Edinburgh is an outer northern suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in the

City of Salisbury The City of Salisbury is a local government area (LGA) located on the northern fringes of Adelaide, South Australia. It had population of 137,979 people in 2016 and encompasses an area of 158 km². The council's main offices are situated in ...

. The suburb was created in 1997, on land straddling Penfield and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, that was compulsorily acquired by the

Commonwealth Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

in 1940 in order to manufacture

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

for the war effort during World War II, and later used for a number of defence-related establishments. The suburb is dominated by the

RAAF Base Edinburgh RAAF Base Edinburgh is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) military airbase located in Edinburgh approximately north of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia and forms part of the Edinburgh Defence Precinct. The base is primarily home to No 9 ...

, but also includes the industrial precinct of Edinburgh Parks.

History

The area, as with all of the Adelaide Plains, lies within the traditional lands of the

Kaurna people The Kaurna people (, ; also Coorna, Kaura, Gaurna and other variations) are a group of Aboriginal people whose traditional lands include the Adelaide Plains of South Australia. They were known as the Adelaide tribe by the early settlers. Kaurna ...

Salisbury Explosives Factory

Once a rural area, this changed in 1940, after a large amount of land in the area between Penfield and Salisbury was compulsorily acquired by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

Department of Munitions The Department of Munitions was an Australian government department that existed between 11 June 1940 and April 1948. Reporting to it was the Factory Board, which was in charge of the six Small Arms Ammunition Factories, along with a ...

in 1940 to establish a

factory. Construction of the Salisbury Explosives Factory (also known as) began in November 1940. The architect

Herbert Jory Harrold Herbert Jory (20 March 1888 – 16 May 1966) , known as Herbert Jory, was a South Australian architect. He was a partner in the leading firm of Woods, Bagot & Jory from 1913, which became Woods, Bagot, Jory & Laybourne Smith from 1915 t ...

was engaged by the

to oversee the building of the factory, which at its height employed 3000 labourers and tradesmen seven days a week. The factory was completed within a year. The factory was one of many facilities created to ensure supplies for six Small Arms Ammunition Factories, which were

factories established and run across the country by the

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. The site was chosen because of "its strategic position and its proximity to rail transport, and to a water supply and labour". The factory complex included 1,405 buildings, and during wartime employed between 3,000 and 6,000 people. The Penfield railway line serviced the facilities.

Other defence establishments

*The

Long Range Weapons Establishment The RAAF Woomera Range Complex (WRC) is a major Australian military and civil aerospace facility and operation located in South Australia, approximately north-west of Adelaide. The WRC is operated by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), a di ...

(LRWE) was established in 1947. *The High Speed Aerodynamics Laboratory, Propulsion Research Laboratory and the Electronics Research Laboratory, (collectively known as the Chemistry & Physics Research Laboratory) in 1949. * The establishment of the

RAAF "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colours = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...

base was established in 1955. The LWRE and laboratories became the

Weapons Research Establishment The Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG) is part of the Australian Department of Defence dedicated to providing science and technology support to safeguard Australia and its national interests. The agency's name was changed from Defenc ...

(WRE) in 1955, the Defence Science & Technology Organisation (DSTO) in 1974, and the Defence Science and Technology Group (DST) in 2015. It is now an

industrial suburb An industrial suburb is a community, near a large city, with an industrial economy. These communities may be established as tax havens or as places where zoning promotes industry, or they may be industrial towns that become suburbs by urban spr ...

, but is still dominated by

, the DST Edinburgh site, with a few remaining sheep-grazing paddocks.

Suburb (1997)

The suburb was created in 1997 when it was split from the suburb of

, when the Australian Government decided that the

Australian Department of Defence Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

would rationalise the then "DSTO Salisbury" site and sell off about 70% of the site, and surrounding "Defence-owned" crown land, to form the "Edinburgh Parks" industrial estate.

Description

In addition to the RAAF base and the DST Group site, the suburb is home to several of defence contractors, a number of automotive component and parts manufacturers (which supported the Elizabeth Holden manufacturing plant until it closed in 2017), and other industries (for example, a major Coles Supermarkets distribution centre), as well as the Penfield Golf Club golf course, a model railway track, a model boat facility, a pistol range, gemology clubrooms, and a few remaining flocks of sheep.

Edinburgh Parks

The

's website stated in 2013: "Edinburgh Parks is one of Australia's largest advanced industrial precincts and has more than 300 hectares of fully developed land available... It is a "$1.9 billion investment and comprises four precincts designated for aerospace and manufacturing, defence technology, logistics support and automotive industries... Edinburgh Parks industrial blocks are among the best value industrial land in Australia. The site is ideally located in a major industrial growth corridor connected by Adelaide's new northern super highway system."Commercial & industrial land availability
, City of Salisbury Organisations established in the area include:

BAE Systems Australia BAE Systems Australia, a subsidiary of BAE Systems plc, is one of the largest defence contractors in Australia. It was formed by the merger of British Aerospace Australia and GEC-Marconi Systems and expanded by the acquisitions of Armor Holding ...

; DHL; Inghams; MTU Detroit Diesel; Coles Supermarkets Distribution Centre; and Lockheed Martin Australia. The City of Salisbury estimates that over 3,000 jobs have been created in the area through the creation of Edinburgh Parks. The "Invest Northern Adelaide" website, a collaboration of the cities of Playford, Salisbury, and

Tea Tree Gully The City of Tea Tree Gully is a local council in the Australian state of South Australia, in the outer north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. The major business district in the city is at Modbury, where Westfield Tea Tree Plaza, the Civic Centre ...

, makes similar glowing claims.Invest Northern Adelaide
Northern Connections

References

{{City of Salisbury suburbs Suburbs of Adelaide 1997 establishments in Australia