Ellenbrook, Western Australia

This article is about the suburb. For the stream, see Ellen Brook.

Ellenbrook Perth, Western Australia
Ellenbrook Library as seen from Main Street
Coordinates	31.765°S 115.988°E / -31.765; 115.988
Population	24,668 (SAL 2021)
Established	1992
Postcode(s)	6069
LGA(s)	City of Swan
State electorate(s)	Swan Hills, West Swan
Federal division(s)	Hasluck
Suburbs around Ellenbrook: Melaleuca Melaleuca The Vines Lexia Ellenbrook Aveley Whiteman Henley Brook Aveley

Ellenbrook is an outer suburb and planned community in Perth, Western Australia, located 28 km (17 mi) northeast of Perth's central business district within the City of Swan.

At the time of the 2016 census there were 22,681 people living in Ellenbrook. By June 2018, it was estimated that the urban population for Ellenbrook and surrounds had grown to 41,382.

Ellenbrook is a designated secondary activity centre within the Perth metropolitan area, serving the adjoining communities of Aveley, The Vines and Henley Brook, with which it forms a contiguous urban area.

Villages and urban design

The suburb of Ellenbrook was principally built by LWP Property Group. Development was staged over two decades with a series of residential 'villages', each with a distinct theme in housing, streetscape and landscape architecture.

Each village offers a range of differing dwellings, from apartments, micro-lots and townhouses to two-storey houses, large acreages and over-55s retirement housing. One of its primary design principles was to cater to as wide an array of ages, vocations and abilities as possible.

Ellenbrook Villages

Stage	Village name	Theme	Planning and urban design consultants	Chief urban planner	Chief urban designer
Village 1	Woodlake Village		Roberts Day/Peter Cala & Associates	Tim Trefry	Mike Day
Village 2	The Bridges	Tuscan	Roberts Day/Blackwell & Associates	Tim Trefry	Mike Day
Village 3	Coolamon	Contemporary Australian	Roberts Day/TRACT/Plan E	Tim Trefry	Mike Day
Village 4	Morgan Fields	Country Lifestyle	Roberts Day	Tim Trefry	Mike Day
Village 5	Charlotte's Vineyard	Swan Valley	Roberts Day/Plan E	Tim Trefry	Mike Day
Village 6	Malvern Springs	Naturaliste	Roberts Day/Plan E	Julie Harrold	Peter Ciemitis
Village 7A	Lexia		Roberts Day/Plan E	Tim Trefry	Peter Ciemitis
Village 7B	Annie's Landing		RobertsDay	Tim Trefry
Town Centre	Ellenbrook Town Centre		Roberts Day/Plan E	Tim Trefry	Mike Day

The village of Morgan Fields is actually part of the adjoining suburb of Henley Brook. However, is often bundled together with Ellenbrook as part of the larger community and LWP's sales & branding exercise.

History

Name

The name Ellenbrook is derived from the nearby Ellen Brook, a tributary of the Swan River. The brook in turn was named after Ellen Stirling, the wife of Captain James Stirling, Western Australia's first governor. The road Ellen Stirling Parade in the town centre is also named after her.

The brook is situated close by in the neighbouring suburbs of The Vines and Belhus, but it no longer runs through Ellenbrook itself due to subsequent boundary changes. A tributary of the brook named Sawpit Gully still runs through the village of Annie's Landing in the north.

Prehistory and early industrial use

The "Arrowsmith map" of 1839, showing the boundaries of Swan Location 1

The Ellenbrook area, often referred to as 'East Gnangara' prior to being gazetted, was originally part of the rural localities of Belhus and Upper Swan. It comprised uninhabited banksia and sheoak woodlands and wetlands.

In prehistoric times, the wetlands were used by transient Whadjuk Noongar people primarily for opportunistic hunting of game. There is no evidence of any mythological or ceremonial significance in the area. Two aboriginal artefact scatter sites were previously identified around Gnangara Road in Ellenbrook, but both were subsequently destroyed by industrial development in the latter half of the 20th century.

In 1829, the Swan River Colony was established by European settlers, and the land along the Swan River consequently divided up into land grants. The boundaries of modern-day Ellenbrook were contained in Swan Location 1, a large grant of 15,000 acres just above where the Ellen Brook leaves the Swan River. The land was granted to pioneering merchant George Leake, who eventually gained title to the lands in 1834.

