Wagerup, Western Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wagerup Western Australia |
|
| Established: | 1890s |
| Postcode: | 6215 |
| Location: | |
| LGA: | Shire of Waroona |
| State District: | Collie-Wellington |
| Federal Division: | Forrest |
Wagerup (; post code: 6215) is a town located in the Peel region of Western Australia just off the South Western Highway, between Waroona (12km to the north) and Harvey.
Contents |
[edit] History
The town's name was initially spelt Waigerup or Waigeerup, derived from an Aboriginal name meaning "the place of the emu" (waitch), and was applied to a brook in the area. The same spelling was used when the railway station opened in 1896. However, by 1899, when the townsite was gazetted, the current spelling had been adopted (according to local legend, the man who painted the sign for the railway station misspelt the name).[1]
[edit] Present day
Alcoa operate an alumina refinery in Wagerup. For years, residents and Alcoa workers have reported illnesses such as respiratory irritation, frequent blood noses, headaches, nausea and higher rates of cancer, as reported in numerous media outlets including the ABC's Four Corners program 'Something In The Air', although no formal causal link has ever been established. Alcoa has subsequently obtained permission (September 2006) to double the size of the refinery to become the biggest such refinery in the world, with production capacity increased from 2.6 million tonnes per year to around 4.7 million tonnes per year, although very strict conditions have been imposed on the expansion by the Health and Environment departments. Residents in nearby Yarloop and Waroona have already announced plans to fight the decision in the Supreme Court.
[edit] References
- ^ Department of Land Information. History of country town names - W. Retrieved on 2006-10-05.
[edit] External links
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
- Alcoa Australia website
- Something In The Air (ABC Four Corners presentation, 3 October 2005)
- Alcoa's troubled history (Sunday Times investigative report including maps, 10 September 2006)
| Towns in the Shire of Harvey | |
|---|---|
|
Australind | Benger | Binningup | Brunswick Jn. | Cookernup | Harvey | Kemerton | Leschenault | Myalup | Roelands | Wokalup | Yarloop |
|
| Towns in the Shire of Waroona | |
|
Hamel | Lake Clifton | Nanga Brook | Preston Beach | Wagerup | Waroona |
