Gwelup 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 ...

, the capital city 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 ...

12 km north of Perth's central business district (CBD) along 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 ...

. Its

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

is the

City of Stirling The City of Stirling is a local government area in the northern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth about north of Perth's central business district. The City covers an area of and has a population of over 223,000, making ...

History and environment

The name "Gwelup" refers to a small swamp located within the southern portion of the suburb. It was derived from the

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian people who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Aus ...

word "Gwelgannow" meaning "to shift position". Hence, Lake Gwelup was referred to as "the

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 ...

that shifts position". The name first appears in Lands Department records in 1878 as "Gwelup Swamp". Situated on the western side of the suburb of Gwelup, lies the remainder of the once broader Lake Gwelup and accompanying bushland nature reserve. As one of the few wetlands that has a mostly intact native bushland, Lake Gwelup is home to a wide variety of local and visitor birds (waders, raptors, ducks etc.) as well many frogs (notably Moaning Frogs ''Heleioporus eyrei''), reptile species (e.g. dugites, skinks and long necked turtles). Native flora in the bushland include Marri (''Corymbia calophylla''), Jarrah (''Eucalyptus marginata''), Flooded Gum (''E. rudis''), Tuart (''E. gomphocephela'') as well as at least four species of Banksia, many annual wildflowers (incl. orchids) and fungi. One of the most spectacular species of visiting birds is the Rainbow Bee-eater (''Merops ornatus''). Throughout the wetland regions, Aboriginal people hunted for kangaroo, emu, snakes, tortoise, mudfish, gilgies and water birds and their eggs, to name a few food sources. Aboriginal sites are known to have existed in a few locations in the Gwelup-Balcatta region. Land near Lake Gwelup was first granted to Thomas Mews in 1831. It passed through several owners before being acquired by Henry Bull of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1891. Gwelup was subdivided by Henry Bull during 1898 and 1899; however, development was relatively slow and the land was used mainly for

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...

s in the early years. In the 1960s, the area which presently accommodates The Willows Estate also offered a 6 hectare peat deposit which was mined for local agriculture. From the 1970s, Gwelup transformed from a rural area to a modern residential suburb. Only a few

s along North Beach Road remain as a reminder of earlier times. The

's extension to Erindale Road in 1984 and to Ocean Reef Road in 1986-87 facilitated the area's development. The triangle bounded by Lake Gwelup, Porter Street and North Beach Road is the oldest residential section, having been opened up by the Metropolitan Region Planning Authority in 1967 for urban development - other parts were built and settled in the late 1990s when the swamps were drained. Controversy has arisen as to the effect of both the draining and of some building practices on the groundwater in the catchment region.

Geography and hydrography

Gwelup is bounded by Lake Gwelup, the

to the east, Old Balcatta Road to the north (

Reid Highway Reid Highway is a east-west highway and partial freeway in the northern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking North Beach with Middle Swan. As part of State Route 3, it forms half of Perth's outer ring road along with Roe Highway, w ...

, accessible via Duffy Road, is located just a few hundred metres further north) and Karrinyup Road to the south. Due to Gwelup's swampy nature and the Lake Gwelup Reserve, considerable tracts of land remain undeveloped. Peaty soils around the lake region that have been reclaimed, now feature the highest concentrations of dissolved arsenic in the world - some 25000 ug/L (some 400 times higher than that identified as safe levels for drinking water). It is well known among scientific communities that disturbance of acid sulphate soils causes the release of As, iron sulfides and other chemicals. In the previous 32 years prior to 2000, the lake was recorded to dry out twice, since that year the lake barely remained wet once over the summer in 2005/2006. The lowered water tables can be blamed on reduced rainfall and over consumption of regional scheme waters. At the

2006 Australian census The Census in Australia, officially the Census of Population and Housing, is the national census in Australia that occurs every five years. The census collects key demographic, social and economic data from all people in Australia on census nig ...

, Gwelup had a mostly white middle-income population of 3,239 people living in 1,102 dwellings. The type and style of residential dwellings contained within Gwelup varies considerably, ranging from early

cottages to recently designed two-storey developments. New subdivisions, including Karrinyup Waters, Settlers Green and The Willows, contain modern architecturally designed homes. Along North Beach Road, there are remnants of older, rural-style housing. These character homes are gradually being renovated or replaced by new developments.

