years until re-opening as Alkimos Baptist College, a private Baptist primary school for children from Kindergarten to Year 8. The staff and students of the college are expected to eventually move to a brand new, purpose-built facility in Alkimos
Alkimos, Western Australia
Alkimos is an unpopulated coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located north-northwest of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area....
in the future.
Transport
Merriwa is linked by road to Perth by Marmion AvenueMarmion 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...
and Connolly Drive, two parallel arterial roads that run along Merriwa's western and eastern boundaries respectively. Hester Avenue in the south of Merriwa also links directly to
Wanneroo RoadWanneroo 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...
in the east.
There is one backbone road, Baltimore Parade, that cuts through the middle of Merriwa from north to south and links the whole suburb together. The road originally looped westwards onto Marmion Avenue, but was re-aligned during the development of the Seagrove Estate to exit north onto Lukin Drive instead. The old alignment of the road was re-named Hughie Edwards Drive.
Cars are the preferred mode of transport
Transport 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 Merriwa, due to its outer-suburban location past the terminus of the Joondalup railway line.
The nearest railway station to Merriwa is Clarkson station
Clarkson railway station, Perth
Clarkson is a Transperth bus and train station located north of Perth, Western Australia, in the suburb of Clarkson. It presently serves as the terminus for the Joondalup Line. It is located east of Ocean Keys Shopping Centre....
immediately south, which provides a rail link to the Perth CBD via the Joondalup line. The suburb is also served by the 483 bus route, running from Butler to Clarkson railway station.
- 483 - Clarkson to Butler (west) via Merriwa
Politics
Merriwa contains one polling booth at Merriwa Primary School. There is a strong trend for Merriwa residents to vote Australian Labor PartyAustralian 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...
at State level and Liberal Party
Liberal 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 Federal level, in line with other "mortgage belt
Mortgage belt
The Mortgage belt is a term used in Australian politics to signify residential suburbs which have a high concentration of families mortgaging their homes....
" suburbs in the area, such as Clarkson. The Family First Party
Family First Party
The Family First Party is a socially conservative minor political party in Australia. It has two members in the South Australian Legislative Council...
is also generally preferred over the Christian Democratic Party
Christian Democratic Party (Australia)
The Christian Democratic Party is a right-wing political party in Australia. Its leader is Fred Nile, a Congregational Church minister and a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council.-Formation:...
at minority level.
Merriwa was historically part of the Electoral district of Wanneroo
Electoral district of Wanneroo
-External links:* ABC Election Profiles: * WAEC District Maps:...
before becoming a member of Mindarie
Electoral district of Mindarie
The Electoral district of Mindarie is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. The district is named for the outer northern Perth suburb of Mindarie which falls within its borders.-History:...
at the 2003 redistribution. It also forms the southern boundary of the Federal Division of Pearce
Division of Pearce
The Division of Pearce is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of Western Australia. It is located to the east and north of Perth, taking in the rural areas adjoining the Perth metropolitan area to the south-east, east and north-east, then sweeping around to the Indian Ocean where it...
.