Latham () is a residential suburb in the

Belconnen Belconnen () is a Lands administrative divisions of Australia#Australian Capital Territory, district in the Australian Capital Territory in Australia. The district is subdivided into 27 divisions (suburbs), sections and blocks. As at the , the ...

district of

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 ...

, located within the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

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 ...

. The suburb is named for John Latham, Chief Justice of the

High Court of Australia The High Court of Australia is the apex court of the Australian legal system. It exercises original and appellate jurisdiction on matters specified in the Constitution of Australia and supplementary legislation. The High Court was establi ...

from 1935 to 1952. Streets in Latham have the names of Australian judges.

Location and features

It is bounded by the suburbs of Charnwood, Flynn, Florey, Higgins, Holt and Macgregor. It is surrounded by Ginninderra Drive on the north, Florey Drive on the west, Southern Cross Drive on the south, and Kingsford Smith Drive on the east. Latham has
primary school
a neighbourhood oval and a number of children's playgrounds. Ginninderra Creek runs through Latham, and there are open areas of grassland adjacent, such as the Umbagong district park. Traces of Aboriginal culture remain along the Creek with a marked site of axe-grinding grooves. Latham also has an ACTEWAGL/Evoenergy substation. From the mid-1970s Latham had a local shopping centre (supermarket, butcher, Chinese restaurant, chemist (later a school uniform/limited sportswear store), hair dresser, bakery, newsagent, doctor's surgery (later physiotherapist) and post office), and a petrol/service station (closed in early 1993). The shopping centre wound down between 1996 and 1998 after a fire that destroyed the supermarket and caused roof damage to the rest of the centre. The schoolwear shop, which had occupied the old chemist shop, also took in the local post office function. After the fire, the owners moved the schoolwear and post office business to the vacant petrol station site. The post office shop was authorised to limited "corner store" duties from early 1998. The butcher, restaurant and physiotherapist left 12–18 months after the fire, with the restaurant the last to leave and the complex finally fenced off in May 1998. The complex no longer exists: a townhouse development now occupies the site. Planning was eventually approved after the developer responded to local pressure to include a small corner store at the edge of the complex, on the corner of Onslow Street and Dalley Crescent. The former petrol station site was later cleared and replaced by another townhouse development.

Political representation

For the purposes of Australian federal elections for the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

, Latham is in the Fenner electorate. For the purposes of Australian Capital Territory elections for the ACT Legislative Assembly, Latham is in the

Ginninderra electorate The Ginninderra electorate is one of the five Electorates of the Australian Capital Territory, electorates for the unicameral 25-member Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly. It elects five members. History It was created in 1995, wh ...

Geology

Most of Latham is covered by the upper

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 ...

Deakin Volcanics. From the north east of Latham to the south west, the following stratigraphic layers of volcanics are passed: * green grey and purple

rhyodacite Rhyodacite is a volcanic rock intermediate in composition between dacite and rhyolite. It is the extrusive equivalent of those plutonic rocks that are intermediate in composition between monzogranite and granodiorite. Rhyodacites form from rapid ...

. * grey rhyodacitic

tuff Tuff is a type of rock made of volcanic ash ejected from a vent during a volcanic eruption. Following ejection and deposition, the ash is lithified into a solid rock. Rock that contains greater than 75% ash is considered tuff, while rock co ...

* purple rhyodacite * purple and green tuff * pink

rhyolite Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture (geology), texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained matri ...

* purple-pink rhyolite Upper

Laidlaw Volcanics grey tuff form a wedge over the top of the Deakin Volcanics.Henderson G A M and Matveev G, Geology of Canberra, Queanbeyan and Environs 1:50000 1980.

References

{{Belconnen Suburbs Suburbs of Canberra