Town of Kwinana
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Kwinana is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 118 square kilometres in metropolitan Perth, and lies about 40 km south of the Perth CBD, via the Kwinana Freeway. Kwinana maintains 287 km of roads and has a population of 20,812. Kwinana is also the name of a suburb within this municipality.
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[edit] History
Kwinana was named after the SS Kwinana, a ship that was driven ashore there in 1922. Some of its suburbs take their names from the sailing ships that first brought immigrants to Western Australia, for example, Medina, Calista and Parmelia.
Kwinana is actually an Aboriginal word, from the Kimberley region, meaning 'pretty maiden'. Many think this has turned out to be ironic, as Kwinana has a very large industrial area and the urban sprawl connects with neighbouring areas, so that there is no significant break until Fremantle.
[edit] Industry
BP was the founder of the industrial area, in conjunction with the state government. The state government ensured that port facilities were developed to enable the offloading of significant amounts of oil. BP runs Western Australia's only oil refinery in Kwinana, and there are many other associated petro-chemical companies nearby, for example Coogee Chemicals [1].
[edit] Facilities
That said, Kwinana is not just an urban sprawl, there are three public beaches at Cockburn Sound looking out to Garden Island. The SS Kwinana herself is actually part of the jetty at Kwinana Beach. The rusting hulk of the ship was cut down to low water level and the centre was filled with limestone to form a platform. There are also wetlands and bushlands in the Kwinana area. The Spectacles are the local wetlands and are so named because of their appearance from the air.
The local companies are keen to be seen preserving the environment and claim to demonstrate the best practice in production methods and environmental safeguards. The BP Kwinana Refinery is apparently responsible for 'Australia's cleanest petrol' - BP Ultimate, which matches the stringent environmental specifications demanded in Europe and the USA.
Kwinana also is home to a centre of attraction for Drag Racing, Dirt Track Speedway, Burnout Competitions, Street Machine shows and Super Cross events. The Perth Motorplex [2](formerly known as Quit Motorplex) opened in December 2000 at a cost of AUD$20 million with catering, licensed bars, state of the art stadium lighting and the "Snake Pit", a purpose built and dedicated burn out section. The venue holds many prestigious events including the Westernationals (drag racing), World Series Sprintcars (speedway) and Motorvation (car show).
[edit] Suburbs
- Anketell
- Bertram
- Calista
- Casuarina
- Hope Valley
- Kwinana
- Kwinana Beach
- Kwinana Town Centre
- Leda
- Mandogalup
- Medina
- Naval Base
- Orelia
- Parmelia
- Postans
- The Spectacles
- Wandi
- Wellard
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Map of Industrial Area (pdf - 1.8Mb)
- Town of Kwinana Website
- Google map showing Kwinana, Garden Island on the left, the Naval base at the top and the Spectacles at the right hand side
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