Forde is a northern suburb of the

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

district of

Gungahlin Gungahlin () is a Lands administrative divisions of Australia#Australian Capital Territory, district in the Australian Capital Territory, one of the fastest growing regions in Australia. The district is subdivided into suburbs, sections and blo ...

. It is named in honour of

Frank Forde Francis Michael Forde (18 July 189028 January 1983) was an Australian politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945, in a caretaker capacity following the death of John Curtin. He was deputy leader of th ...

, who served as

Prime Minister of Australia The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the Australian Government, federal executive government. Under the pr ...

for a week in 1945 following the untimely death of

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), having been most ...

. The suburb abuts the

Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary (previously ''Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve'') is a protected area situated in the Gungahlin district in north Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory. It has several trails for walking, running and cycling ...

and is adjacent to the suburbs of Amaroo, Throsby and Bonner. The suburb is bound to the south and west respectively by Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Road. Settlement of the suburb began in 2008 and it had an estimated population of 4,308 at the .

History

Europeans first settled Canberra and surrounding region during the 1830s which was known as

Ginninderra Ginninderra is the name of the former agricultural lands surrendered to urban development on the western and north-western fringes of Canberra, the capital of Australia. Ginninderra corresponds with the watershed of Ginninderra Creek, which ...

. A road between Murrumbateman and Bungendore passed through nearby Mulligans Flat. A row of mature trees mark the alignment of the coach route to

Bungendore Bungendore is a town in the Queanbeyan Region of New South Wales, Australia, in Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council. It is on the Kings Highway, Australia, Kings Highway near Lake George, New South Wales, Lake George, the Molonglo River Valle ...

. The remains of the historic site of the Mulligans Flat schools as well as hut sites, old fences, drays, sheep shearing sheds and farm machinery area are also scattered across the area. Three farms namely ''Stray Leaf'', ''East View'' and ''Mulligans Flat'' predate the founding of the suburb.

Recreation

Twenty-nine percent of the suburb is devoted to green space. The suburb includes 11 main parks and 39 hectares of wetlands and nature reserves with trails designed for eco-activity. As a consequence every home situated within 200 metres of a landscaped park, wetland or nature reserve Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve compasses natural habitat, rich Indigenous history and reflects a colourful European heritage. The reserves is also one of the best bird-watching sites in the ACT, and home to the rare

regent honeyeater The regent honeyeater (''Anthochaera phrygia'') is a critically endangered bird endemic to southeastern Australia. It is commonly considered a flagship species within its range, with the efforts going into its conservation having positive effec ...

and Forde's own superb fairy wren. The nature reserves at Mulligans Flat and nearby Goorooyarroo, include four native bird species and populations of rare shingleback lizard, echidna, frog and reptile species. In 2005 the ACT Government passed the Domestic Animals (Cat Containment) Amendment Act into law which requires residents in Forde and nearby Bonner to keep any cats indoors or in an outdoor enclosure 24 hours per day.

Geology

The headwaters of

Ginninderra Creek Ginninderra Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Capital Country region spanning both the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales, Australia. ''Ginninde ...

rise in the northern end of the suburb. The low point is 614 metres, and the highest point is 654 metres on Gundaroo Road at the northernmost point of Forde. The rock under Forde consists of Canberra Formation of middle

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

age. It consists of

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

, and

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from ''shale'' by its lack of fissility.Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology.'' New York, New York, ...

. A fault follows Ginninderra Creek, marked with

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

. Folds have distorted the rock with structure in the north east direction, parallel to the fault.

Footnotes

External links

Domestic Animals (Cat Containment) Amendment Act 2005
{{Gungahlin Suburbs Suburbs of Canberra