Bibra Lake, Western Australia
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Bibra Lake is a suburb of
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
, Western Australia; it takes its name from the extensive
freshwater lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
within its boundaries, Bibra Lake. It is located within the
City of Cockburn The City of Cockburn ( ) is a local government area in the southern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about south of Fremantle and about south of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and had a po ...
and its postcode is 6163.


History

The existence of the lake was first reported by
Augustus Gregory Sir Augustus Charles Gregory (1 August 1819 – 25 June 1905) was an English-born Australian explorer and surveyor. Between 1846 and 1858 he undertook four major expeditions. He was the first Surveyor-General of Queensland. He was appointed a ...
during a survey of George Robb's land in May 1842. Gregory recorded the Aboriginal name of the lake as ''Walubup''. During the following year, Benedict von Bibra, surveying his own selection on the southern shores of the lake, recorded the name as ''Walliabup'' and the latter version was used exclusively on maps for more than half a century. In the summer of 1843, Benedict
von Bibra The House of Bibra () was one of the leading ''Uradel'' (ancient noble) families in Franconia (northern part of Bavaria) and present day Thuringia from the mid-15th century to about 1600. Later on the family rose from ''Reichsrit ...
(son of Franz Ludwig von Bibra) bought land at the edge of a wide depression to use as a camping place to shorten the trip between his two carpentry businesses in Perth and Fremantle. He apparently assessed from the
stringybark A stringybark can be any of the many ''Eucalyptus'' species which have thick, fibrous bark. Like all eucalypts, stringybarks belong to the family Myrtaceae. In exceptionally fertile locations some stringybark species (in particular messmate strin ...
trees that the basin would become a lake in winter of a depth of seven to eight feet. He proved correct. In 1877, it was found the von Bibra's association with ''Lake Walliabup'' was apparently still recalled by locals who referred to the feature as ''Bibra's Lake''. This alternative name was added to plans and, in 1967, adopted in place of the Aboriginal name. In 1898 Bibra Lake was reserved for recreation and all applications to lease land were strenuously opposed by the Fremantle District Roads Board, which was given control of the reserve in 1902. Tearooms were erected and the Reserve became a popular venue for picnics and sports gatherings.


AWAS Camp

During World War II, there was a battery attached to the 66 Searchlight stationed at Bibra Lake, along with the regimental headquarters of the 116 Light Anti-Aircraft. This was the base for many women who served in the
Australian Women's Army Service The Australian Women's Army Service (AWAS) was a non-medical women's service established in Australia during the Second World War. Raised on 13 August 1941 to "release men from certain military duties for employment in fighting units" the serv ...
, performing important home defence duties to free up more men for front line fighting. The camp was dismantled immediately after the end of the war, and all its buildings and materials sold at auction. The camp was rediscovered in 2015 by members of the community, and was threatened by the proposed
Roe Highway Roe Highway is a limited-access highway and partial freeway in Perth, Western Australia, linking Kewdale with the city's north-eastern and south-western suburbs. The northern terminus is at Reid Highway and Great Northern Highway in Midd ...
extension.


Facilities

The majority of the suburb, which is not part of the
Beeliar Regional Park Beeliar Regional Park is a conservation park approximately south of the Perth central business district, central business district in Perth, Western Australia, located within the Citys of City of Cockburn, Cockburn, City of Kwinana, Kwinana an ...
contains a major light industrial area, with businesses such as
Amcor Amcor plc is a global packaging company. It develops and produces flexible packaging, rigid containers, specialty cartons, closures and services for food, beverage, pharmaceutical, medical-device, home and personal-care, and other products. The ...
. Bibra Lake is the location for several major private recreation facilities, including Adventure World theme park, a
bungee jumping Bungee jumping (), also spelled bungy jumping, is an activity that involves a person jumping from a great height while connected to a large elastic cord. The launching pad is usually erected on a tall structure such as a building or crane, a ...
tower,
Cockburn Ice Arena Cockburn Ice Arena is an ice sports and ice skating centre, located in the Bibra Lake suburb of the City of Cockburn, Perth. It hosts a number of ice hockey and curling games, including Perth Inferno and IHWA Premiere League games. The venue o ...
,
paintball Paintball is a competitive sport, competitive team sport, team shooting sport in which players eliminate opponents from play by hitting them with spherical dye-filled gelatin capsules called Paintball equipment#Paintballs, paintballs that b ...
and
laser tag Laser tag is a recreational shooting sport where participants use infrared-emitting light guns to tag designated targets. Infrared-sensitive signaling devices are commonly worn by each player to register hits and are sometimes integrated wit ...
operations. Bibra Lake also has a Waldorf school and a
Montessori The Montessori method of education is a type of educational method that involves children's natural interests and activities rather than formal teaching methods. A Montessori classroom places an emphasis on hands-on learning and developing ...
primary school. The manufacturing facilities and headquarters for OKA Australia are in Bibra Lake.


WA Wildlife

WA Wildlife, operated by Native Arc Inc, is a wildlife rescue and rehabilitation centre in the
Beeliar Wetlands The Beeliar Wetlands is a wetland located in the southwest portion of Western Australia. It is made up of two chains of lakes and wetlands that run parallel to the west coast of Australia. They are situated on the Swan Coastal Plain between t ...
near Bibra Lake. It has a purpose-built hospital to care for the animals, with
intensive care unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...
facilities to care for animals that would have previously been euthanised. WA Wildlife is part of group of organisations helping to protect the nests of the
snake-necked turtle Chelidae is one of three living families of the turtle suborder Pleurodira, and are commonly called Austro-South American side-neck turtles. The family is distributed in Australia, New Guinea, parts of Indonesia, and throughout most of South Amer ...
that breed around Bibra Lake. In 2020 it was estimated that 25 of the hatchlings were able to make it to the safety of the lake. Native Arc Inc is a registered charity, number 21503, licensed under the Charitable Collections Act 1946.


Transport


Bus

* 512 Murdoch Station to Fremantle Station – serves Sudlow Road and Phoenix Road * 514
Cockburn Central Station Cockburn Central station ( ) is a bus and railway station on the Transperth network. It is located at the juncture of the Mandurah and Thornlie–Cockburn lines, from Perth station inside the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway serving the su ...
to Murdoch Station – serves
North Lake Road North Lake Road is a major road in the southwestern suburbs of the Perth metropolitan area functioning as an intermediate arterial collector positioned between the limited-access Stock Road to the west and Kwinana Freeway to the east. North La ...
, Bibra Drive, Walliabup Way, Meller Road, Annois Road and Parkway Road * 520
Cockburn Central Station Cockburn Central station ( ) is a bus and railway station on the Transperth network. It is located at the juncture of the Mandurah and Thornlie–Cockburn lines, from Perth station inside the median strip of the Kwinana Freeway serving the su ...
to Fremantle Station – serves
North Lake Road North Lake Road is a major road in the southwestern suburbs of the Perth metropolitan area functioning as an intermediate arterial collector positioned between the limited-access Stock Road to the west and Kwinana Freeway to the east. North La ...
, Progress Drive, Gwilliam Drive and Forrest Road


References


External links

{{City of Cockburn suburbs Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Bibra Lake Suburbs in the City of Cockburn