Clarkson, Western Australia
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Clarkson is an outer northern 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 Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
, located 34 kilometres north of the
central business district A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
in 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 ...
. Clarkson serves as a major satellite town centre, serving the surrounding areas with a vast amount of shops, amenities and facilities, including a
railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...
and public transport hub on the Yanchep railway line.


Geography

Clarkson is bounded to the west by Mindarie (
Marmion Avenue Marmion Avenue is a arterial road in the northern coastal suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Trigg, Western Australia, Trigg in the south with Yanchep in the north. It forms part of List of road routes in Perth, Western Australia#71, ...
) and to the north by Merriwa and Ridgewood (
Hester Avenue Hester Avenue (previously known as Quinns Road) is an east-west distributor road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. It primarily links the coastal suburbs of the Clarkson-Butler region to ...
). The Yanchep railway line divides Clarkson from the Neerabup National Park in the east. South of Clarkson is Tamala Park, which is uninhabited. It is approximately away from the
Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
and the coastlines of Claytons Beach and Quinns Beach.


History


Name

The suburb's name refers to the Clarksons, a family of sheep farmers who had held leases of land in the area since the 19th century. Clarkson was originally gazetted as "Mindarie" by the Shire of Wanneroo in 1979, but the two names were transposed in 1985 at the request of Smith Corporation, who went on to develop the Mindarie Keys Marina three years later.


Early use

The first permanent settler with European ancestry in the area was the Barnard Drummond Clarkson, a sheep-farmer who also held land in Toodyay. Clarkson first acquired a pastoral lease in 1888 of 13,000 acres in the areas comprising modern-day Mindarie, Clarkson, Quinns Rocks and Merriwa. The leases were known as the Mindarie Pastoral Company, and the lands were primarily used for sheep-herding by subsequent generations of the Clarkson family. The ruins of the Clarksons' first homestead and home of the Mindarie Pastoral Company are today preserved in Riverlinks Park on Connolly Drive.


Suburban development

The Mindarie Pastoral Company leases were sold by John Clarkson in 1952. The land subsequently saw no development or settlement until the early 1990s, naturally following the completion of the adjacent Mindarie Marina and subsequent residential dwellings in the area. The north-eastern portion of Clarkson around the high school was developed later in 1995. The suburb continued to be built throughout the 2000s, with a steadily growing population. Outside of Clarkson's main commercial zone in the south-west, the suburb consists mostly of residential, detached bungalow housing with vast amounts of parkland. There is a strip of two-storey apartment blocks along Ocean Keys Boulevard, immediately opposite the railway station, and another strip of apartments closer to the shopping centre on Ningaloo Bend. The suburb also contains a lot of Keystart homes.


Somerly

Somerly is a
commercial Commercial may refer to: * (adjective for) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and services ** (adjective for) trade, the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information or money * a dose of advertising ...
and
housing development A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throug ...
in south-east Clarkson, principally surrounding the railway station, that was completed in 2008. The 1,800-lot community was built on a area in a partnership between development company Urban Pacific and the
Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia is the States and territories of Australia, Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government or the Western Australian Governmen ...
's
Department of Housing & Works The Department of Finance is a department of the Government of Western Australia. The department was formed on 1 July 2011 from the Department of Treasury & Finance. It is responsible for the construction and maintenance of government buildin ...
land development agency Landstart. The project aimed to provide a community-within-a-community with
commercial enterprise Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or buying and selling products (such as goods and services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for profit." A business entity is not necessari ...
, fibre-optic to the home internet, and a landscaping package (totaling at A$8,000) at no extra cost to new home-buyers. The development of the Somerly area made Clarkson one of the largest, most densely populated suburbs in Perth's northern corridor, with a population now approaching 12,000. It is roughly delineated from the older, established parts of Clarkson by Liberty Drive to the north, Connolly Drive to the west and Polglase Fairway to the south-west.


Catalina

A new residential estate under the preliminary name of "Catalina" is being planned for development in 2012. The estate's proposed boundaries lay south of Neerabup Road (which is presently bushland blending into Tamala Park) and extend from the Joondalup rail line in the east, to the coast of Mindarie Beach and Claytons Beach to the west. Although the land is part of Clarkson and Mindarie at present,
Satterley Satterley Property Group is an Australian privately owned real estate land development company based in Perth. It develops residential estates in Western Australia and Victoria. History The company is based in Perth, Western Australia. The comp ...
, the developers, intend for the estate to eventually be re-gazetted as its own suburb.