In 1838, the Swan Location 1 land title was divided horizontally in half between Leake and his partner Lt. Henry Bull, with Leake retaining the southern side and Bull taking the northern side. This dividing line forms Aveley's northern boundary with Ellenbrook today, and also divides the modern Ellenbrook villages of Malvern Springs and Coolamon. Leake's portion was divided again in 1839, with the western two-thirds surrendered to the Crown. The remainder was passed down through subsequent generations of his family, during which it was renamed to the 'Ellen Brook Estate'. Bull left Western Australia in 1844, leaving all of his lands and assets with delegated administrators.

In 1871, the passing of the Districts Road Act by the State Government brought the area's landholdings under the local governance of the Swan Road District, which ultimately became the Shire of Swan and latterly, the City of Swan.

In 1897, the Leake family sold the Ellen Brook Estate to George Hardey Barrett-Lennard, the grandson of pioneer settler Edward Pomeroy Barrett-Lennard. The estate was renamed 'Belhus Estate' and was progressively subdivided throughout the 20th century under the Barrett-Lennard family's ownership.

In the early 1900s, the Gnangara Pine Plantation was started by the state Forests Department, covering a wide area around Lake Gnangara and reaching into the western edge of Ellenbrook. A residential townsite for workers, known as the Gnangara Settlement, was built by the Department at the modern-day interchange of Tonkin Highway and The Promenade. A timber mill was also built on Weatherill Road in Ellenbrook, which is now modern day Forestview Park. The settlement was eventually shuttered and had been demolished by the 1980s.

In the early 1970s, Boral opened and operated a large sand quarry in the south of Ellenbrook, where the modern-day Woodlake Village was built. This had been largely closed and rehabilitated by the time of Ellenbrook's development.

Foundational developments

By the mid-1980s, the Ellenbrook area had become divided into four lots, each with different corporate owners:

• South-west: The WA government's State Housing Commission, also known as Homeswest
• North-east: Japanese developer Sanwa Property Group, via their Australian subsidiary Sanwa Vines Pty Ltd
• South-east: Multiplex Constructions Pty Ltd, the construction contracting company owned by John Roberts
• North-west: Mt Lawley Pty Ltd, a holding company for the Copley estate, headed by philanthropist Martin Copley

The Ellenbrook area and north-eastern corridor was first highlighted for suburban development in 1987 in a report by the WA State Planning Commission. In 1990, the Department of Planning and Urban Development officially declared the area a growth corridor for Perth in their 'Metroplan' policy publication. In response, the four land-owners started the process of re-zoning with the Shire of Swan, and subsequently various agencies of the State Government.

Sanwa were the first landowners to affect urban development in 1989, going on to develop The Vines Resort; a 36 hole golf course, hotel and country club estate in the north-east of Ellenbrook, in partnership with the State Government.

In 1992, Ellenbrook was officially gazetted as a suburb/locality by the Shire of Swan, out of parts of Belhus and Upper Swan It covered all of the lots owned by Homeswest, Sanwa, Mt Lawley Pty Ltd and Multiplex, defining the boundaries of the new development project. Shortly afterwards, Sanwa and Homeswest representatives sought to create a joint venture company to coordinate and deliver the project across all participating land holdings. Multiplex and Mt Lawley both declined to join the venture, removing their lands from the scope of development. The joint venture was created as Ellenbrook Management Pty Ltd, with a 53%-47% split between Sanwa and Homeswest respectively.

Multiplex pursued their own independent environmental and development review processes separately from Ellenbrook, leading to the creation of Aveley in the mid-2000s. Martin Copley initially sought to create a wildlife sanctuary on the Mt Lawley land, but chose to establish Karakamia Sanctuary in Chidlow instead. Nonetheless, the bulk of the Mt Lawley land was re-zoned Parks and Recreation due to its high conservation value, and subsequently transferred to the adjoining rural locality of Melaleuca.

In the same year, the Environmental Protection Authority released its report on the Ellenbrook area, ultimately approving the project to go ahead subject to various conservation and environmental approvals. In August 1992, the Homeswest, Sanwa and Multiplex land holdings were all re-zoned from Rural to Urban Deferred via amendment to the Metropolitan Region Scheme. In late 1993, the Homeswest and Sanwa lands were successfully re-zoned again from Urban Deferred to Urban in late 1993, giving the green light for the joint venturet to proceed with development.

With structural, environmental and town planning already well advanced, water and sewerage infrastructure was built along Gnangara Road by Water Corporation to the area. This allowed development of the first village, Woodlake to begin in 1995. The first primary school, Ellenbrook Primary School, opened in Woodlake in 1997, followed by St Helena's Catholic Primary School nearby in 1999. Woodlake also gained a small town centre with an IGA store and restaurants. Development of the second village, The Bridges followed shortly after in 1997, followed by Coolamon in 1999.

