Denman Prospect is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

currently under development in the

Molonglo Valley The District of Molonglo Valley is one of the nineteen districts of the Australian Capital Territory used in land administration, and the only district that was not created in 1966. The district is subdivided into divisions (suburbs), sections a ...

district of

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, located within the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. ...

, Australia. It is named in honour of Lady Denman, the wife of the fifth

Governor-General of Australia The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in Australia.The Lord Denman. The principal ceremonial occasion during Lady Denman's term as first lady was the inauguration of the

Federal capital A federal capital is a political entity, often a municipality or capital city, that serves as the seat of the federal government. A federal capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the offices and meeting places of its respective gov ...

on 12 March 1913. Lady Denman stood upon the newly laid Foundation Stones and pronounced, "I name the capital of Australia – Canberra". The name Denman Prospect was selected to distinguish the locality from the town of ,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. The use of the suffix 'prospect' meaning view, vision or the outlook for the future, is considered significant in the context of the naming of Canberra by Lady Denman and Lord Denman's ensuing visionary speech for the future of the capital. The streets of Denman Prospect are named after activists and reformers.

History

The ACT government attempted to sell the entire suburb as one lot to a developer first at an auction, and then by negotiation. However the Colliers auction on 12 April 2013 was a failure with only one registered bidder, and then three months of negotiating led nowhere, and so the Land Development Agency will now develop the suburb itself. Blame for the failure to sell to a developer was placed on new solar access regulations, which meant that blocks had to be bigger, or that house sites had to be excavated into the hillside. Denman Prospect was scheduled to be the third suburb to be developed in the Molonglo Valley District and the first in stage 2. In July 2015 the Capital Estate Development company won a tender to build half of the suburb. This company is owned by the

Snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

family who also own

Canberra Airport Canberra Airport is an international airport situated in the District of Majura, Australian Capital Territory serving Australia's capital city, Canberra, as well as the nearby city of Queanbeyan and regional areas of the Australian Capital Te ...

. Coppins Crossing bridge was repaired after flooding in 2011.

Location and urban structure

Denman Prospect is located to the north of Uriarra Road, west of John Gorton Drive and south of the Molonglo River. Topographically it is north east of

Mount Stromlo Mount Stromlo (formerly Mount Strom ) is a mountain with an elevation of that is situated in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The mountain is most notable as the location of the Mount Stromlo Observatory. The mountain forms part ...

with a series of valleys draining eastwards towards the Molonglo River in the south of the suburb, and the north east direction in the north. The highest points of the suburb are along hills on the eastern side at just over 654 meters high. Uriarra Road is about 630 m above sea level. The lowest point is on the Molonglo River just below 499 m above sea level. This makes Denman Prospect the lowest Canberra suburb. The land area is 107 hectares and will contain 1700 dwellings if fully developed. There will be a local centre and two schools. Coppins Crossing Road between Uriarra Road and William Hovell Drive has a long history prior to the development of Molonglo, but it will be replaced by John Gorton Drive.

Wildlife

The rare

pink tailed worm lizard The pink-tailed worm-lizard or granite worm-lizard (''Aprasia parapulchella'') is a rare legless lizard found in Australia. The animal looks like a combination of small snake and worm. Its total length is up to 14 cm. It has a pink tail and ...

is found near the Molonglo River. The butterfly '' Ogyris amaryllis amata'' occurs near Coppins Crossing. Denman Prospect has been declared a cat containment area where cats are not permitted to roam freely.

Geology

The suburb of Denman Prospect is split by an east–west direction fault that splays off the Winslade Fault just to the west of the suburb. This fault is marked by quartz. The south side of the fault has been thrown down, and the north side elevated. The north-east heading Winslade Fault itself cuts off the northern tip of the suburb. To the north of the fault are the Mount Painter Volcanics in the north east with tuff composed of

dacite Dacite () is a volcanic rock formed by rapid solidification of lava that is high in silica and low in alkali metal oxides. It has a fine-grained (aphanitic) to porphyritic texture and is intermediate in composition between andesite and rhyolite. ...

fragments and underlying Walker Volcanics in the north west. Mount Painter Volcanics are of late Wenlock age. The rock south of the east–west fault is younger than the rocks to the north. Rocks in the south are

rhyodacite Rhyodacite is a volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite. It is the extrusive equivalent of those plutonic rocks that are intermediate in composition between monzogranite and granodiorite. Rhyodacites form from rapid ...

from the Deakin Volcanics, and on the far west side of the suburb is

ignimbrite Ignimbrite is a type of volcanic rock, consisting of hardened tuff. Ignimbrites form from the deposits of pyroclastic flows, which are a hot suspension of particles and gases flowing rapidly from a volcano, driven by being denser than the surrou ...

and shale from the Laidlaw Volcanics. The Laidlaw Volcanics are the latest in the sequence and are 420.7±2.2 million years old. A sand quarry used to be worked just to the west of Coppins Crossing on the Denman Prospect side of the Molonglo River.Henderson G A M and Matveev G, Geology of Canberra, Queanbeyan and Environs 1:50000 1980.

References

External links

Molonglo Valley web site
{{Molonglo Valley Suburbs Suburbs of Canberra 2012 establishments in Australia