The City of Joondalup is a local government area in Perth, Western Australia. Its central business district is located in the suburb Joondalup, and it includes the town centres of Hillarys and Warwick.
History Prior to the 1970s, the region now known as the City of Joondalup was sparsely populated. During the 1980s and 1990s, massive growth occurred, partly due to State Government policies which made Joondalup a regional centre, including the extension of the Mitchell Freeway and the construction of the Joondalup railway line.
Until 1998, the area had been controlled by the City of Wanneroo and its predecessors. An independent commission suggested the creation of Joondalup out of the coastal areas of Wanneroo, and the City of Joondalup came into existence on 1 July 1998.
Early history The city is named after Lake Joondalup. The name Joondalup is a Noongar word, first recorded in 1837 and possibly meaning either "place of whiteness or glistening", or "place of a creature that can only move backwards"..
Early planning During the latter part of the 1960s, the Metropolitan Regional Planning Authority developed the Corridor Plan for Perth which was published and adopted in 1970. The plan called for the creation of five "sub-regional" retail centres (Fremantle, Joondalup, Midland, Armadale and Rockingham) which would form the commercial and economic focus of each "node", and take the retail burden away from the CBD. The Corridor Plan was not endorsed by Parliament until 1973.
In order to grow both the five "sub-regional" retail centres and these off-corridor regional shopping centres, a Retail Shopping Policy was developed by MRPA in 1976, and a Perth Metropolitan Region Retail Structure Plan was put in place to regulate the industry. This Plan was amended as new centres were required.
Most of the land in the area remained largely undeveloped until the 1960s, and Joondalup started to become the "city of the north" towards the late 1980s to the early 1990s when houses and businesses were established in the area.
Development of a new city in the north Release of land blocks in the future City of Joondalup proceeded slowly in 1991, with lots created in the newer suburbs of Clarkson (224), Ocean Reef (202), Kinross (185), Joondalup (168) and Woodvale (147).
The Joondalup Country Club was sold to private investors for $21 million in 1992, with the new owners being Cremorne Investments, Whale Beach Investments, Edge Cliff Investments and Grovestyle Australia from March 1992. The new owners would work with the City of Wanneroo and Joondalup Development Corporation on a new clubhouse and condominiums to the value of $80 million.
In February 1992, Services Minister Jim McGinty proposed establishing another technology park in Perth's north in the Joondalup City Centre to meet demand and diversify the city's economic base. A technology working group was formed by the Joondalup Development Corporation and representatives from Edith Cowan University and the State Development Department.
In March 1992, Planning Minister David Smith announced the government's North West Corridor Structure Plan. Joondalup was confirmed to be a future city in the north-west, not as a dormitory suburb, but the new city and its surrounding areas would have its own employment, education, health, entertainment, cultural opportunities and administration. The plan would be implemented by the City of Wanneroo.
Also in March 1992 was the announcement of the appointment of architects Philip Cox, Etherington, Coulter and Jones to design a new $25 million regional sports complex at Joondalup. The proposal called for a sports building with a sports hall, gymnasium, aerobics centre, squash courts and function, social and administrative rooms, a fenced football oval and grandstand, all-weather surface sports arena, including two floodlit hockey pitches and an athletics and soccer area with a grass track.
To boost the North West Corridor Structure Plan, Premier Carmen Lawrence announced in May 1992, the transfer of 1.5 ha of land worth $6 million to the Wanneroo City Council for civic, cultural and commercial development and $20 million, to be matched by the council, for new civic and cultural facilities. Joondalup Development Corporation would be involved in the planning and development.
June 1992 saw the Ocean Reef Road bridge at the end of the Mitchell freeway open and the tender for the completion of the new Edgewater Station just north of the bridge, was awarded after the completion of the platform walls and pedestrian footbridge. Other work completed was a main access road, roundabout and junction with Joondalup Drive.
Work on the layout and construction of Central Park in the Joondalup CBD began in August 1992 with the work completed in March 1993.
The first stage of Joondalup TAFE opened in August 1992 costing $10 million.
In September 1992, the Joondalup Development Corporation was merged into LandCorp and they would manage the future development in Joondalup.
In late December 1992, Premier Carmen Lawrence opened the Perth-Joondalup rail link with a full service running from March 1993 integrated with the bus network linking the new CBD to Perth.
Lands Minister George Cash announced in April 1993 that the contract for stage one of the Joondalup Shopping Centre had been awarded to Consolidated Constructions at $44 million and the centre would be jointly owned by LandCorp and Armstrong Jones Property Income Fund.
In May 1993, Lands Minister George Cash, at a ceremony at the beginning of the building phase of the new LandCorp and the City of Wanneroo sports complex, announced the name as the Joondalup Area. The ovals had been grassed and fenced, and the athletics track, hockey fields and tennis courts had been laid out.