In 1996, the area containing The Vines Resort and estate was split from Ellenbrook into a separate suburb named "The Vines".

Later developments

A map of Ellenbrook and its constituent villages

In 2000, Sanwa's parent holding company entered financial difficulties and became insolvent. Sanwa sold their 53% stake of the Ellenbrook joint venture to a syndicate of investors known as Morella Pty Ltd. Simultaneously, a new company named LWP Property Group Pty Ltd, was created and engaged by the joint venture to take over project management and handle sales and marketing.

In 2003, Ellenbrook expanded with construction of both the village of Charlotte's Vineyard and the Town Centre precinct starting. The town centre featured two roads - Main Street and The Parkway - and the Ellenbrook Central shopping centre.

In 2006, the Multiplex portion of Ellenbrook was split into a separate suburb named Aveley - urban development of Aveley followed shortly thereafter.

In the same year, Mt Lawley Pty Ltd sued the Western Australian Planning Commission, after the latter sought to compulsorily purchase the former's Ellenbrook land holding at below market value. The Supreme Court found in favour of the WAPC. It remains protected wetlands today, separated from the rest of Ellenbrook by Tonkin Highway.

In 2007, the village of Malvern Springs began construction, north of Coolamon. Ellenbrook Secondary College opened in the Town Centre, giving Ellenbrook its first high school, and Ellen Stirling Primary School also opened in Coolamon.

In 2010, Ellenbrook Central shopping centre was expanded, and The Brook Bar and Bistro was built nearby giving Ellenbrook its first restaurant and pub. In the north of the suburb, the village of Lexia began construction, and the private Holy Cross College high school was built and opened in Coolamon.

In 2013, the final village of Annie's Landing began construction in the far north of the suburb.

In 2014, a small Urban-zoned 12 hectare pocket of the original Mt Lawley Pty Ltd landholding was also developed and marketed as the Lawley Private Estate. Although developed independently of the Ellenbrook Joint Venture, it was designed as to flow naturally into Charlotte's Vineyard as an unofficial extension of that village.

In 2020, the Brooklane shopping centre and retail precinct was built at the District Centre near Malvern Springs, providing Ellenbrook's third neighbourhood centre. The original Town Centre area also began to be built out with townhouses, medium-density apartments and microlot houses.

In 2023, LWP Property Group ceased operations, transferring their remaining selling rights and management responsibilities to Satterley Property Group.

Transport development

For the first two decades of its existence, Ellenbrook was connected to the Perth metro area by three pre-existing highways - Lord Street and West Swan Road to the south, and Gnangara Road to the west. All three roads were two-lanes wide and built to only rural standards.

In 2006, Ellenbrook Transfer Station was opened near Woodlake Village, providing residents with a small bus terminal for access to other metro area centres.

During the campaign for the 2008 Western Australian election, incumbent Labor premier Alan Carpenter and Liberal opposition leader Colin Barnett both publicly pledged to build a new passenger rail line for Ellenbrook if elected. The 15 km line was expected to cost $850 million and be finished around 2015, with construction starting around 2012. Although the Liberal Party won the election, in May 2010 Barnett announced that the government had cancelled the project, declaring it uneconomical to proceed with. The cancellation attracted harsh criticism of the Barnett government.

In 2015, Gnangara Road was duplicated to a four-lane dual carriageway, providing a significant increase in capacity and safety for Ellenbrook commuters and residents.

In 2017, Transperth introduced upgraded bus services to Ellenbrook, including an hourly evening connection to Bassendean railway station on the Midland Line. In August, another bus route was introduced which connected Ellenbrook to Whitfords railway station on the Yanchep Line, via Gnangara Road.

In 2018, a new road bridge across the Ellen Brook was constructed at Railway Parade outside of The Vines, providing a link between Annie's Landing and Upper Swan.

In 2019, Tonkin Highway was extended to Muchea for the NorthLink WA project, providing a full north-south freeway link for Ellenbrook. Two freeway interchanges into Ellenbrook were constructed, at Gnangara Road and The Promenade. At the same time, the New Lord Street project delivered a second dual carriageway north-south link known as Drumpellier Drive, bypassing Lord Street.

Following the defeat of the Liberals and the election of Mark McGowan's Labor government in 2017, the stalled Ellenbrook railway line project was resurrected as part of Labor's Metronet campaign. Construction of the railway line and town centre terminus station commenced in 2022 and is due to finish in 2025, connecting Ellenbrook to the Midland Line and the rest of the Transperth rail network.

