Waterfall Gully, South Australia

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Waterfall Gully Adelaide, South Australia
Waterfall Gully waterfall
Population:	2,285 (2001 census)
Established:	1867
Postcode:	5066
Area:	6.08 km²
Property Value:	AUD $510,000 (2005)
Location:	10 km from Adelaide
LGA:	City of Burnside
State District:	Bragg
Federal Division:	Sturt
Suburbs around Waterfall Gully Beaumont Greenhill Greenhill Mount Osmond Waterfall Gully Summertown Leawood Gardens Leawood Gardens Cleland

Waterfall Gully (34°57′S 138°40′E) is a small suburb of 2,285 people in the South Australian capital city of Adelaide. It is located in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges around five kilometres east of Adelaide's central business district (CBD). For the most part, the suburb encompasses one long gully with First Creek at its centre and Waterfall Gully Road adjacent to the creek. At one end of the gully is the waterfall for which the suburb was named. Part of the Burnside Council, it is bounded to the north by the suburb of Burnside, to the north-east by Greenhill, to the south-east by Cleland Conservation Park, to the south-west by Leawood Gardens and to the north-west by Mount Osmond.

Waterfall Gully is rich in history and has been a popular attraction since Adelaide's early colonists discovered the area in the 19th century. Home to a number of residents and increasingly frequented by tourists, Waterfall Gully has undergone extensive developments in recent years.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Aboriginal cultures 1.2 European settlement 2 Geography 3 Transport 4 Residents 5 Attractions 6 Politics 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Aboriginal cultures

In Australian Aboriginal mythology, Waterfall Gully and the surrounding Mount Lofty Ranges are part of the story of the ancestor-creator Nganno. Travelling across the land of the native Kaurna people, Nganno was wounded in a battle and laid down to die, forming the Mount Lofty Ranges. The current name of the Greater Mount Lofty Parklands, Yurrebilla, is taken from the Kaurna name for the twin hills of Mount Lofty and Mount Bonython, which are supposed to be Nganno's ears.

An early settler of the neighbouring suburb of Beaumont, James Milne Young, described the local Kaurnas: "At every creek and gully you would see their wurlies [simple Aboriginal homes made out of twigs and grass] and their fires at night... often as many as 500 to 600 would be camped in various places... some behind the Botanic Gardens on the banks of the river; some toward the Ranges; some on the Waterfall Gully."^[1]

The Aborigines' main presence was on the River Torrens and the creeks that flowed into it, including Waterfall Gully's First Creek. These were also the most prized areas for the new European settlers. Displaced abruptly and then afflicted by European diseases that they had no natural immunity for, the Aboriginal population went into steady decline.

[edit] European settlement

Waterfall Gully was discovered by Europeans soon after the establishment of Adelaide. The first European to sight the waterfall was John William Adams, an emigrant of H.M.S. Buffalo in early January 1837 naming it Adams' Waterfall. He was travelling with his wife, Susanna and a party consisting of Nicholson's and Breaker's who had the use of a dray to go into the hills. Adams' states "we were opposite the spot where the Eagle on the Hill now is, and the question was put, who would volunteer to go down the hillside to try for water". ^[2] The area surrounding the Waterfall was proclaimed a reserve for recreation purposes in 1884.

The area soon became a tourist attraction for the early South Australian colonists. However, during this period the population of the nearby village of Burnside was expanding and required a new water supply. First Creek — which runs down Waterfall Gully and enters the River Torrens near today's Botanic Gardens — was seen as the perfect solution to the water shortage. A weir was built during 1881 and 1882 by the Adelaide colony's Hydraulic Engineers Department. The weir was made to hold approximately two megalitres (530,000 US gallons) and a pipeline was built from it to Burnside. With continued development of farms and orchards further up the catchment region, the water quality quickly deteriorated and was rendered useless. By this time however, Adelaide was supplied by newer reservoirs in other areas such as Happy Valley.

A number of small-scale silver-lead mines were dug during the latter part of the 19th century and attracted the interest of Cornish settlers. The mines were of poor quality — especially compared to the richness of the nearby Wheal Watkins at Glen Osmond. The Victorian Gold Rush in the mid-1800s attracted many miners and young men from all over Australia and struck the final blow to the Waterfall Gully mines, where operations ceased shortly thereafter.

