West Mackay is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airport ...

in the

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. In the , West Mackay had a population of 6,536 people.

Geography

West Mackay is (as the name suggests) west of the Mackay central business district. Having a diamond-like shape, it is bounded by the

Pioneer River The Pioneer River is a river in North Queensland, Australia. The long river flows through the city of . History Captain John Mackay and his party were the first Europeans to discover the river in 1860. Mackay named it Mackay River after his ...

to the north-west, the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Natio ...

to the north-east, and Paradise Street to the south-east. The North Coast railway line enters the suburb from the south ( Paget), then forms part of the suburb's south-western boundary before it crossses the Pioneer River to Foulden. The Glenella Connection Road pass through the locality from south to north-west crossing the river on the Edmund Casey Bridge to Foulden. Another major road transport route through the suburb is the Nebo Road. The land is low lying and flat. The Mackay Base Hospital is located on Hospital Road beside the Pioneer River. The Mackay Botanic Gardens are located off Lagoon Street and features a natural lagoon.

History

The (Old) Hospital Bridge was the first bridge over the

(and was originally known as the Pioneer Bridge). Construction commenced in 1875. It connected Talty Road in Foulden to Bridge Street in West Mackay (adjacent to the Mackay Base Hospital). It was a low-level bridge and prone to flooding. The North Coast railway opened to Mackay in 1885. The West Mackay area was served by Mackay West railway station off Hume Street (). In the 1990s, the rail bridge over the

needed to be replaced, which presented an opportunity for re-alignment of the railway line to bypass the

Mackay CBD Mackay is the central suburb and the central business district of the City of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Mackay had a population of 4,026 people. Geography Kemmis is a neighbourhood at the sou ...

. In 1994, the new alignment opened and a number of stations on the closed section of the line, including the Mackay West railway station were no longer required and were dismantled. Mackay Bowls Club opened in 1906, the first bowling club in Mackay. South Ward State School opened on 11 February 1924. In 1938, it was renamed Mackay West State School. In 1950, a new site in Bridge Street was allocated to the school which was . St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School was established by the

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

on 4 February 1935 with 23 students. In 1958, they purchased the Anglican church opposite to establish an infants school. Mackay West Infants State School separated from Mackay West State School on 31 January 1956. It merged back into Mackay West State School on 1 July 1994. It was located at 364 Bridge Road (). In April 2009, a new bridge was opened to the west of the Hospital Bridge carrying the newly constructed Glenella Connection Road over the Pioneer River. On 5 December 2009, the new bridge was named the Edmund Casey Bridge in honour of long-serving local Member of the

Queensland Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly of Queensland is the sole chamber of the unicameral Parliament of Queensland established under the Constitution of Queensland. Elections are held every four years and are done by full preferential voting. The Assembly h ...

Ed Casey Edmund Denis Casey (2 January 1933 – 1 May 2006), known as Ed, was best known as the leader of the Australian Labor Party in Queensland between 1978 and 1982. He also served as Primary Industries Minister in the government of Wayne Goss betwe ...

, as part of the

Q150 Q150 was the sesquicentenary (150th anniversary) of the Separation of Queensland from New South Wales in 1859. Separation established the Colony of Queensland which became the State of Queensland in 1901 as part of the Federation of Australia ...

celebrations. Local residents campaigned to retain the Old Hospital Bridge for recreational use such as walking, cycling and fishing, but the council insisted the costs of making it safe were too great and that only a short segment connected on the West Mackay side would be preserved as a fishing pier. However, in March 2017,

Cyclone Debbie Severe Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017 was the strongest tropical cyclone to strike Queensland since Cyclone Marcia, Marcia in 2014–15 Australian region cyclone season, 2015, and was the costliest tropical cyclone in Australia since Cyclone ...

damaged the fishing pier, necessitating a new fishing pier to be built. The new pier will be L-shaped and more resistant to flood damage. The Sugar Research Institute was built in 1953, but relocated to Brisbane in 2006. The institute buildings were used as commercial offices until 2016 when the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton The Diocese of Rockhampton is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Australia. It is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Brisbane. Erected in 1882, it covers Cent ...

purchased the site to establish a new secondary school, Catherine McAuley College Mackay. The school opened to its first Year 7 students in 2022 and by 2027 will be offering Years 7-12 secondary schooling.