Geography

Ellenbrook is bounded by the Tonkin Highway to the west, Gnangara Road to the south and Maralla Road to the north. Its eastern boundaries are blended across the suburbs of The Vines and Aveley, both of which were formerly part of Ellenbrook in earlier years. The suburb sits in the south-east corner of the Gnangara Mound at the northern end of the Swan Valley region, close to the Darling Scarp.

The Gnangara pine plantation west of the suburb features walks and picnic facilities accessible from Ellenbrook. To the south and south west lies Whiteman Park and the rural community of Cullacabardee respectively. For a long time, these areas segregated Ellenbrook from the frontier of the Perth metropolitan area. With suburban development occurring in Henley Brook and Brabham to the south, this is no longer the case and Ellenbrook now forms part of the contiguous Swan Urban Growth Corridor.

Conservation category wetlands were incorporated as public open spaces throughout the suburb. In the far north of Ellenbrook's boundary are over 300 hectares of wetlands that were ceded for conservation, on the recommendation of the Environmental Protection Authority. These are protected under the Perth metropolitan Bush Forever strategy.

Demographics

At the 2021 Australian census, 48.8% of Ellenbrook residents were male and 51.2% were female. Ellenbrook's median age was 32, much lower than the state and national average of 38. The most common ancestries in Ellenbrook as of 2021 were English (37%), Australian (30.8%), Scottish (7.6%), Irish (7%) and Indian (4.3%). 3.8% of residents identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. 63.1% of residents were born in Australia.

Facilities and services

Ellenbrook is a primary activity hub for the surrounding areas and is designated a Secondary Centre within the City of Swan. Its town centre runs along Main Street providing a variety of pubs, cafes, restaurants, health centres and mixed use office developments. Key civic buildings in the town centre include Ellenbrook Central shopping centre, Ellenbrook Secondary College, Ellenbrook Public Library and the Ellenbrook railway station and bus interchange.

Ellenbrook also has two smaller secondary town centres. In the south, Woodlake has its own smaller high street on Highpoint Boulevard with a range of groceries, health, retail and restaurant offerings and two primary schools in its vicinity. In the north, the District Centre area on Maffina Parade services the northern villages of Ellenbrook, as well as nearby parts of Aveley and The Vines. It is anchored around the Brooklane Shopping Centre, Aveley Secondary College, the Ellenbrook Community Centre and the Ellenbrook District Open Space (EDOS). The area is variously referred to as Brooklane or Malvern Springs after the adjoining village nearby.

Further minor education and health precincts are spread throughout the suburb. A large strip of big-box retail malls, service stations and fast food restaurants runs along the length of The Promenade.

The community relies on the regional centre of Midland for other essential community and government services such as Centrelink, the Department of Transport centre and the Midland Magistrates Court.

Ellenbrook has its own community radio station, known as Radio VCA 88.5FM. It was launched in December 2006. The studio is located in Coolamon and the station is broadcast from a transmitter in the Swan Valley locality of Brigadoon.

Emergency services

The Ellenbrook Police Station is located in the town centre. It is part of WAPOL's Midland District and serves the wider area, including the adjacent suburbs of Aveley, The Vines and Henley Brook and the towns of Upper Swan and Bullsbrook.

The nearest hospital to Ellenbrook is St John of God Midland Hospital in Midland. Although Ellenbrook lacks a hospital, St John does operate a local ambulance depot and first aid training centre in the town.

Ellenbrook Fire Station, operated by DFES, is located on the border of the suburb in Henley Brook.

Sporting and leisure facilities

There are four main sporting grounds in Ellenbrook: Woodlake Sports Ground, Coolamon Oval, Charlotte's Vineyard Oval and Ellenbrook District Open Space (EDOS). Coolamon Oval and Ellenbrook District Open Space (EDOS) have clubroom and changing facilities and are the home of the Ellenbrook Eels Senior Football Club, the Ellenbrook Dockers Junior Football club (Australian Rules) and the Ellenbrook Rangers.

Other facilities include:

• Dual-purpose tennis/basketball courts at Woodlake Park and Coolamon Oval.
• Cricket nets on Woodlake Oval, Coolamon Oval and EDOS.
• Skateparks at Woodlake Oval and Coolamon Oval.
• A water park, aimed at younger children, completed in late 2009 located in the town centre adjacent to the library.
• Exercise facilities located at EDOS.
• Ellenbrook Men's Shed located adjacent to the water park.
• Ellenbrook Community Garden also located adjacent to the water park.