Some parts of Waterfall Gully were transferred from the District Council of Crafers (now the Adelaide Hills Council) to the City of Burnside in 1876, when the suburb's current boundaries were established. In the early 20th century the area was known mainly for its agricultural uses, but by the middle of the century homes had begun to dot the gully. Waterfall Gully was severely hit by a number of bushfires in 1939 that threatened the area. Further bushfires in the early 1940s caused considerable damage because of the war effort diverting supplies and personnel from the Country Fire Service.^[3]

In 1945, much of the area that is today's Cleland Conservation Park, a large conservation reserve, was purchased by the State Government, in large part because of the lobbying efforts of Professor Sir John Cleland.^[4] Most of this land, including the gully areas, was combined in 1963 to create the park that extends eastwards up the gully to the summit of Mount Lofty and northwards to Greenhill Road.

On the night of November 7, 2005 several areas in Adelaide experienced severe flooding. Waterfall Gully was one of the hardest hit suburbs: Bob Stevenson, Duty Officer of the State Emergency Service, commented that "There's an area called Waterfall Gully Road, in the foothills, where one of the creeks comes down, and there's quite a few houses affected there ... there was 40 or so houses affected on that one road alone".^[5] Properties were flooded, two bridges nearly collapsed, and 100 metres of road was washed away. Burnside council workers, the CFS and the SES repaired the initial damage on the night while reconstruction of infrastructure commenced in late November. Much of the road had been inaccessible, and the suburb was closed except to residents and emergency workers for the remainder of the month. ^[6]

[edit] Geography

Waterfall Gully is situated at an average elevation of 234 metres above sea level, in an area of 6.08 km². Its most notable geographical features are its gully and waterfall. Three hundred metres from the start of Waterfall Gully Road is Langman Reserve, a large local park that was converted from a quarry in the late 1960s and is dedicated to the former mayor of the City of Burnside, W. Langman.^[7] Much of the north-eastern side of the gully is part of Cleland Conservation Park and many walking trails lead off into the park. Most of land on the south-western side is owned by the Burnside Council. Various fire and walking trails also run through it.

Since European Settlement the native plant life has been considerably affected, with the native Manna Gum and Blue Gum woodlands being largely cleared for agricultural uses.^[8] The large amount of non-native vegetation in the gully is predominantly the result of the relatively sudden end of agriculture. Olive groves and other introduced species were left to grow without being hindered by the activity of farm animals which had kept the hills relatively bare. The Burnside Council has undertaken programs to re-establish and protect native vegetation but little progress has been made in removing invasive non-native species such as olive trees, bamboo and blackberry bushes. Despite the introduction of European plant species, the native wildlife has not been visibly affected. A large number of unique Australian animals such as kangaroos, koalas and possums can be spotted on some of the walking trails.^[9]

Adjoining Waterfall Gully, two kilometres away, is Chambers Gully, which used to function as a land-fill, but has in the past decade been reclaimed as a park through volunteer work. It contains a number of old ruins, walking trails, and springs and is home to a significant number of native species. The extent to which it has been successfully reclaimed is evident by the return of various species of frogs.

[edit] Transport

Cars are the preferred mode of transport in the suburb. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 90% of residents are drivers or passengers of cars for their commute to work. Waterfall Gully is connected to the major Adelaide thoroughfare Greenhill Road by Waterfall Terrace and Glynburn Road. Traffic congestion is relatively light in comparison to the commute of those in the Northern or Southern suburbs, and considerably better than in other cities. Adelaide's city centre can typically be reached by car in 15 minutes.

Because of the area's seclusion, only an extremely small proportion (1.2%) walk to work and none cycle, which is in contrast to both the Adelaide Metropolitan Area and the City of Burnside as a whole. Limited bus services mean only 4% of Waterfall Gully residents travel to work by bus. The closest bus route for Waterfall Gully is the 142 bus, provided by the multi-service Adelaide Metro. This bus travels from North Terrace in the city proper to Glynburn Road, which is a few hundred metres from the start of Waterfall Gully Road.

Waterfall Gully Road is meandering and in some parts quite narrow. This has led to concerns on pedestrian safety, as the road is frequented by tourists, bushwalkers and cyclists. To address these concerns, the Burnside Council has created footpaths on some sections of the road and walking trails on others.

[edit] Residents

In the 2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing, the population of the Waterfall Gully census area was 2,285 people, in an area of 6.08 square kilometres. Females outnumbered males 54.2% to 45.8%. Some 21.4% of the population was born overseas (see chart for a breakdown).

The eight strongest religious affiliations in the area were (in descending order): Anglican, Catholic, Uniting, Lutheran, Orthodox Christian, Presbyterian, Baptist, Church of Christ, Buddhist and Islam. The three most common forms of dwelling were (in decreasing order): a separate house, a semi-detached house, and a flat or apartment. Waterfall Gully residents are more affluent than the Adelaide average, with a high occurrence of incomes over AU$1000 per week, which is also the second highest in the City of Burnside. A majority of workers are employed in professional or white collar fields.

