Ridgewood is an outer suburb 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 i ...

, Western Australia, located 37 kilometres north of Perth's central business district. It is 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 Per ...

local government area. It is primarily made up of single dwellings on blocks ranging from 220m² up to 800m² (primarily around the 500m² mark) with occasional duplex or

battle axe block In real estate, a battle axe block, hammerhead block, hatchet block or flagpole block is a block of land situated behind another, with access to the street through a narrow driveway shared by both properties. They are named for their distinct L-sh ...

developments.

Geography

Ridgewood is bordered to the north by Butler (Lukin Drive), to the south by Clarkson ( Hester Avenue) and to the west by Merriwa (

Connolly Drive Connolly Drive is an arterial road in the outer northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia. The road takes its name from the Perth suburb of Connolly, which lies just beyond the road's terminus. Route description Connolly Drive starts at She ...

). The

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 ...

separates Ridgewood from the rural locality of Nowergup in the east.

History

Ridgewood's name refers to the wooded terrain on the Swan Coastal Plain. The suburb was formerly a part of Merriwa until 1998, when Merriwa was split in two along Connolly Drive. The eastern half of Merriwa was gazetted as Ridgewood. At the time, only south Ridgewood was populated, containing the "Carnegie Private Estate" that was built in the mid-1990s. The estate had a population of 968. There were campaigns for Ridgewood's separation from Merriwa as far back as 1994, not long after the Carnegie Estate had been built by developers Town and Country Holdings. The developers lodged a request with the City of Wanneroo to bifurcate the area from Merriwa and rename the new locality "Carnegie", after the estate, which in turn was named in honour of David Carnegie, one of the earliest explorers of Western Australia. Although the request was rejected, the City supported the excision of the estate from Merriwa, leading to the creation of Ridgewood four years later. The northern half of Ridgewood, "The Vistas", is a new development by Satterley, marketed as a part of the "Brighton Estate" that covers the adjoining suburbs of Butler and Jindalee.

Demographics

Ridgewood had a population of 1,292 at the 2006

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

, an increase of 324 since the 2001 census. The population is predicted to grow exponentially, peaking at 5,903 in 2016. The demographics of Ridgewood's residents are similar to Merriwa, with the same average age of 33 (compared to 37 nationally) and income levels slightly below the national average. Like all surrounding suburbs,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

is the predominant religious affiliation of Ridgewood's residents, accounting for 48.5% of the population across various Christian denominations. However, the suburb contains no churches but does have a

Kingdom Hall A Kingdom Hall is a place of worship used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The term was first suggested in 1935 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, then president of the Watch Tower Society, for a building in Hawaii. Rutherford's reasoning was that these bui ...

for Jehovah's Witnesses. 27.4% declared no religion.

Amenities and facilities

Ridgewood is primarily a residential suburb, with a BP service station in its south-west and almost no other facilities or retail establishments. However, it is positioned directly in between the suburbs of Butler, Merriwa and Clarkson, which all contain a sizeable number of shops and services that Ridgewood residents rely on, including the large Ocean Keys Shopping Centre in Clarkson. As with neighbouring suburbs, Ridgewood contains several parks. Ridgewood Park in the south-west is the largest by area, and contains a sports pitch and a large pond. Telephone services are provided by the Quinns Rocks telephone exchange.

Education

The West Coast Language Development Centre is the only education establishment in Ridgewood, one of five schools in Western Australia that serve language-disabled children. The nearest K–6 primary school to Ridgewood is Merriwa Primary School. Senior Ridgewood students fall into the

Clarkson Community High School Clarkson may refer to: People * Clarkson (surname) Given name *Clarkson Nott Potter (1825–1882), American attorney and politician *Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793–1867), English painter Places Australia * Clarkson, Western Australia ** ...

catchment area.

Transport

The

forms the suburb's eastern boundary, with interchanges at Lukin Drive and Hester Avenue. Hester Avenue, in the south of Ridgewood, also links to

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 ...

and

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 ...

runs along Ridgewood's western boundary and provides a road link into

Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primary urban centre of Perth's outer ...

and the

. The area is served by the 484 bus route to Clarkson railway station, the nearest major transport hub, providing rail and bus links to

and

.Northern 78 timetable
, Transperth, effective 6 February 2011. * 484 - Clarkson to Butler (east) via Ridgewood

Politics

Ridgewood's political leanings are unclear due to its diminutive population and lack of specified polling booth. The nearest booth in Merriwa tends to favour the

Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms t ...

at state level, while voting

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

at federal level. Like Merriwa, the suburb is part of the

Electoral district of Butler Butler is a Legislative Assembly electorate in the state of Western Australia. The district is named for the outer northern Perth suburb of Butler which falls within its borders. Geography Coming into effect after the 2013 election, the boundar ...

at state level, and the

Division of Pearce The Division of Pearce is an Australian electoral division in the state of Western Australia. It was created at the 1989 redistribution and named after George Pearce, the longest serving member of the Australian Senate, serving from 1901 to 1 ...

at federal level.

Wildlife

There are many birds in this suburb, namely crows, magpies and different species of parrots.

References

{{City of Wanneroo suburbs Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Suburbs of the City of Wanneroo