Joondalup, Western Australia

Joondalup is a suburban centre 26 km north of Perth's centre, and a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It is the centre of the local government area of the City of Joondalup (although the suburb previously resided in the City of Wanneroo before these areas were altered).

Joondalup is a relatively modern, 'northern suburb' area of Perth. Joondalup's centre is an extensive shopping and retail area, in addition to a large library, a major police station and other commercial and government organisations. There are two major education centres in Joondalup, a campus of TAFE and a recently-built campus of Edith Cowan University. Some entertainment venues include The Old Bailey, Dusk, and Grand Boulevard Tavern, which stay open until the early hours of the morning. Another feature of the city is the Joondalup Resort. This golf resort features 27 holes. The city pavements feature tiles hand-painted by local school children.

One of Perth's oldest WAFL clubs, the West Perth Football Club, moved to Joondalup in the 1990s and has since done exceedingly well in the WAFL competition, their latest premiership coming in 2003 over rivals Subiaco.

Tourism and public services

The main accommodation in Joondalup is the Joondalup resort, which is located at Joondalup Golf Course. A new hotel, Joondalup City Hotel, is now open on Grand Boulevard. Joondalup's public transport system is primarily served by Transperth, who operate quarterly hour rail services (8 services an hour in peak times) from Perth (26km south), and Clarkson (6km north). Joondalup station is located in the city centre. Also available are CAT Buses, and the Mitchell/Kwinana Freeway to Baldivis via Perth.

Joondalup is located a quarter of an hour from Hillarys Boat Harbour. Walking tracks near Lake Joondalup and through the Yellagonga National Park are also available. However, Joondalup is still a bit of a drive from Perth in some respects. Perth is 25 minutes away and the domestic & international airport terminals are 40 minutes away; even Pearce Airport is closer to Joondalup than Perth's commuter air terminal.

Local music legend J.R lives in Connolly, however his father owns a house in Joondalup. It has since become a popular tourist destination.

Business in Joondalup

Joondalup has many businesses in its district from Child play centres, to furniture, to hardware, to banks, to coffee shops. Joondalup Business Park has a wide variety and you hardly need to leave Joondalup to get something you want. Also, the Joondalup Home and Lifestyle expo is an annual exhibition (at Arena Joondalup) which is run by the Joondalup Business Association and sponsored by ANZ banks and the City of Joondalup. It is a great chance for businesses to display their services and products. The expo is usually late March to early April every year. There's no business like snow business

Statistics

Area: 98.9 km²
Length of coastline: 17.46 km.
Length of roads: 975 km.
Population: 156,738.
Wage earners: 70,574.
Unemployment: 3,154.
Residents' annual income: 2,508.1 million $AU.
Number of dwellings: 53,493.
Area of parks: 5.92 km²
Area of bushland: 1.75 km²
Annual expenditure of the Council: 112 million $AU.

(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, June 2002)

Suburbs

Council controversy 2003–2004

Joondalup City's elected Council (including the mayor) was suspended by the Minister for Local Government Tom Stephens on 5 December 2003 after complaints were received indicating that the council had become dysfunctional. The Council was replaced by five Commissioners: Chairman John Paterson (former mayor of Nedlands), Peter Clough, Michael Anderson, Anne Fox and Steve Smith. The Council's power was temporarily transferred to the Commissioners, for a period envisioned to last until the Local Government elections in May 2005 (as it turned out, the next elections were in fact held in May 2006, under Section 4.14 of the Local Government Act 1995 ^*).

A subsequent inquiry, referred to as the McIntyre Inquiry as it is chaired by Greg McIntyre, revealed in October 2005 that the Council had effectively split in two opposing groups over the controversy around the qualifications of the city's Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The CEO in question, Denis Smith, had been accused of misrepresenting his educational qualifications by deputy mayor Don Carlos. Don Carlos demanded Denis Smith's immediate dismissal, but his motion was unsuccessful. The councillors opposed to Denis Smith's dismissal expressed the view that the CEO should not be dismissed as his performance was satisfactory. Instead, the council passed a motion forbidding Don Carlos from publicly criticizing Denis Smith. Don Carlos became mayor of the City at the next election.

Important Areas

Edith Cowan University (Joondalup Campus)
West Coast College of TAFE
The Arena Sports Complex (Home of the West Perth Falcons of the Western Australian Football League)
Joondalup Basketball Stadium (Home of the Wanneroo Wolves of the State Basketball League)

Reference

Community - Wanneroo Times October 19-25, 2004.

External links

Local Government Areas of Western Australia | Local Government Areas of Perth | Suburbs of Perth

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