Banksia Grove, Western Australia

Banksia Grove is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Wanneroo. Its postcode is 6031, and it was, until the late 1990s, part of Neerabup. The suburb is approximately 27 km NE of the Perth central business district and 8 km east of the coast and 5 km ENE of Joondalup.

Suburban development

In 2005, the Banksia Grove Joint Venture partnership was established to revive and develop the suburb. The $2 billion project will create a further 3500 home sites to complement the existing 650 developed prior to 2005. In total, an estimated 12,000 residents will call Banksia Grove home by the project's completion in 2020. The new community contains a diverse range of housing types to suit residents in differing life stages and backgrounds.
Housing in the new section has fibre to the premises as standard, provided by NBN Co as an estate network, and resold by providers, which also transmits commercial television. Recently, the more established section received and is continuing to receive further rollout of the National Broadband Network, as are some sections of the new area.
Major facilities for the area include:

The Banksia Grove District Shopping Centre, of which Stages 1 & 2 are completed
An education precinct including the new Joseph Banks Secondary College, shared playing fields and a planned primary school
A 42 hectare Bush Forever zone with native retained bushland
Over 30 hectares of parkland, including Discovery Park, which contains a living stream water feature, amphitheatre, and Pitstop Park adventure playground

In late 2018, development of a parcel of land began that is in close proximity to the shopping precinct. Named "Coda", it primarily consists of high density narrow lots with two story homes. Sales of all lots and builds of individual homes are expected to be completed by the end of 2019.

Demographics

Banksia Grove had a population of 9,350 at the 2016 census, 1,940 at the 2006 census, and 1,136 at the 2001 census.

Facilities

Banksia Grove Village was the first stage of the Banksia Grove District Shopping Centre. When completed, it contained a Coles Supermarket, service station, several fast food outlets, a cafe, and other small retail outlets. Even though Banksia Grove is only a ten-minute drive to the coast, it is not considered a coastal suburb by Western Australian standards.

Education

The suburb currently has three primary schools and one high school:

Leisure

"Spring in the Grove" is an annual community festival held on the first Sunday in November every year. The event is supported by the City of Wanneroo and the Banksia Grove Partnerships. It is organised and run by volunteers, and staged at various venues. In previous years, it has been held at Discovery Park and the Joseph Banks Secondary College grounds.
Discovery Park has a man-made stream meandering through ponds with sunny and shaded grassed areas, covered picnic tables, and free electric barbecues. Because the waterway system is isolated from natural water, it is able to be stocked with a large amount of colourful koi. It also has an open-air amphitheatre.
Adjoining this is Pitstop Playground, which has a training cycleway for children and play equipment.
A skatepark was opened in 2019 on the corner of Grandis Boulevard and Pinjar Road.

Transport

The suburb is served by bus routes which provide connections to the Yanchep line via the Joondalup railway station. Route 390 from Joondalup Station to Banksia Grove operates along Joondalup Drive and Grandis Boulevard to a terminus on Forever Boulevard in the eastern part of the suburb. Selected services deviate via Joseph Banks Secondary College, Banksia Grove Primary School, or along Viridian Drive, which was an old alignment of the route. Route 391 from Joondalup Station to Banksia Grove operates along Ghost Gum Boulevard to a terminus on Glasshouse Drive in the western part of the suburb. This route services the Banksia Grove Shopping Centres. Selected services extend to Joseph Banks Secondary College and the reverse direction as well.

Bus

390 Banksia Grove to Joondalup Station – serves Forever Boulevard, Grandis Boulevard, Elderiana Link, Joondalup Drive and Pinjar Road
391 Banksia Grove to Joondalup Station – serves Glasshouse Drive, Botanic Avenue, Ghost Gum Boulevard and Jewel Way

Social issues

In 2010-2011, Banksia Grove had 396 offences. Despite growing in population nine-fold over the last 7 years, a concerted effort by local police has kept this to 442, decreasing the ratio per 100 residents, and the suburb is maturing as a social place to live. Police response times are better than most outer suburbs, having the academy, along with Joondalup and Wanneroo Police stations within close transit. In late 2018 a neighbourhood watch was established. A visibly higher police presence is also attributable to the Joondalup Police Academy, using Joondalup Drive quite frequently to travel to Bullsbrook, where they engage in training in police pursuits, off-road capabilities, and other driver skills required by their industry. Community members are able to become part of two established Facebook groups and several buy/sell and a type of "pay it forward" group.