Clovelly Park, South Australia

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Clovelly Park
Adelaide, South Australia

English Avenue, looking east towards South Road

Population:

2,718 (2001)^[1]

Postcode:

5042

Area:

10.1 km² (3.9 sq mi)

Property Value:

AUD $257,500 (2007)

Location:

10 km (6 mi) from City-centre

LGA:

City of Marion

State District:

Elder, Mitchell

Federal Division:

Boothby

Suburbs around Clovelly Park:
Ascot Park	Edwardstown	Melrose Park
Mitchell Park	Clovelly Park	St. Marys
Bedford Park	Bedford Park	Bedford Park

Clovelly Park is an inner southern suburb of Adelaide in the local government area of the City of Marion. Before becoming an 'advanced' suburb, it was a farm and vineyard. It has a population of around 2,700. The borders are defined by Daws Road to the north, South Road to the east, Sturt Road to the south, and a combination of Percy Avenue and the Tonsley railway line to the west. It is situated approximately 20 minutes from the CBD, and about 10 minutes from Flinders University, Flinders Medical Centre and Westfield Marion.

It is the location of the Mitsubishi plant, although this is often called Tonsley Park, due to the former name of that part of the suburb.

For a time, Clovelly Park was also referred to as Chrysler Park due to misprints on street directories labeling the train station as 'Chrysler Park' railway station and the Chrysler plant (which was later taken over by Mitsubishi Australia). This was also because of the Chrysler Pub and Chrysler car sales.

1 Schools and Childcare
2 Shopping
3 Parks and Community Halls
4 Health and Community Services
5 Transport
6 Politics
7 References

[edit] Schools and Childcare

Clovelly Park Primary School

The area contains a government primary school - Clovelly Park Primary School - which caters to approximately 330 students from reception to grade 7. The nearest government secondary school is Mitchell Park's Hamilton Secondary College. St Bernadette's School in St. Marys is a lower-primary Catholic school, teaching from reception to grade 5, and is located on the other (eastern) side of South Road. Sacred Heart College Middle School in Mitchell Park provides Catholic schooling for boys in grades 6-9, while Westminster School is an independent Uniting Church school catering for students from reception to year 12, and is just a short distance from the suburb.

There is no kindergarten within the suburb, but Mitchell Park Kindergarten is close by, and the suburb houses an ABC Learning Centre.

A plan to convert an existing shopping complex on South Road into an independent primary school for the Exclusive Brethren^[2] was approved (subject to minor changes) by the City of Marion's Development Assessment Panel on December 6, 2007.^[3]

Clovelly Park Primary School houses the office of Family Life SA[1] which delivers programs and provides resources on sexuality education to schools around the state.

Finally, Clovelly Park was the location of the former Marion High School, established 1955, which closed in 1996. The old high school grounds were converted into a housing estate, but the school hall remains.

[edit] Shopping

There are a number of retail stores lining South Road, including a local Cash Converters, a garden center and a snack bar, but there are no significant shopping centers situated within Clovelly Park. The nearest is Park Holme Shopping Centre, which is within walking distance of the residential portion of the suburb. However, South Road provides ready access to the CBD and to Castle Plaza in Edwardstown, while Westfield Marion in Oaklands Park possesses over 300 stores and is readily accessible by road and public transport.

[edit] Parks and Community Halls

Rosslyn Avenue Reserve

The largest park within the suburb is Rosslyn Avenue Reserve, which sits between Rosslyn Avenue and Beverley Street at the northern end of the suburb. Rosslyn Avenue Reserve has a playground, seating and a playing area.

The Clovelly Park Reserve lies between Scottish and Australian Avenues. It features a playground, a community hall, electric barbecues and tennis courts that can be hired by the general public.

Cosgrove Hall

Slightly further south, on the site of the former Marion High School, sits Cosgrove Hall - the original school hall and gymnasium. The hall can be hired for a variety of purposes, and the site includes the Graham Watts Playground, a basketball net and undercover seating. The hall can be found on the corner of York Street and Scott Avenue.

On the corner of Kensington Street and Windsor Avenue, just west of Cosgrove Hall, is situated Kensington Reserve. While it doesn't possess any play equipment, it does provide seating.

Byron Avenue Reserve, which resides next to the old Clovelly Park Scout Hall on Byron Avenue, encompasses 0.49 hectares which are in the process of being revegetated with pre-European flora. The reserve contains 200 year old river red gums, and used to include Viaduct Creek before the creek was built over as part of the Chrysler/Mitsubishi development.^[4]

Finally, hidden behind units on Cohen Court and the southern end of Windsor Avenue is a small reserve containing seating and a playground.

Although not located in Clovelly Park, the adjacent Mitchell Park Reserve on Bradley Grove provides a full-sized playing oval, a community hall, tennis courts, barbecues, large open spaces and two playgrounds.

[edit] Health and Community Services

The Southern Clinic provides health services for the area, with six medical doctors on staff. The clinic is open Monday to Saturday, and out-of-hours appointments can be organized for Sundays. Counseling and related services are available through the Inner Southern Community Health Service[2], which includes the Aboriginal Health House on the corner of Wingfield Street and Newton Avenue. More serious cases are handled at the Flinders Medical Centre, which is a short drive away and directly accessible by public transport.

Clovelly Park Pharmacy sits alongside the Southern Clinic and the Community Health Service on South Road.

[edit] Transport

The suburb lies adjacent to South Road to the east, and Marion Road lies a short distance to the west. South Road is the main north-south arterial road in Adelaide, and thus it provides rapid access to a large portion of the city. Limited east-west travel is facilitated through Daws Road/Oaklands Road to the north and Sturt Road to the south.

Clovelly Park is well serviced by public transport. Frequent buses run along South Road, and both the 213 and 297 run through the center of the suburb. In addition, the northern residential portion of Clovelly Park is serviced by the Mitchell Park railway station on the Tonsley railway line. Clovelly Park railway station primarily services the southern portion of Mitchell Park and Mitsubishi's Tonsley plant, while Tonsley station handles the southern end of the suburb, as well as being in walking distance of Flinders University. The Noarlunga Centre railway line, which provides more services than the Tonsley line, is close by and is accessible via the Ascot Park railway station to the north of the suburb.

According to the 2006 census by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, just under 11% of the employed population of the suburb used public transport to travel to work,^[5] up from 9% in the 2001 census. The majority (68%) of those traveling to work using a single form of transport relied on cars, motorbikes and trucks, with 7% of those employed choosing to travel as a passenger.