Leschenault is an outer suburb of Bunbury,

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 ...

16 km to the north-east. Its local government area is the

Shire of Harvey The Shire of Harvey is a local government area of Western Australia. Harvey is located in the state's South West region, approximately 140 km south of Perth, and includes some of Bunbury's northern suburbs. The shire covers an area of 1, ...

. Leschenault is generally considered to be a higher socioeconomic area, with higher than average real estate prices.

History

The name ''Leschenault'' honours botanist

Jean Baptiste Leschenault de la Tour Jean-Baptiste Louis Claude Théodore Leschenault de La Tour (13 November 1773 – 14 March 1826) was a French botanist and ornithologist. Born at the family seat (since 1718), Le Villard, near Chalon-sur-Saône, Leschenault de la Tour arrived in ...

, who was part of

Nicolas Baudin Nicolas Thomas Baudin (; 17 February 1754 – 16 September 1803) was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer, most notable for his explorations in Australia and the southern Pacific. Biography Early career Born a comm ...

's 1802–1803 voyage which visited the coast and explored the estuary and nearby rivers. However, the first reported sighting of the coast was by Captain A.P. Jonk in the

VOC VOC, VoC or voc may refer to: Science and technology * Open-circuit voltage (VOC), the voltage between two terminals when there is no external load connected * Variant of concern, a category used during the assessment of a new variant of a virus ...

''Emeloort'', who sighted land at 33°12' (most likely opposite the estuary from Australind) on 24 February 1658 while looking for the Vergulde Draeck but did not land. Until the 1980s, the area was used only for low-level agriculture such as grazing, and some holiday homes were built along Cathedral Drive (formerly Scenic Drive) – as recently as 1988, the area was undeveloped. In the mid-1980s the State Government and the Shire of Harvey made plans for a new industrial park at nearby Kemerton, and interest in land at Leschenault for residential purposes increased during the 1990s as facilities became established in nearby Australind and the Australind Bypass was constructed. Most of the land was released in small rural residential estates such as Ashmere Heights, Parklands Estate, Wildflower Woods and Westgarth with large lots separated by natural and other parklands. On 7 August 2006 a small

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, altho ...

hit a 200 m x 100 m area in the Marine Drive area of Leschenault, damaging 60 houses, 20 of which residents were not permitted to return to and seven of which lost their roofs. The small community pulled together to assist the affected families and nearby Leschenault Leisure Centre (in Australind) served as an emergency camp. The State Government announced aid would be forthcoming.Winds hamper tornado clean-up
,

news.com.au news.com.au is an Australian website owned by News Corp Australia. It had 9.6 million unique readers in April 2019 and covers national and international news, lifestyle, travel, entertainment, technology, finance, and sport. Staff The organiza ...

, 7 August 2006. File:OIC bunbury leschenault 2006 settlers hall tornado damage.jpg, The community hall (Oct 2006) File:OIC bunbury leschenault 2006 marine drive.jpg, Houses on Marine Drive (Oct 2006)

Geography

Leschenault is bordered to the south by the Brunswick River and Old Coast Road, to the west by the

Leschenault Estuary Leschenault Estuary is an estuarine lagoon that lies to the north of Bunbury, Western Australia. It had in the past met the Indian Ocean at the Leschenault Inlet, but that has been altered by harbour works for Bunbury, and the creation of The Cu ...

and to the east by the Australind Bypass (part of National Route 1) and a line running north from the rubbish tip. Leschenault contained 2,556 residents as at the 2001 ABS census.Main Areas – Harvey
(CCD 5061604, 5061608) – Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001. Accessed 25 December 2006.

Facilities

Leschenault's educational and shopping needs are serviced by neighbouring Australind. Numerous caravan parks and B&Bs dot the area, and a community centre, Settlers' Hall on Marine Drive, provides a central meeting place. Some northern parts of the suburb provide access to the Leschenault Peninsula Conservation Park, while the region's rubbish tip is located just off Australind Bypass.

Transport

Leschenault has no access to public transport.

References

{{Shire of Harvey towns Suburbs of Bunbury, Western Australia Shire of Harvey