Demographics

Clarkson had a population of 7,082 at the 2006
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
, an increase of 1,214 persons since the 2001 census. The population of Clarkson is predicted to continue to grow at an exponential rate, peaking at 18,645 in 2026. Only 58.9% of Clarkson's population were born in Australia compared to a nationwide average of 70.9%. A significant
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
-born population is present, being 15.4%, although this is a smaller proportion compared to some nearby suburbs, such as Mindarie. Most other major immigrant groups in Clarkson hail from
Anglophone The English-speaking world comprises the 88 countries and territories in which English is an official, administrative, or cultural language. In the early 2000s, between one and two billion people spoke English, making it the largest language ...
countries, such as
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. Clarkson has a very young population, with an average age of 28, a figure drastically lower than all surrounding suburbs, as well as the national average age of 37. Income levels in Clarkson are generally in line with the Australian national average, with an average household income of $1,049 per week, compared to $1,027 per week nationally.
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
is the predominant religious affiliation declared by Clarkson's residents, at 44% of the population, across various denominations. Several churches are scattered throughout the suburb; Clarkson
Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...
Community Church, St. Andrew's
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
Church and Ocean Keys Community Church (
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
). 28% of the suburb declared no religion. 2.8% of Clarkson's population is composed of
Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...
, compared to 2.3% nationwide. Only neighbouring Merriwa reflects this trend; the Aboriginal population is much less significant in the surrounding suburbs.


Amenities and facilities

Compared to surrounding suburbs, Clarkson is a very mixed-use area with an abundance of facilities and a very large shopping and retail district, establishing it as a commercial town centre for the northern suburbs beyond the nearby city of
Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth central business district, Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primar ...
. The main road, Ocean Keys Boulevard, is home to the Ocean Keys Shopping Centre, a major shopping mall with over 100 stores; including
Aldi Aldi (German pronunciation: ), stylised as ALDI, is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 12,000 stores in 18 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and ...
,
Kmart Kmart ( ), formerly legally registered as Kmart Corporation, now operated by Transformco, is a department-store chain and online retailer in the United States and Territories of the United States, its territories. It operates four remaining Kma ...
, Coles,
TK Maxx TK Maxx is a discount clothing and homewares retailer, founded in 1994. It is currently based in Watford, England. It is owned by American retailer TJ Maxx, who could not trade under the initials "TJ" in the United Kingdom due to the British d ...
and
JB Hi-Fi JB Hi-Fi Limited is an Australian consumer electronics retail company. It is publicly listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Its headquarters are located in Southbank, Melbourne, Victoria. As of June 2024, the company operates 330 sto ...
. A Woolworths supermarket is located south of the shopping centre, in the old
Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian hardware and garden centre chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Per ...
building. Many more commercial outlets surround the centre, including a large
Bunnings Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian hardware and garden centre chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand. Bunnings was founded in Per ...
warehouse, a post office, two service stations and car dealerships. A strip of restaurants and take-away outlets are situated directly west of the Shopping Centre. There are also other restaurants and pubs located within the suburb. There are 3 medical centres in the suburb, which are the Clarkson Family Practice, Ocean Keys Family Practice and The Somerly Central Medical Centre. Opposite Ocean Keys Shopping Centre is Clarkson Library. Clarkson also has a smaller shopping market built in the first area of Clarkson developed. It is located opposite the Clarkson Primary School on the corner of Renshaw Boulevard and Ainsbury Parade. There is an abundance of entertainment and leisure facilities around Clarkson. Over ten parks are located throughout the suburb, the two main ones being Anthony Waring Park and Richard Aldersea Park in the centre of the suburb. Anthony Waring Park is the largest by area and features sporting facilities. Many smaller parks around Somerly include playgrounds and free barbecue areas for families. The Clarkson Youth Centre, near Ocean Keys Shopping Centre, functions as a community centre and is also part of a wider youth precinct, incorporating a skate park and BMX tracks. Nearby is also the Clarkson Library, one of four
public libraries ''Public Libraries'' is the official publication of the Public Library Association (PLA), a division of the American Library Association (ALA). It is devoted exclusively to public libraries. The print edition is published six times a year and i ...
in the Wanneroo area. Clarkson also accommodates the Clarkson Police Station, which serves all surrounding suburbs from Tamala Park to Butler and Jindalee. A Western Power
electricity substation A substation is a part of an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution system. Substations transform voltage from high to low, or the reverse, or perform any of several other important functions. Between the generating station and ...
is located off Hester Avenue in the north-east of the suburb, near the Yanchep railway line. Telephone services are provided by the Mindarie & Quinns Rocks telephone exchanges.


