Karratha, Western Australia

Karratha is a significant town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia which was developed with the onset of the iron-ore mining and export in the region. The town name came from the cattle station that the land for the town was resumed from. Karratha in the local Aboriginal language means good country or soft earth.^[1]

1 Location
2 Suburbs
3 Economic
4 Facilities
5 Related Urban Myths
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Location

It is located approximately 1,535 kilometres (954 mi) north of Perth and 850 kilometres (528 mi) south of Broome on the North West Coastal Highway.

Karratha is well connected by air to Perth. Karratha Airport is the second busiest in Western Australia; it only has one passenger airliner, Qantas. Virgin Blue is considering services with their brand new Embraer Jets along with Oz Jet and Skywest would like to reinstate services. Qantas has also announced a weekly Boeing 737-800 service between Brisbane and Karratha. This will be the first link between the Pilbara Region and the East Coast.^[2]

[edit] Suburbs

Karratha is composed of five main suburbs: Bulgarra, Pegs Creek, Millars Well, Nickol and the newer Baynton; and one industrial suburb, known as either the LIA (Light Industrial Area) or KIE (Karratha Industrial Estate). Its education system consists of 4 public primary schools and one private primary school, one public and one private high school, and one TAFE centre with University facilities and a major library.

Karratha's housing developments continue to rise, with new villages and suburbs being built. The Tambrey Centre has its own residential housing, which is currently under construction. Nickol has also been expanded with "Nickol West" being completed in late 2008. Baynton West is also being developed, expected all lots will be built and occupied by 2009/2010

[edit] Economic

Its economic base includes local iron ore, salt mining, ammonia export operations, together with the North West Shelf Natural Gas Project, Australia's largest natural resource development. All this makes it the biggest town in the Northwest with a population of 15,796. Karratha came into being in the late 1960s due to the tremendous growth of the iron ore industry and the need for a new regional centre caused by the lack of land in Dampier. Karratha also has the biggest shopping centre in the Pilbara, called Centro Karratha which has a freshly refurbished Woolworths, Coles, Kmart and Target Country. The town also has a smaller centre called Karratha Village which has a chemist, cinemas, dentist and Doctors. Each year in August Pilbara Iron, Dampier Salt, Woodside Petroleum, and other smaller companies sponsor one of the largest festivals in the North West going on for two days. It is known as FeNaClNG, which stands for Fe-Iron, NaCl-Salt, and NG-Natural Gas.

[edit] Facilities

Karratha has a few restaurants and local hangout spots for different age groups, two main night clubs, a cinema With new establishments being built including a bowling alley, gentlemen's club, KFC and Hungry Jacks.

KFC is currently being built behind Coles and K-mart. Major work has been done and it should be open by the end of June 2008.

Hungry Jacks is also reputed to be considering a Karratha store, which at this stage will be located in the Bank carpark across from McDonalds and Chicken Treat.

Once KFC and Hungry Jacks are built, Karratha will have all major Australian fast food chains; Subway, KFC, McDonalds, Hungry Jacks and Chicken Treat.

Woolworths Petrol has also been built across from where Northwest Ford was located and on the site that the dive shop was located on. Karratha will benefit from this greatly and will make Woolworths an even more attractive place to shop.

Karratha can be ravaged from tropical cyclones each year, with the most fierce cyclone lately being Severe Tropical Cyclone Glenda in early 2006.

Karratha townsite at dusk.

[edit] Related Urban Myths

Two of the many urban myths that circulate around the community are those relating to the Scrub monkey and the Gully Monster. Drop bears may also be mentioned by humorous locals to tourists.