The suburb is also home to a junior and senior soccer club, Ellenbrook United FC.

Planning for a recreation and aquatic centre adjacent to EDOS and Aveley Secondary College in Ellenbrook has commenced and will host: a 25m indoor lane lap pool, warm water pool, spa, sauna, steam facilities, indoor multipurpose sports courts, gym/ health club, group fitness rooms, café, crèche, changing facilities and car parking.

Education

Ellenbrook contains the following five state primary schools and two state high schools, dotted throughout the suburb across various catchment & intake areas:

• Anne Hamersley Primary School - primary school located in Annie's Landing, serving Kindergarten to Year 6
• Arbor Grove Primary School - primary school in Charlotte's Vineyard, serving Kindergarten to Year 6
• Ellenbrook Primary School - primary school in Woodlake, serving Kindergarten to Year 6
• Ellen Stirling Primary School - primary school in Coolamon serving Kindergarten to Year 6
• Malvern Springs Primary School - primary school in Malvern Springs, serving Kindergarten to Year 6
• Ellenbrook Secondary College - high school in the town centre, serving Year 7 to Year 12. Its catchment area serves the southern half of Ellenbrook
• Aveley Secondary College - high school serving Year 7 to Year 12. Although named after the adjoining suburb of Aveley, the school sits in Ellenbrook's District Centre area, with a catchment area that serves the northern half of Ellenbrook

It also contains the following three private Christian schools:

• St. Helena's Catholic Primary School - private Catholic primary school in Woodlake, serving Kindergarten to Year 6
• Holy Cross College - private Catholic primary & high school in Coolamon, serving Kindergarten to Year 12
• Ellenbrook Christian College - private Christian (non-denominational) primary & high school in The Bridges, serving Kindergarten to Year 12

Ellenbrook Community Library, operated by the City of Swan, is co-located within Ellenbrook Secondary College and Performing Arts Centre.

There are no higher/tertiary education facilities in Ellenbrook, such as TAFE or university - students must commute to Midland, Joondalup or Perth to access these institutions.

Transport

Roads and highways

Tonkin Highway (State Route 4) runs north-south along the western edge of Ellenbrook, connecting it to Perth's freeway network and providing a direct link to the metropolitan centres of Morley, Perth Airport and Armadale, as well as Great Northern Highway into the Mid-West region. Drumpellier Drive and West Swan Road (State Route 52) provide additional southbound links to the metro area, while Gnangara Road (State Route 84) runs westbound to Joondalup and the coast.

Local roads The Promenade, The Broadway, Banrock Drive and Pinaster Parade serve as the primary distributor roads throughout the suburb.

Public transport

Ellenbrook is the terminus of the Morley-Ellenbrook railway line from Bayswater, with its terminus station located in the town centre. The railway line runs at-grade through the town centre and the village of The Bridges, before joining up with Drumpellier Drive as it leaves the town.

Bus services link Ellenbrook with Morley and Bassendean railway station. A journey to the Perth CBD by public transport takes approximately 60 minutes.

•    334 Ellenbrook Central to Ellenbrook – serves Main Street, The Promenade, Henley Brook Avenue, Westgrove Drive, Elmridge Parkway and Wyara Link
•    335 Ellenbrook Central to Midland Station – serves Main Street, The Parkway, Highpoint Boulevard, Sunray Circle, Woodlake Boulevard, Pinaster Parade, Ponte Vecchio Boulevard and Gnangara Road
•    336 Ellenbrook to Henley Brook Bus Station – serves Wyara Link, Elmridge Parkway, Farmaner Parkway, Thorold Avenue, Oakhill Heights, Arrowsmith Avenue, Brookmount Drive, The Promenade, Main Street, The Parkway, Highpoint Boulevard, Sunray Circle, Woodlake Boulevard and Pinaster Parade
•    337 and 338 Ellenbrook Central to Henley Brook Bus Station – serve Main Street, The Promenade and Gnangara Road
•    355 Ellenbrook Central to Whitfords Station – serves Main Street and Pinaster Parade
•    955 Ellenbrook North to Morley Bus Station – serves Banrock Drive, The Broadway, Main Street and Pinaster Parade

External links

• Official Site
• UDIA Case Study
• Community Website
• Insurance Commission of WA (ICWA) - Details of Ellenbrook Restrictive Covenant
• ICWA Retail Masterplan (The Shops development plan)