Mandurah


Mandurah is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 90,306.
Mandurah's central business district is located on the Mandurah Estuary, which is an outlet for the Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary. The city's name is derived from the Noongar word mandjar, meaning "meeting place" or "trading place". A townsite for Mandurah was laid out in 1831, two years after the establishment of the Swan River Colony, but attracted few residents, and until the post-war boom of the 1950s and 1960s it was little more than a small fishing village. In subsequent years, Mandurah's reputation for boating and fishing attracted many retirees, including to the canal developments in the city's south.
Along with four other local government areas, the City of Mandurah is included in the wider Peel region. Mandurah is sometimes grouped together with Perth for statistical purposes, especially since the extension of the Kwinana Freeway and the completion of the Mandurah railway line in the late 2000s. The two cities now form a conurbation along the Indian Ocean coastline, although the Perth metropolitan area officially ends at Singleton around north of Mandurah's city centre.

Geography

Mandurah has grown from isolated holiday communities along the shores of the Peel-Harvey Estuary to a major regional city in just over a decade, in a similar vein to the Gold Coast in Eastern Australia. In recent times, it has formed a conurbation with Perth along the coast; it is only south of Rockingham, a southern suburb of Perth.
Mandurah has also become a popular lifestyle alternative for Perth retirees and its connection with the Perth CBD has been strengthened with the opening of the Perth-Mandurah railway line in December 2007 and a direct road connection to the Kwinana Freeway built by late 2010. A housing affordability survey of 227 cities in 2008 ranked it the least affordable city in Australia.

Geology

The waters of the Peel Inlet and Harvey Estuary form the centre of Mandurah. The estuary is approximately twice the size of Sydney Harbour. The city lies in and around this freshwater system which in turn feeds into the Indian Ocean. The city and its suburbs have many kilometres of ocean coastline most of which is sandy beaches. Mandurah also has a number of suburbs built around artificially created canal systems that extend from the Peel Inlet, such as Halls Head, Dudley Park and Wannanup.
In terms of geology, much of Mandurah lies on the dune systems which dominate South Western WA's coastline, progressively grading towards the Swan Coastal Plain as one travels inland. The area has infertile soils due to the dunes being rather sandy, having poor water retention qualities. Limestone outcrops are found to the north of the city especially along the Mandurah railway line. Mandurah is the closest city to Yalgorup National Park which is home to modern thrombolites as well as an array of flora and fauna.
Mandurah is located in the Swan Coastal Plain ecoregion. The ecoregion contains an array of vegetation, from coastal dune and sandplains to banksia and eucalypt woodlands. Mandurah is covered by shoreline and dune deposits from the Pleistocene and Holocene that overlie Paleozoic and Neogene deposits of the Perth Basin. Coastal dunes feature scrub-heath communities, though banksia low woodlands occur on the soils of coastal dunes. Progressing inland give way to eucalypt woodlands.
Seasonal wetlands are the most diverse habitat in the Swan Coastal Plain, which Mandurah has several wetland regions around the Peel Inlet. The wetlands feature several osprey nests, spoonbill and darters. Other fauna includes galah, short-billed black cockatoo, long-billed black cockatoo, and Australian ringneck among others. Australian ringnecks face competition for nesting space from rainbow lorikeet, an introduced species in Western Australia, that has now spread to Mandurah. Despite attempts to eradicate rainbow lorikeets, the population has grown to the point that they can no longer be eradicated.

Political

Mandurah is typically considered a marginal area for the major parties in Australian politics, tending to vote left-wing in state politics while more conservative in federal politics. Mandurah lies in the Division of Canning, held by the Liberal Party's Andrew Hastie. At state level, northern and central Mandurah is located in the safe Labor seat of Mandurah held by David Templeman, while southern Mandurah is located in Dawesville, a traditionally safe Liberal seat that was swept up in Labor's landslide of 2021, and is now held by Labor's Lisa Munday. A sliver of eastern Mandurah is located in Murray-Wellington, held by Labor's Robyn Clarke. Despite technically being in a regional area, the National Party vote is negligible.

