New outer south-eastern suburbs announced

2/6/97

Perth has some new outer south-eastern suburbs stemming from more than 12 months consultation and negotiation with the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, the Department of Land Administration (DOLA) and local residents.

Lands Minister Doug Shave today announced the new suburbs of Darling Downs, Karrakup, Oldbury, Mardella and Hopeland.

"Although these are new suburbs, in some cases the names were already being used locally to identify an area. Now the suburbs have been officially recognised," Mr Shave said.

"For example, Mardella was a shop and an old railway siding, now it is a defined area of land with its own postcode which people can now use as an address.

"The need for the naming and definition of these new suburbs was a result of emergency service requirements that they have an address to send their officers to, local resident desire to have a proper street and growth in the area meaning there was enough land to constitute a suburb."

Eight other Serpentine-Jarrahdale Shire suburb names have also been rationalised and approved, including Whitby and Cardup, which is an Aboriginal word meaning 'place of the race-horse goanna'.

Mr Shave said the names had been chosen after extensive discussion between DOLA's Geographic Names Committee, the shire and the community.

"These thorough discussions and consultations have reached a very satisfactory conclusion after people involved have had a chance to make input," he said.

"The shire has consulted ratepayers' groups, and also conducted a public advertising program in order to stimulate community involvement in the process."

The new suburb names have direct relevance to the area.

Darling Downs is an area of farmlet subdivision between Byford and Wungong, and takes its name from the nature of the country and its proximity to the Darling Range.

Karrakup - the Nyoongar word for the red-tailed black cockatoo prevalent in the region - is a large area of forest and farm country in the north-east of the shire.

Oldbury is an extensive farm area west of Mundijong and Cardup, and takes its name from Group 35 of the Peel Estate Group Settlement Scheme, formed in 1922.

Mardella, a variant form of the Aboriginal name of the nearby Medulla Brook, is a farming area between Mundijong and Serpentine, and is named after a railway siding on the line to Bunbury, first used in 1898.

Hopeland is a farming area west of Serpentine, also formerly part of the Peel Estate Group Settlement Scheme.

Media contact: Anabel Gomez 9366 0300