Joondalup Magistrate Court was officially opened by Premier Richard Court in June 1993.
Transport Minister Eric Charlton announced in July 1993 that the $2.9 million Currambine railway station would be officially opened on 8 August which was the final phase of the railway link at that time. Initial parking for 400 cars would be provided but could be increased to 800 car parking bays eventually.
North-West Corridor was financed in the September 1993 State budget with $48.9 million allocated to LandCorp for projects in Joondalup. $12.5 million to complete Stage 1 of the Joondalup Arena, $14 million for the construction of Stage 2 of the shopping centre, $13.8 million for further releases and servicing of land, and $8.6 million for inner-city infrastructure like roads, and civic and cultural facilities. Other amounts in the Budget allocated to the Joondalup region include $4.8 million to complete Stage 1 and the construction of Stage 2 of the Joondalup TAFE, $1.2 million to complete the new Joondalup Courthouse, $950,000 for a new fire, $208,000 for the new Joondalup Primary School, $82,000 for community health needs analysis and $300,000 to begin planning and designing of new health facilities in the Wanneroo-Joondalup area. $60,000 to spend providing fuel containment bunds at Joondalup.
In November 1993, developed for $2.7 million, Lands Minister George Cash opened Central Park linking the city with Yellagonga Regional Park on Lake Joondalup.
Premier Richard Court opened the $80 million stage one of Lakeside Joondalup Shopping in November 1994. Stage one consisted of 26,500 sqm of the planned 80,000 sqm centre which was a joint venture by LandCorp and the Armstrong Jones Retail Fund. Stage two was scheduled to open in 1997 and stage three in 2000. Panels of Teflon-coated fibreglass were stretched over prefabricated steel over the centre's roof to create the illusion of huge sails.
The second stage of Joondalup TAFE opened in July 1995 costing $6 million.
In September 1995, LandCorp announced a $2million project, part of Joondalup City North, which saw Plaistow Street designed as a residential street where thirteen display houses were built.
February 1996 saw the official opening of a new fire station to service the Joondalup region by Emergency Services Minister Bob Wiese.
Lands Minister Doug Shave announced in April 1997 that LandCorp would commit nearly $15 million on further infrastructure development in Joondalup that included the new cinemas, extending Lakeside Drive southwards, and land release around the city's CBD.
On 24 April 1996, then Health Minister Kevin Prince announced an expansion of the old Wanneroo hospital into a health campus.
In May 1996, the State Budget saw funding in the areas covering the city of Joondalup. This included a performing arts complex at Belridge High School, the expansion of the Joondalup shopping complex with 3,500 sqm extra shopping space, two new restaurants and the six cinema complex by 1998 and, the expansion of the Beenyup wastewater treatment plant on Ocean Reef Road.
The budget of 1996 saw further expansion of the Joondalup TAFE campus saw the construction of a library resource centre, student cafeteria as well as a conference and communication facilities.
In November 1996, Premier Richard Court has announced that the Mitchell Freeway will be extended 2.6 km to Hodges Drive which would give the city's CBD more direct access to the freeway.
Sport and Recreation Minister Norman Moore and Lands Minister Graham Kierath announced in November 1996 that the Western Australian Sports Centre Trust will take over ownership and management of the Arena Joondalup from LandCorp on 1 January 1997.
November 1996 also saw the announcement that the old WA Police training facility at Maylands, built-in 1961, would be moved to Joondalup with the planning of a new police academy.
Arts Minister Peter Foss opened the Joondalup Public Library in July 1997 at the Joondalup Civic Centre, at the time, the largest public library in Western Australia.
In June 2003 Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan announced that after 25 years, the Joondalup development project had been completed and that planning control by LandCorp would be handed over to the City of Joondalup. The vision began with a statutory plan by Professor Gordon Stephenson in 1977. Over those years, investments of $270 million by LandCorp and the Joondalup Development Corporation, $500 million by the State Government, $2 million by the cities of Wanneroo and Joondalup and more than $1 billion by the private sector had been spent developing the new city.
New local government June 1997 saw Local Government Minister Paul Omodei make a formal proposal to the Local Government Advisory Board that it split the City of Wanneroo into two local governments. The proposal was for the new City of Joondalup to have a northern boundary close to Tamala Park while its eastern boundary would be set by Wanneroo Road and Lake Joondalup.
By March 1998 a decision had been made and Local Government Minister Paul Omodei announced that the City of Wanneroo is to be split into two local governments, the City of Joondalup and the Shire of Wanneroo and that would occur on 1 July 1998 and would be both run by commissioner’s until future elections were held. The boundary of the City of Joondalup at its northern end, would start from the ocean through Balirgowie Heights to the northern alignment of the freeway, follow the eastern side of Lake Joondalup to Ocean Reef Road, then east to Wanneroo Road to Beach Road in the south then west to Marmion Avenue and back into Beach Road to the sea at Marmion.