The average age in Waterfall Gully is increasing, though at a slower rate than in Australia as a whole. Waterfall Gully has the second highest proportion of under-18s in the City of Burnside and the second lowest number of couples without children. Family numbers are also stable (2.6) with only a 0.01% drop between the 1996 and 2001 censuses. Also of note is the high occurrence of religious affiliation (73%) in Waterfall Gully in comparison to the Adelaide (and national) average. Christian belief (70%) is most prominent, with little growth in other religions.

[edit] Attractions

The main attraction of Waterfall Gully is the waterfall, First Falls. It is at the south-eastern end of the road, in land owned by Cleland Conservation Park. The weir at the bottom of the Waterfall was constructed in the late 1800s and was part of Adelaide's early water supply. Development in the area has continued since the construction of a restaurant in 1912. Recent developments began in 1995 and were completed in 2005.

The Waterfall Gully Restaurant was constructed between 1911 and 1912 by South Australian architects Albert Selmar Conrad and his brother Frank, who were of German descent. Prior to World War I, the building was referred to as being of "German Character" but has not been referred to in this way since, although it is still noted for its "Alpine" style. Extended in 1914, and converted to a restaurant in the late 1950s, it was later closed but reopened in the late 1990s and has recently undergone renovations.^[10]

Other fire tracks and walking trails wind around the hills that surround Waterfall Gully, branching off from Chambers Gully, Woolshed Gully or the area around First Creek. Destinations include Crafers, Eagle on the Hill, Mount Lofty, Mount Osmond and the Cleland Wildlife Park, located in the Cleland Conservation Park. The tracks have been completely rebuilt and resurfaced in the past ten years, and a number of older and more perilous routes have been sealed because of the difficult terrain. Many offer views of the city of Adelaide, as well as the Gully itself. One of these is notable for connecting to the 1200-kilometre-long Heysen Trail, and the trails are highly frequented.

Early excavation efforts explain the silver-lead mines that operated around the area in the nineteenth century. Many still exist and some are still accessible. Mined by predominantly Cornish miners, the mineshafts are roughly 1.7 meters high and a meter across. They were only slightly successful compared to the considerably richer mines at Wheal Watkins in nearby Glen Osmond but are still of interest to those who manage to locate them. The mines are secluded and relatively unknown.

Greenhill Springs, located on Waterfall Gully Road, has been supplying spring water to the local Adelaide populace since 1952. The water is supposed to have therapeutic qualities and has been used to treat hospital patients in the past. The springs have been a family-owned business since their inception.

[edit] Politics

2006 State Elections[11]   Liberal 58.7%   Labor 25.7%   Greens 8.2%   Democrats 4.1%   Family First 3.3%

2004 Federal Elections[12]   Liberal 64.2%   Labor 24.2%   Greens 6.1%   Democrats 2.5%   Family First 2.4%

Waterfall Gully could be categorised as a fairly socially conservative and economically liberal suburb. Many of its residents, being high-income earners, have benefited from the Coalition government's economic policies. The residents are primarily of British descent and show higher-than-average religious devotion. This fits in well with the demographic of a stereotypical Liberal Party voter. Consequently the Liberal Party polls very well in the area with around 65% of the vote in the last two elections. Progressive parties, such as the Labor Party and the Greens receive the majority of the remaining votes.

Waterfall Gully is part of the state electoral district of Bragg, which has been held since 2002 by Liberal MP Vickie Chapman. In federal politics, the suburb is part of the division of Sturt, and has been represented by Christopher Pyne since 1993. The results shown are from the closest polling station to Waterfall Gully — which is located outside of the suburb — at St David's Church Hall on nearby Glynburn Road (Burnside).

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Adelaide Metro
• Christopher Pyne MP
• City of Burnside Community Profile, statistics taken from the ABS
• City of Burnside Electoral Areas
• Cleland National Park
• The Greater Mount Lofty Parklands (Yurrebilla)
• History of the Burnside CFS
• History of the City of Burnside

[edit] External links

Coordinates: -34.960° 138.676°

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
• Cycle2Max's page on Waterfall Gully
• Greenhill Springs

City of Burnside
History of Burnside | Burnside Civic Centre | Burnside War Memorial Hospital | Burnside Village
Auldana | Beaumont | Beulah Park | Burnside | Dulwich | Eastwood | Erindale | Frewville | Glen Osmond | Glenside | Glenunga | Hazelwood Park | Kensington Gardens | Kensington Park | Leabrook | Leawood Gardens | Linden Park | Magill | Mount Osmond | Rose Park | Rosslyn Park | Skye | St. Georges | Stonyfell | Toorak Gardens | Tusmore | Waterfall Gully | Wattle Park