Facilities

Gwelup is a residential suburb, with the Gwelup Plaza neighbourhood shopping centre which meets daily shopping needs. Nearby Karrinyup Shopping Centre provides other services. The suburb contain
Lake Gwelup Primary School
originally opened in 1914 in two wooden school buildings which are now heritage-listed, and currently new buildings being built, Gwelup falls within Carine Senior High School's catchment area. Gwelup has significant areas of public open space scattered throughout the residential area, offering meeting places and recreational opportunities for the local and wider community. Lake Gwelup, a reserve vested in the City of Stirling and centred on the 25 hectare Lake Gwelup Wetland, preserves a significant part of the natural environment, while allowing passive recreation. There are also tennis courts and

cycle path A bike path or a cycle path is a bikeway separated from motorized traffic and dedicated to cycling or shared with pedestrians or other non-motorized users. In the US a bike path sometimes encompasses ''shared use paths'', "multi-use path", or "C ...

s located on the Lake Gwelup Reserve. Careniup Swamp, the wetland which gave its name to nearby Karrinyup, was formerly bounded by Gribble Road, Balcatta Road, North Beach Road and the freeway. Much of it was drained for housing in the mid-1990s, but the northwestern section of it has been preserved as a wetland and recreation area. A volunteer conservation group (''The Friends of Lake Gwelup est. 1994

work closely with the local government and local residents on local environmental matter, develop a species list for flora, fauna and fungi in the area and produce a quarterly newsletter.

Transport

Gwelup's northern and southern sections respectively are served by

Transperth Transperth is the public transport system for Perth and surrounding areas in Western Australia. It is managed by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), a state government organisation, and consists of train, bus and ferry services. Bus operat ...

424 and 427 bus routes from Stirling railway station, which is a nine-minute commute to Perth's central business district. The 424 service links the suburb with Karrinyup Shopping Centre. All bus services are operated by

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 ...

. In 1925, the North Beach Bus Company was started by Alf Lehman with crimson

charabanc A charabanc or "char-à-banc" (often pronounced "sharra-bang" in colloquial British English) is a type of horse-drawn vehicle or early coach (vehicle), motor coach, usually open-topped, common in UK, Britain during the early part of the 20th ...

s. It was taken over by the James family in 1928, in an era when REO buses drove over

plank road A plank road is a road composed of Plank (wood), wooden planks or wikt:puncheon#Noun, puncheon logs, as an efficient technology for traversing soft, marshy, or otherwise difficult ground. Plank roads have been built since antiquity, and were comm ...

s through the wetlands between modern-day

Tuart Hill ''Eucalyptus gomphocephala'', known as tuart, is a species of tree and is one of the six forest giants of Southwest Australia. The trees usually grow to a height of and mostly have a single stem, but can have multiple stems under some condit ...

and North Beach. The company was taken over by the

Metropolitan Transport Trust The Metropolitan (Perth) Passenger Transport Trust was a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia from 1958 to 2003. From 1958 to the mid-1990s, it operated Buses in Perth, bus and ferry services within the Perth metropolitan ...

on 30 September 1961."North Suburban Supplement" (p.10), ''The West Australian'', 31 Aug 1961. Also see p.10, ibid., 21 Sep 1961 article by Mr H. Willoughby-Lance. Accessed at Battye Library, Perth. As part of the planning process for the Northern Suburbs Transit System, planners left themselves with a number of options for future stations along the line. Pg. 5, Accessed at

J S Battye Library The J S Battye Library (more properly known as the J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History) is an arm of the State Library of Western Australia. It stores much of the state's historical records and original publications including books, ...

One of these options included a location along the railway line near Wishart Street in the

reserve. This still remains as a long-term option for the line.

Politics

Gwelup is a reasonably affluent suburb with many " mortgage belt" families and socially liberal voters. It consistently supports the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

at both federal and state elections.

References

{{City of Stirling suburbs Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Suburbs in the City of Stirling