Eglinton is a locality in the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

n capital city of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, approximately north of Perth's central business district on the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. For the most part, the suburb is covered in native

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. ''Banksias'' range i ...

woodland, scrubland and heath typical of the

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 geol ...

. However, in recent years, there has been growth in residential estates, with a town centre to be built in the near future. There are also plans for the

Joondalup railway line The Joondalup line is a commuter rail service in Western Australia, linking the Perth central business district (CBD) with the metropolitan area's north-western suburbs. The service is operated on the Northern Suburbs Railway by Transperth Trai ...

to be extended through the suburb (terminating in

Yanchep Yanchep is an outer coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, north of the Perth CBD. It is a part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. Originally a small crayfishing settlement, it was developed by entrepreneur Alan Bond in the 1 ...

) with Eglinton railway station to be located inside Allara estate. Part of the

City of Wanneroo The City of Wanneroo is a local government area with city status in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. It is centred approximately north of Perth's central business district and forms part of the northern boundary of the Perth ...

local government area, it is bounded to the north by

, to the east by Carabooda and to the south by Alkimos. The area is part of the Alkimos-Eglinton region being considered by the State Government for a future urban region. Eglinton is now being developed with the Amberton estate from Stockland and Allara Estate from Satterly, which is one of only two estates in

to achieve a six star energy rating.

History

Eglinton was approved in 1974 as a suburb name and is named after the

barque A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel with three or more mast (sailing), masts having the fore- and mainmasts Square rig, rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) Fore-and-aft rig, rigged fore and aft. Som ...

''Eglinton'', which was wrecked on rocks near Alkimos that now bear its name. Prior to European settlement, the

Mooro The Mooro are a Nyungar Aboriginal clan, a subgroup of the Whadjuk. Their territory stretches from the Swan River in Perth north to the Moore River beyond the northern limits of metropolitan Perth and east to Ellen Brook. Evidence of Aborigi ...

tribe of the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

people had lived in what has become the northern Perth metropolitan region for more than 40,000 years, taking advantage of the abundant food and water around the chain of wetlands on the

. According to local legend, Pipidinny Swamp, located in eastern Eglinton, was created from the blood and meat of the crocodile's tail as he walked back towards the Swan River after his fight with the shark. In 1865, European settlers used the Aboriginal tracks along the west side of the lakes as a stock route from Dongara to

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

. The portion of the stock route between Joondalup and Yanchep was made part of the Bicentennial Heritage Trails Network in 1988, and is now known as the Yaberoo Budjara Heritage Trail. The area is mostly scrub and bushland today but also has some low-level agriculture based along

Wanneroo Wanneroo is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Geography As it is on the Swan Coastal Plain, the Wanneroo wetlands stretch parallel to the coastline and to the north and south of the suburb. Education W ...

and Pipidinny Roads as well as housing estates abutting

Marmion Avenue Marmion Avenue is a arterial road in the northern coastal suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Trigg in the south with Yanchep in the north. It forms part of State Route 71 along with West Coast Highway, which it joins onto at its s ...

Planning

As of May 2006 plans for an Alkimos-Eglinton

satellite city Satellite cities or satellite towns are smaller municipalities that are adjacent to a principal city which is the core of a metropolitan area. They differ from mere suburbs, subdivisions and especially bedroom communities in that they have mun ...

, covered by Amendment 1029/33 to the

Metropolitan Region Scheme The Metropolitan Region Scheme (MRS) provides the legal basis for land use planning within the Perth metropolitan region. It classifies land into broad zones and reservations and is administered by the Western Australian Planning Commission. I ...

were revealed. At that point

LandCorp Landcorp Farming Limited ("Landcorp") is a state-owned enterprise of the New Zealand government. Its brand name is Pāmu, the Te Reo Māori word 'to farm'. Its core business is pastoral farming including dairy, sheep, beef and deer, as well as ...

estimated that 55,000 people will live in the area once it is complete, that the centre will include "hospitals, tertiary educational institutions, major retail, commercial and recreational facilities" and that stage 1 blocks would be offered for sale in 2008. The Environmental Protection Authority, however, raised concerns in November 2005 about the amendment, saying that it "would, in part, be inconsistent with the conservation and protection of significant environmental and geoheritage values in the area", and recommended that the amount of reserves be greatly increased. The next major waste water treatment plant for the metropolitan region was built in the Eglinton area. It is designed to provide catchment from

Two Rocks Two Rocks is an outer suburb at the northern edge of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia, located northwest of the city's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local authority and represents the furthest nor ...

south to the existing Beenyup treatment plant catchment boundary.

Geography

Eglinton lies roughly between the proposed

Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of State Route 2, which continues south as Kwinana Freeway and Forrest High ...

to the east and the

to the west. Eglinton's population was measured by the ABS in the 2016 census as 2,365 with the projected population for 2021 being 6,983.

Facilities

Eglinton has no conventional facilities at the present stage but the Amberton and Allara estates are now under development with some houses built, many more under construction and many blocks titled. Amberton is joined to Shorehaven, which will have very significant infrastructure. Eglinton was previously accessible only by Pipidinny Road, which runs via Pipidinny Swamp to within of the beach. The Alkimos wreck can be viewed from the nearby coastline, where almost untouched beaches are accessible by sand track but a paved road is currently under construction. The suburb offers a wide array of native scrubland, woodland and heath, varying in condition from excellent to completely degraded, and including ''

Xanthorrhoea ''Xanthorrhoea'' () is a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants endemic to Australia. Species are known by the name grass tree. Description All are perennials and have a secondary thickening meristem in the stem. Many, but not all, sp ...

preissii'' (commonly known as "black boys"),

sheoak The Casuarinaceae are a family of dicotyledonous flowering plants placed in the order Fagales, consisting of four genera and 91 species of trees and shrubs native to eastern Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and the Pacific ...

and ''

Nuytsia floribunda ''Nuytsia floribunda'' is a hemiparasitic tree found in Western Australia. The species is known locally as moodjar and, more recently, the Christmas tree or Western Australian Christmas tree. The display of intensely bright flowers during the ...

''. Some degradation has occurred due to uncontrolled vehicular access, clearing for stock grazing, fire and rabbits.

Transport

In 2008,

was extended through the suburb, which had previously been unserviced by the road network. On 14 December 2008, the 490 and 491

Transperth Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system serving the city and suburban areas of Perth, the state capital of Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation. Train op ...

service between Butler train station,

and

. The 490 was rerouted from

Wanneroo Road Wanneroo Road is a arterial highway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia linking Joondanna and Yokine in the south with Wanneroo and Yanchep in the north. As part of State Route 60, it begins from Charles Street in the inner ...

to Marmion Avenue through the middle of Eglinton,Northern 78 timetable
, Transperth, effective 4 April 2010. Accessed 23 May 2010. Those bus routes are operated by

Swan Transit Swan Transit is an Australian bus company operating Transperth services under contract to the Public Transport Authority. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History On 21 January 1996, Swan Transit commenced operating services in the Midl ...

References

External links

Metropolitan Region Scheme Amendment 1029/33 Alkimos-Eglinton
{{City of Wanneroo suburbs Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Suburbs of the City of Wanneroo