Climate

Mandurah has a typical Mediterranean climate with hot dry summers and mild wet winters. During summer, the average maximum temperature is 27 °C with an average minimum temperature of 19 °C. At its extreme it can get very hot, often having a couple of days exceed 40 °C in the latter half of summer. In winter, the average maximum temperature is 18 °C with an average minimum temperature of 9 °C. Mandurah's proximity to the ocean moderates diurnal temperatures somewhat, with temperatures a few kilometres inland often 4 or 5 degrees warmer during summer days. Frosts are very rare as a result, but do occur annually around areas such as Greenfields. The current weather station opened in 2001 and is situated on the coastline, causing data recorded to appear warmer during winter nights and cooler in summer days compared to surrounding areas.
Mandurah also receives a moderate though highly seasonal rainfall of about 850 mm a year, however recent trends have seen this once reliable rainfall drop significantly. In addition, most of the winter rains are usually accompanied by severe winds and storms capable of causing widespread damage, making Mandurah one of the windiest cities in Australia. These conditions are perfect for tornado formation, which Mandurah's climate is remarkable for producing one of the highest densities of tornadoes in the world.
Summer storms are rare due to the Mediterranean climate in the city, but not unheard of. Mandurah was affected to a lesser degree than Perth in the 2010 Western Australian storms, but the 2011–12 summer was notable for Mandurah bearing the brunt of three severe thunderstorms. One such storm on 12 December 2011 gave Mandurah almost seven times its monthly average, which was eclipsed exactly one year later on 12 December 2012. Another storm on 20 January 2012 dumped 57 mm on the city causing power outages and flash flooding. One man and numerous buildings in the city were struck by lightning during the storm, which produced 2,300 strikes within 30 kilometres of the city, which was more than what neighbouring Perth receives in an entire year and comparable to the most severe electrical storms for which places in the tropics like Darwin are known.

History

The Noongar people, who inhabited the southwest of Western Australia, named the area Mandjar, which became the present day name "Mandurah".
In December 1829, Thomas Peel arrived in Western Australia from the United Kingdom with workmen, equipment and stores on the ship. He had financed the trip in exchange for a grant of land in the Swan River Colony. A term of the grant was that he arrive no later than 1 November 1829, thus his original land grant was forfeited. Undaunted, Peel built a small settlement named Clarence south of the Swan River Colony at what is known today as Woodman Point. Facing many problems with the settlement and his own ill-health, Peel led the remaining Clarence settlers to the area known today as Mandurah. Soon after, other settlers also took up land in Mandurah including the families Hall, Tuckey and Eacott. The census of 1837 records only 12 settlers at Mandurah, probably representing only 3 households. Thomas Peel died in 1865 but Mandurah continued to grow, albeit very slowly, over the years leading to the 20th century. Fish were abundant, and in 1870 a fish cannery was established at Mandurah. Canning factories sustained the preservation of produce from local fishing and fruit industries.
A railway line between Perth and Pinjarra was opened in 1893, which allowed Mandurah to emerge as a tourism hub in the region.
Image:Mandurah house.jpg|thumb|left|Example of an older-style coastal home at MandurahThe population of the town was 160 in 1898.
Mandurah was administered under the Murray Road Board until 1949, when the Mandurah Road Board was established. However, dissension within the board during the 1950s saw it suspended and Commissioner Richard Rushton oversaw the town's affairs. On 26 April 1960, the Mandurah Road Board was reconstituted, and on 1 July 1961, in accordance with the Local Government Act 1960, the Shire of Mandurah was founded.
Industrial development at Kwinana, a mining boom in nearby Jarrahdale and Wagerup, with the associated industrial boom in Pinjarra, combined with an idyllic lifestyle by the coast, saw Mandurah grow rapidly, and on 1 July 1987 it became the Town of Mandurah. Three years later, on 14 April 1990, Mandurah became the fifth non-metropolitan settlement in Western Australia to be named a city.

Places of cultural heritage significance

  • Cooper's Mill, Murray Terrace, Cooleenup Island, North Yunderup.
  • Christ's Church , 34–36 Pinjarra Road, Mandurah.
  • Peel's house site, southern side of the corner of Mandurah Terrace & Stewart Street, Mandurah.
  • Uniting Church, 26 Sutton Street, Mandurah.
  • Eacott Cottage, 35 Gibla St Mandurah.
  • Brighton Hotel, 8–10 Mandurah Terrace, Mandurah.
  • Little Theatre and site of the old Fish Cannery, 5 Mandurah Terrace, Mandurah.
  • Sutton's Corner Store and house, Eureka Shops/Cottage, 2 Mandurah Terrace, Mandurah.
  • Tuckey Store & House & Slim Jim Cotton Palm, 1 Mandurah Terrace, Mandurah.
  • Mandurah Museum, corner Mandurah Terrace & Pinjarra Road, Mandurah.
  • Mandurah Bridge, linking the town centre to Halls Head.
  • Hall's Cottage, 7 Leighton Place, Halls Head.
  • Sutton's Farm, Apollo Place & Picaroon Place, Halls Head.
  • Sutton's graveyard, corner Finistere Island Retreat & Picaroon Place, Halls Head.
  • Allandale Homestead, Lot 102 Estuary Road, Dawesville.
  • Herron Homestead, Lot 85 Quail Road, Herron Lake, Clifton.
  • Hardy House, 860 Estuary Rd Mandurah.
  • Fouracres Cottage ruin, west side of Old Coast Road between Peppermint Grove and Coronation Roads, Waroona.