Downer, Australian Capital Territory

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Downer
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Population:

3270 (2001 census)

Established:

1960

Postcode:

2602

Property Value:

AUD $394,000 ^[1]

District:

North Canberra

Suburbs around Downer
Lyneham	Mitchell	Watson
Lyneham	Downer	Hackett
Lyneham	Dickson	Hackett

Downer is a suburb in Canberra Australia, in the Inner North. The suburb is bounded by Northbourne Avenue, Antill Street and Philip Avenue.

The suburb was gazetted in 1960 and named after Sir John Downer (1844 - 1915) Premier of South Australia and a member of the first Australian Senate in 1901. There is no specific theme for street names.

The buildings which make up the Downer community centre and former shops, were built for the CSIRO in 1930s, and the area now comprising Downer was an agricultural research facility for the CSIRO. The large pine and gum trees which surround the block around the shops were planted in this time as a wind break for the CSIRO building. The trees along Swinden street were also planted then, as Swinden street was the driveway for the CSIRO building, where it connected to Northbourne Avenue.

Downer has a local oval between Frencham, Melba, Bonython and Bradfield streets, with a shopping centre. However in 2005 the shopping centre was vacant due partly to the poor location of the centre away from major roads. There is also the Canberra Business Centre nearby, which at one time was a school. The Downer Club, which has an observatory, is nearby, although not technically in Downer, on the Dickson side of Antill Street.

Pine trees at Downer Oval which date back to the CSIRO facility in the 1940s

Downer shops

[edit] Geology

Calcareous shales from the Canberra Formation is overlain by Quaternary alluvium. This rock is the limestone of the original title of Canberra "Limestone Plains".

See also: Natural History of the Australian Capital Territory