Mirrabooka

'Mirrabooka' is an Aboriginal name for the constellation known as the Southern Cross. In the 1960’s Mirrabooka was planned to be a satellite city to accommodate the increasing post-war population. 

In the early days of the colony, population growth encouraged the development of new settlement.  To best accommodate the early settlers and share around both the good land and the sandy soil, James Stirling had the allocations made into long strips with a river frontage, which meant that the settlers had access to the river for transport.

Later settlers who moved away from the main settlement in Perth were looking for land on which to graze animals and grow vegetables and other food crops.  This area here was originally part of Osborne Park, with the boundary at Widgee Road. William Osborne, butcher and grazier, owned a large portion of Swan location Au. He had a slaughter yard on the other side of Main Street near the junction with Wanneroo Road.  Osborne has been remembered in the name of the suburb.  William Osborne moved to Geraldton where he continued in the cattle trade. Adjacent to Osborne’s land was Balcatta Park, owned by Jesse Chivrel until 1875, when he sold it to Charles Mews, a Perth contractor. Chivrel was another grazier who leased land as well as owning this area.  Graziers and market gardeners sought out land for lease which contained permanent water supplies or swampy areas so that there would be feed for the animals, or enough moisture in the ground to grow crops for the best part of the year.  A string of lakes and waterholes marked this area from at least as far south as Mandurah to the larger lakes in the north of Wanneroo

Gradually, people spread out in search of arable land a good place to live. Following World War II, much more land was released for housing for the returned service personnel, and that time now known as the baby boomer period began. Scarborough, Innaloo and Wembley Downs were settled in the 1950s in Housing Commission homes. The first attempts to resume 3,000 hectares as the site for Mirrabooka were made in 1950, however, the original landowner appealed against the resumption and it took quite a few years, until the 1960s for the land to become available for construction of the satellite city, where the planners anticipated the building of over 16,000 houses as well as civic and recreational facilities.  People working in Perth and in the northern industrial areas would form the majority of the residents. In the meantime, home building progressed in Nollamara from 1956, and in Balga from 1959.

In 1968, ward boundaries in the shire of Perth were rearranged to create the new Balga Ward, covering Nollamara, Balga and Yirrigan as well as the proposed Mirrabooka satellite city. The suburb of Yirrigan was established in 1954 and is an Aboriginal word meaning elevated.  It is easy to see from surrounding areas that much of Mirrabooka, including the Shopping Centre, is definitely on the top of the hill.  The boundary changes reflected the rapid population growth in these suburbs.  A new suburb was created in 1974, and named Turana, an Aboriginal word meaning rainbow. Turana became northern Dianella, i.e. Dianella Heights, in 1980. The Yirrigan area became known as Mirrabooka in 1982.

1963 saw the opening of Mirrabooka Primary School, while the High School opened in 1965, both in response to the burgeoning number of pupils at the Balga and Nollamara primary schools. Balga High School opened in 1970. Prior to these high schools opening, students had to travel to Tuart Hill High School or a private school for secondary education. Mirrabooka contains a considerable amount of public open space and parks, with the largest reserve being the Mirrabooka Regional Open Space on Reid Highway. Recreational facilities include the Herb Graham Sports Complex, an ice-skating rink, squash courts and the Western Australian Softball Association softball fields.  

Revitalisation of the area commenced with an Enquiry by Design (EbD) workshop led by the then Ministry for Planning (now Department for Planning and Infrastructure) and involving participation from the local community, major landowners and the City of Stirling.  The draft community plan was developed in 2005 and endorsed by Council in 2006.  One result of that plan is the development of some of the land from the Open Space for housing in the Northwood Grove subdivision, where both development sized blocks and cottage blocks will be available by auction. Another is a grant from the National Crime Commission investigate the reasons for, and produce plans to reduce, crime in the area. The Mirrabooka Square Shopping Centre opened on 3 October 1978 by Premier, Sir Charles Court.