Education

Two state K-7 primary schools are established in Clarkson, serving different parts of the suburb. Clarkson Primary School is the oldest established school and caters to western Clarkson, while Somerly Primary School serves the Somerly estate in the east. Students also have the option of St. Andrew's Catholic Primary School, a private Catholic school located next to St. Andrew's Catholic Church. Clarkson also accommodates Clarkson Community High School, a large Year 8-12 state high school established in 1996. As it is the only state high school in the vicinity (other than the 11-12 Mindarie Senior College), it covers a large catchment area, extending up to Butler and Jindalee in the north. In 2010, Trades North, a
TAFE Technical and further education or simply TAFE () is the common name in Australia for vocational education, as a subset of tertiary education. TAFE institutions provide a wide range of predominantly vocational courses. Colloquially also known ...
campus specializing in
skilled trades A tradesperson or tradesman/tradeswoman is a skilled worker that specialises in a particular Trade (occupation), trade. Tradespeople (tradesmen/women) usually gain their skills through work experience, on-the-job training, an apprenticeship prog ...
and apprenticeships, was built next to the high school and opened for the 2011 school year. It is part of the North Metropolitan TAFE.


Transport

Clarkson straddles the western edge of the
Mitchell Freeway The Mitchell Freeway is a controlled-access highway, freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Perth (suburb), central Perth with the city of Joondalup. It is the northern section of List of road routes in Western ...
, linking it to Joondalup and the Perth CBD, with interchanges at Neerabup Road in the south and Hester Avenue in the north.
Marmion Avenue Marmion Avenue is a arterial road in the northern coastal suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Trigg, Western Australia, Trigg in the south with Yanchep in the north. It forms part of List of road routes in Perth, Western Australia#71, ...
and
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 ...
are major north-south arterial roads that pass through Clarkson on the way to
Yanchep Yanchep is a coastal town north 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 19 ...
and Alkimos, while Neerabup Road and Hester Avenue both run east-west to
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 ...
a short distance inland. Up until the late-2000s, Marmion Avenue and Hester Avenue were the only roads in and out of Clarkson. Connolly Drive was extended to Clarkson from Kinross in 2008, while Neerabup Road was extended from Connolly Drive into southeast Clarkson and across to Wanneroo Road in 2016. Clarkson railway station on the Yanchep railway line opened in October 2004 in the suburb's southeast. It was the terminus of the then line until 2014, when it was extended north to
Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...
. It provides bus and rail links to Joondalup and
Yanchep Yanchep is a coastal town north 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 19 ...
, and a direct rail link to Perth and
Mandurah Mandurah ( ) is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 90,306. Mandurah's central business dis ...
. The station sits in the middle of the Mitchell Freeway median strip and is accessed by a bridge.


Bus

Swan Transit Swan Transit is an Australian bus company operating Buses in Perth, Transperth bus services under contract to the Public Transport Authority (Western Australia), Public Transport Authority. It is a subsidiary of Transit Systems. History On 21 ...
operate the following
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...
routes from Clarkson station, to all surrounding suburbs. * 479 Clarkson station to Mindarie Marina – serves Ocean Keys Boulevard,
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 ...
and Aviator Boulevard * 483 Clarkson station to Butler station – serves Ocean Keys Boulevard, Key Largo Drive, Lithgow Drive, Renshaw Boulevard and
Hester Avenue Hester Avenue (previously known as Quinns Road) is an east-west distributor road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. It primarily links the coastal suburbs of the Clarkson-Butler region to ...
* 484 Clarkson Station to Butler station – serves Ocean Keys Boulevard,
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 ...
and
Hester Avenue Hester Avenue (previously known as Quinns Road) is an east-west distributor road in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. It primarily links the coastal suburbs of the Clarkson-Butler region to ...
Bus routes serving Ocean Keys Boulevard and
Marmion Avenue Marmion Avenue is a arterial road in the northern coastal suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking Trigg, Western Australia, Trigg in the south with Yanchep in the north. It forms part of List of road routes in Perth, Western Australia#71, ...
: * 474 Clarkson station to Joondalup station * 480 Clarkson station to
Quinns Rocks Quinns or Quinn's may refer to: * Quinns Rocks, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Quinn's Post Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery, near Gallipoli, Turkey See also * Quins (disambiguation) * Quinn (disambiguation) Quinn may refer ...
* 481 and 482 Clarkson station to Butler station


Rail

*
Yanchep Line The Yanchep line, formerly the Joondalup line, is a suburban railway line and service in Perth, Western Australia, linking the city's central business district (CBD) with its northern suburbs. Operated by the Public Transport Authority as pa ...
** Clarkson Station


Politics

There is one polling booth in Clarkson, at Clarkson Community High School. Along with its neighbouring suburbs, Clarkson is part of the Mindarie electoral district. At the federal level it was formerly part of the Pearce federal division, but was transferred to
Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...
, along with Mindarie and Neerabup, as of 2010. Clarkson has traditionally been an
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
stronghold since the early 2000s (decade) in State elections, in line with many northern Perth suburbs. At federal level, the voting is much less clear-cut, with both major parties gaining consecutive election victories in the suburb since 2001.


References

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