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Oak Flats is a suburb of
Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellha ...
,
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
, Australia situated on the south western shores of
Lake Illawarra Lake Illawarra (Australian Aboriginal languages, Aboriginal Tharawal language: various adaptions of ''Elouera'', ''Eloura'', or ''Allowrie''; ''Illa'', ''Wurra'', or ''Warra'' meaning pleasant place near the sea, or, high place near the sea, or, ...
and within the
Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...
region of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
. It is a residential area, which had a population of 6,840 at the . Oak Flats is one of the
324 __NOTOC__ Year 324 ( CCCXXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday in the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Crispus and Constantinus (or, less frequently, year 1077 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denominati ...
suburbs that sits within the Wollongong Statistical District, which covers the local authority areas of
Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...
,
Shellharbour Shellharbour (also known as Shellharbour Village) is a suburb located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It also gives its name to the local government area, City of Shellharbour, and its central business district, Shellha ...
and
Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...
. Oak Flats is locally governed by the Shellharbour City Council, which governs 22 suburbs within the area.


History

The area was discovered by
George Bass George Bass (; 30 January 1771 – after 5 February 1803) was a British naval surgeon and explorer of Australia. Early life Bass was born on 30 January 1771 at Aswarby, a hamlet near Sleaford, Lincolnshire, the son of a tenant farmer, George B ...
and
Matthew Flinders Captain (Royal Navy), Captain Matthew Flinders (16 March 1774 – 19 July 1814) was a British Royal Navy officer, navigator and cartographer who led the first littoral zone, inshore circumnavigate, circumnavigation of mainland Australia, then ...
in 1796, whilst free settlers arrived in the nearby town of Shellharbour between 1817 and 1831. As the population in the suburbs around Oak Flats grew, the need for more residential areas became more important. The eastern end of the suburb is commonly known as Balarang. Ownership of area was first as a grant of 1,200 acres (485 hectares) to army officer John Horsley in 1821. The grant was situated on the southern shores of Lake Illawarra and known as the 'Oak Flats Run'. The land was used to run cattle in the area. Development of Oak Flats as a suburb began in 1925 with the Lake Illawarra Township Estate as the centre, followed by the Kembla Vista and Panorama Estates. Economic Depression of the 1930s coupled with the onset of WWII, slowed development. Post WWII migration brought immigrants predominantly Dutch, and German to Oak Flats, and the town began to develop rapidly. In the early 1930s, Sydney newspapers invited holiday makers to the therapeutic waters of Lake Illawarra as an alternative to spas in the Blue Mountains. Visitors to Oak Flats initially stayed in the two-storey guesthouse on the Boulevarde. Blocks were also purchased and small week-enders erected by visitors keen to return to Lake Illawarra as a holiday destination. A boat shed, where rowing boats could be hired, stood on the end of the small point at Central Park. The shoreline was popular on hot summer days when families would congregate on the grassy banks to rest or swim in the Lake. Many streets of Oak Flats are named after
Australian prime minister 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 federal executive government. Under the principles of responsibl ...
s. These include Deakin Street and Barton Street. Oak Flats was designed by Walter Burley Griffin who also designed Canberra. Similar concepts in the design include that the town centres around a round street (Bridge Ave) like Canberra does Parliament house.


Demographics

Oak Flats is located in southeast New South Wales and had a population of around 6,840 (48.7% male, 51.3% female) at the . Around 1,949 families lived in the area and of those 37.5% had one or more children under the age of 15. 20.6% of families had only a single parent while 39.3% of couples had no children. Oak Flats covers an area of approximately 359 hectares (887 acres). In terms of people aged 15 years or more living in Oak Flats, 44.5% were married, 10.4% were divorced, 4.1% were separated, 6.7% were widowed and 34.4% had never married.


Geography

Oak Flats varies in altitude/elevation from about −4 m (–13.12 ft) (highlight point) to 36 m (118 ft) (highlight point) above sea level. Neighbouring suburbs/regional areas of Oak Flats include Albion Park Rail, Albion Park, Blackbutt and Mount Warrigal.


Education

Oak Flats has four major schools within its boundaries, including Balarang Primary, Oak Flats Primary School, Oak Flats High School and Corpus Christi Catholic High School.


Oak Flats High School

Oak Flats High School is a government-funding secondary school, which was opened on a site on the eastern end of the suburb in 1962. It has 760 enrolments and provides education to children between year 7 and year 12.


Balarang Public School

Balarang Public School was opened in 1968 in a four hectare landscape in Oak Flats. It is located right next to Oak Flats High School. The school provides education to children between
Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
and year 6 and draws 30% of its enrolments from other surrounding suburbs. The name of the school is an
Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...
meaning for 'place of swamp oak'.


Corpus Christi Catholic High School

Corpus Christi Catholic High School is a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
co-educational school Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to t ...
which opened in 2006 with its first group of Year 7 students. The students are drawn from the parishes extending from
Port Kembla A port is a maritime law, maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge Affreightment, cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inla ...
in the north to
Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...
in the south. Since the opening, Corpus Christi has grown to become a Years 7–12 school.


Oak Flats Public School

Oak Flats public school is the first school to open in the area of Oak Flats. It provides education and supervision for children between
Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...
and Year 6. The school also provides
pre-school A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an educational establishment or learning space Learning space or learning setting refers to a physical s ...
.


Churches

Oak Flats Anglican Church began services in a house in 1947 before moving to the current premises at 35 Fisher Street, Oak Flats, in 1951.


Transport

Oak Flats has its own
rail station A train station, railroad station, or railway station is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight, or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track, and a station building providing such ...
on the
NSW TrainLink NSW TrainLink is a regional train and coach operator in Australia, providing services throughout New South Wales and into Australian Capital Territory, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria (state), Victoria, Queensland and South Australia ...
South Coast line The South Coast Line (SCO) is an Regional rail, intercity rail service that services the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The service runs from , and runs the entire length of the eponymous South Coast railway line, New South W ...
. There is also a bus station/bus stop at the rail station for interchanging with trains.


Recreation

Oak Flats contains two cricket grounds (Shane Lee Oval, Geoff Shaw Oval and Brett Lee Oval), two soccer grounds (Keith Bond Oval and Panorama Oval), and one tennis court.


Notable people

*
Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
ers
Shane Shane may refer to: People * Shane (name), a masculine given name and a surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with this name * Shane (actress) (born 1969), American pornographic actress * Shane (New Zealand singer) (born ...
and
Brett Lee Brett Lee (born 8 November 1976) is an Australian former international cricketer, who played all three formats of the game. During his international career, Lee was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the world. With his time representin ...


References

{{Wollongong suburbs City of Shellharbour Suburbs of Wollongong