Gould Creek is an outer northeastern rural suburb of

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Gould Creek is located in the

City of Tea Tree Gully The City of Tea Tree Gully is a local council in the Australian state of South Australia, in the outer north-eastern suburbs of Adelaide. The major business district in the city is at Modbury, where Westfield Tea Tree Plaza, Modbury Hospital, ...

and

City of Playford The City of Playford is a Local government in Australia, local government area of South Australia in Adelaide's northern suburbs. It was named in recognition of Thomas Playford IV, Sir Thomas Playford, who played a part in the development of the ...

local government areas, and is adjacent to Greenwith, Salisbury Heights and Hillbank, as well as the rural districts of Yatala Vale and Upper Hermitage and the town of One Tree Hill.

History

European settlement

Gould Creek is a creek with several fresh water springs which historically flowed into the

Little Para River The Little Para River is a seasonal creek running across the Adelaide Plains in the Australian state of South Australia, whose catchment fills reservoirs that supply some of the water needs of Adelaide’s northern suburbs. Course and features ...

. The first European settlers were James Fisher (eldest son of J. H. Fisher) and Fred Handcock. The bachelor partners, aged twenty-three, first visited this locality in December 1837 when they accompanied Colonel

William Light William Light (27 April 1786 – 6 October 1839) was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He was the first Surveyor General of South Australia, Surveyor-General of the History of South Australia#British preparation for est ...

on his exploration to discover the

Barossa Valley The Barossa Valley (Barossa German: ''Barossa Tal'') is a valley in South Australia located northeast of Adelaide city centre. The valley is formed by the North Para River. It is notable as a major list of wine-producing regions, wine-producin ...

. In early 1838 they pioneered a pastoral run at the junction of

and Gould Creek. Their squatters' homestead, with mud chimney and thatched reed roof, known as Fisher and Handcock's Station, was sketched by

and was one of the earliest to be built outside Adelaide. Following surveys and closer settlement this became the site of Cumberland Farm, owned by pioneer Reuben Richardson (after whom a street in neighbouring Greenwith has now been named). Agriculture played a key role in Gould Creek's early history, but from the early 1960s onward, Gould Creek played a critical role in Adelaide's utilities. In the early 1960s, the 275kV Para substation was built to transmit power from the large, gas-fired

Torrens Island Power Station Torrens Island Power Station is located on Torrens Island, South Australia, Torrens Island, near Adelaide, South Australia and is operated by AGL Energy. It burns natural gas in eight steam turbines to generate up to 1,280 Megawatts, MW of elect ...

, which came online in 1967. The substation was monitored and controlled by an innovative electronic remote supervisory system, which was commissioned in 1968. In 1989, it was expanded as the Adelaide landing point of the

Heywood interconnector The Heywood interconnector is a 275 kV AC overhead electricity transmission line with two circuits connecting the electricity grids in South Australia and Victoria, two states of Australia. Both are part of the National Electricity Market. The n ...

which provides a 275kV link from

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. The Little Para Reservoir was built between 1974 and 1977 and commissioned in 1979, functioning largely as a balancing storage for

Murray River The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray; Ngarrindjeri language, Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta language, Yorta Yorta: ''Dhungala'' or ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is List of rivers of Australia, Aust ...

water, and also serving a flood mitigation role. The reservoir has a capacity of 20,800 megalitres and almost 300,000 cubic metres of rock was used in the reservoir's construction. In 2021, Gould Creek was selected as the location for South Australia's largest battery project.

Demographics

The 2016 Census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 242 persons in the suburb of Gould Creek on census night. Of these, 130 (54.4%) were male and 109 (45.6%) were female. The majority of residents 184 (81.8%) was born in Australia. 17 (7.6%) were born in England. The median age of Hillbank residents is 46. Children aged 0–14 years made up 13.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.3% of the population.

Geography

The boundaries of Gould Creek are the end of the suburb of Hillbank to the west, the Little Para River to the south, the town of One Tree Hill to the north and One Tree Hill Road and Hannaford Hump Road to the east.UBD Adelaide directory (1999; 47th ed.) Universal Press. Gould Creek is north of the Golden Grove conurbation and east of

Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...

Transport

The area is not serviced by Adelaide public transport, rather, school service busses are run by independent private companies.

References

{{City of Playford suburbs Suburbs of Adelaide