Deanmill, Western Australia
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Deanmill is a historic timber town located in the
South West Southwest is a compass point. Southwest, south-west, south west, southwestern or south-western or south western may also refer to: * Southwest (direction), an intercardinal direction Geography *South West Queensland, Australia *South West (Weste ...
region of
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 ...
, near Manjimup. Its postcode is 6258.


History

After the Government Trading Concerns Act 1912 was passed in December of that year, several State-operated businesses were established. One of these was State Saw Mills, which commenced with purchasing the South-West Timber Hewers' Co-operative for £80,000. Construction on the State's Number 1
sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...
, later called Deanmill, began in 1913, as did construction of the Number 2 and 3 mills at Big Brook, later called Pemberton. The mills cost an estimated £138,000, and were to provide
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
railway sleepers Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of land transport, next to road ...
for the
Trans-Australian Railway The Trans-Australian Railway, opened in 1917, runs from Port Augusta railway station, Port Augusta in South Australia to Kalgoorlie railway station, Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, crossing the Nullarbor Plain in the process. Built to standa ...
. Construction of the mills was delayed by heavy rainfall, and the railway sleepers were delivered late. Other problems included shipping disputes and the Commonwealth government's price for sleepers. State Saw Mills created a township surrounding the Number 1 mill, called Deanmill after a
construction engineer Construction engineering, also known as construction operations, is a professional subdiscipline of civil engineering that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and operations management of infrastructure such as roadways, tunnels, bri ...
named A. Dean. They followed accepted practice at the time of placing a timber mill in a
valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains and typically containing a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams over ...
with accommodation and other facilities close by. Deanmill Primary School was built in 1914 by the
Public Works Department This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...
in association with State Saw Mills. The school initially consisted of a single
classroom A classroom, schoolroom or lecture room is a learning space in which both children and adults learn. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, ranging from preschools to universities, and may also be found in other place ...
, administration building and
shed A shed is typically a simple, single-storey (though some sheds may have two or more stories and or a loft) roofed structure, often used for storage, for hobby, hobbies, or as a workshop, and typically serving as outbuilding, such as in a bac ...
, all constructed out of timber.


Today

Deanmill currently consists of the sawmill, mill houses, the Deanmill Workers' Club, the Deanmill
Football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
Oval and part of the Deanmill Tramway and Heritage Trail. Premier
Geoff Gallop Geoffrey Ian Gallop (born 27 September 1951) is an Australian academic and former politician who served as the 27th premier of Western Australia from 2001 to 2006. He is currently a professor and director of the Graduate School of Government at ...
visited Deanmill in December 2002 when the State government was compiling its Forest Management Plan, to start in 2004. The Government entered into negotiations with Sotico to provide a guaranteed volume of
jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...
sawlogs over 10 years, to maintain the timber industry in the area. Sotico was a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of
Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...
, which sold the company in 2004. Several assessments have been made regarding the
environmental impact Environmental issues are disruptions in the usual function of ecosystems. Further, these issues can be caused by humans ( human impact on the environment) or they can be natural. These issues are considered serious when the ecosystem cannot reco ...
of the sawmill and associated activities. A 2004 assessment by
Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...
showed
arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol As and atomic number 33. It is a metalloid and one of the pnictogens, and therefore shares many properties with its group 15 neighbors phosphorus and antimony. Arsenic is not ...
contamination Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scien ...
in and surrounding a
drainage channel A storm drain, storm sewer (United Kingdom, U.S. and Canada), highway drain, surface water drain/sewer (United Kingdom), or stormwater drain (Australia and New Zealand) is infrastructure designed to drain excess rain and ground water from i ...
to Lefroy Brook. The WA government accepted responsibility for the issue, as State Saw Mills used arsenic to treat timber in the 1920s. Wesfarmers accepted responsibility for groundwater and
soil contamination Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activit ...
with
creosote Creosote is a category of carbonaceous chemicals formed by the distillation of various tars and pyrolysis of plant-derived material, such as wood, or fossil fuel. They are typically used as preservatives or antiseptics. Some creosote types w ...
, and the clean-up cost was shared by Wesfarmers and the State government.


Demographics

The rural district which includes Deanmill had 405 residents as of the 2006 Census, 50.4% males and 49.6% females. The median age of persons in Deanmill was 39 years old, and 90.9% of residents were Australian citizens. The most common answers for occupation included labourers (27.4%), managers (18.4%), technicians and trades workers (12.4%), professionals (10.9%) and sales workers (9.5%), and the most common industries were log sawmilling and timber dressing (16.4%), school education (9.0%), growing of fruit and tree nuts (8.5%), farming of sheep, cattle and grain (4.0%) and State Government administration (3.5%). The median weekly household income was $821, compared with the Australian average of $1,027.


References


External links


Geoscience Australia: Deanmill
{{authority control Towns in Western Australia Shire of Manjimup Timber towns in Western Australia