Demographics

In the , West Mackay had a population of 6,507 people. In the , West Mackay had a population of 6,210 people. West Mackay had the largest Maltese Australian community of any suburb in

, numbering 243 individuals and making up 3.9% of the suburb's population. In the , West Mackay had a population of 6,536 people.

Heritage listings

West Mackay has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

places, including: * Mackay General Cemetery, Cemetery Road () * Sugar Research Institute, 239 Nebo Road ()

Education

Mackay West State School is a government primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Pinder Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 677 students with 50 teachers (48 full-time equivalent) and 32 non-teaching staff (21 full-time equivalent). It includes a

special education Special education (also known as special-needs education, aided education, alternative provision, exceptional student education, special ed., SDC, and SPED) is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual di ...

program. St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary School is a Catholic primary (Prep–6) school for boys and girls at Mackenzie Street (). In 2018, the school had an enrolment of 526 students with 31 teachers (27 full-time equivalent) and 20 non-teaching staff (13 full-time equivalent). Catherine McAuley College Mackay is a Catholic secondary (Years 7–12) school for boys and girls at 239 Nebo Road (). The school opened to its first 110 Year 7 students in 2022 with 14 teachers (13.51 full-time equivalent) and 11 non-teaching staff (8.68 full-time equivalent). By 2027, the school expects to offer a full secondary program with an expected 1200 students. There are no government secondary schools in West Mackay. The nearest government secondary school is

Mackay State High School Mackay State High School is a government secondary school at 123 Milton Street, South Mackay, Mackay, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. The school offers education to students from grades 7 to 12 and provides a range of academic programs ...

in neighbouring South Mackay to the south-west.

James Cook University James Cook University (JCU) is a public university in North Queensland, Australia. The second oldest university in Queensland, JCU is a teaching and research institution. The university's main campuses are located in the tropical cities of Cair ...

has a clinical school at the Mackay Base Hospital ().

Facilities

Mackay Base Hospital is at 475 Bridge Road (). Mackay Cemetery is a monumental cemetery on Cemetery Road (). It is operated by the Mackay Regional Council. Nebo Road Water Treatment Plant is a potable water treatment plant at 218 Nebo Road (). It is operated by the Mackay Regional Council and is their largest water treatment plant. It draws water from the Dumbleton Weir on the Pioneer River and from groundwater bores and can produce up to per day of drinking water. Mackay Power Station is a gas-fired power station at 8A Hume Street ().

Amenities

Parkside Plaza is a shopping centre at 245 Bridge Road (corner Paradise Street, ). It is anchored by a

Coles supermarket Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty. Ltd., doing business as Coles, is an Australian supermarket, retail and consumer services chain, headquartered in Melbourne as part of Coles Group. Founded in 1914 in the suburb of Collingwood by Sir George ...

. Mackay Botanic Gardens are at 9 Lagoon Street (). It showcases plants of the Central Queensland area. It is operated by the Mackay Regional Council. At the entrance to the Gardens, there is an art gallery, cafe and meeting room. The South Sea Islander Meeting Hut is a community centre at 12 Ram Chandra Place (). There are a number of churches in the suburb: * St Charles Anglican Church, 37 McGinn Street () * St Francis Xavier's Memorial Catholic Church, 56 Holland Street () * Iona West Uniting Church, 7 Brooks Street () * Mackay Family Church of the Nazarene, 31 Field Street () *Mackay Christian Assembly, 25 Hume Street () Mackay Bowls Club is at 28 Nebo Road (). There are a number of parks in the area: * Marryatt Street Park () * Paget Street Park () * Rotary Park ()