Bayswater Information
The City of Bayswater known as the “Garden City” is an LGA in the inner north east of Perth, located 9km northeast of the CBD. The City covers a beautifully maintained area of 32 square kilometres and had a population of approximately 62,000 in 2010. It is home to 10km of Swan River foreshore.
The City is wedged between the LGAs of Swan and Stirling and is part of a hinterland corridor which sits between the coastal plain and the escarpment of the Darling Range.
Even in the 1930s Bayswater was still largely rural and populated with dairies, poultry farms, nurseries and Chinese market gardens throughout the district. These were interspersed between the working class residential houses. The railway workshops in Midland were a major employer of these residents.
The Great Depression was devastating to Bayswater. Applications for families to live in tents began in 1931 and one tent settlement at the northern end of Beechboro Road was inhabited by disillusioned settlers. However in 1933 Bayswater introduced its first Town Planning Scheme, three decades ahead of many other nearby local governments. The scheme solidified the growth of the industrial area in the east of the Bayswater area and land for future residential growth was set aside.
Although unemployment fell after 1934, the effects of the Depression were felt until the outbreak of the World War II when many Bayswater residents went overseas to fight.
After World War II a dramatic period of growth occurred in the district, as returning soldiers and then immigrants arrived throughout Australia and between 1947 and 1954 the population doubled to 14,555. Rapid growth was typical of many parts of the district and basic facilities such as schools were not built until well after they were needed.
During the late 1950s Morley began to develop as a shopping and commercial area and this growth fuelled a large new area of state housing in Embleton and during the 1960s the shire developed more rapidly again.
During the 1970s the suburb of Noranda developed through a resumptive scheme with the shire acting as developer for a number of land owners. It was planned for years before being finally released for sale and was followed by another resumptive scheme at the Carramar Estate.
In the early 1980s the Tonkin Highway was built. The highway cut straight through the communities of Whatley and Hampton Park. The construction also cut off the old routes of Walter Road and Beechboro Road and an overpass was built at Broun Avenue.
In 1983, the shire became the City of Bayswater.
Morley is now the largest commercial district after Perth and Fremantle and continues to grow. There is little opportunity for further residential expansion in the City and the population has stabilised.
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