Bullsbrook, Western Australia

Bullsbrook (formerly Bullsbrook East) is a northern suburb of Perth, Western Australia in the outer metropolitan area. It is located in the City of Swan. The original Bullsbrook townsite is located slightly west of the current town, on the 17 km mark of the Midland Railway. Bullsbrook is also home to the RAAF Pearce airbase, a major training facility for the Royal Australian Air Force. The suburb is situated on the Great Northern Highway, 25 kilometres north of the Midland Strategic Regional Centre. It is well serviced by several major transport networks including the Great Northern Highway, Railway Parade and the Brand Highway to the north, Chittering Road to the east and Neaves Road to the west. Bullsbrook is also adjacent to the State rail network, providing an opportunity for the development of an intermodal freight transport hub. The site is further strengthened by linkage to the planned Perth-Darwin National Highway via Stock Road.

Bullsbrook
PerthWestern Australia
Bullsbrook
Map
Coordinates31°39′47″S 116°01′48″E / 31.663°S 116.03°E / -31.663; 116.03
Population5,605 (SAL 2021)[1]
Postcode(s)6084
LGA(s)City of Swan
State electorate(s)Swan Hills
Federal division(s)Durack
Suburbs around Bullsbrook:
Muchea Lower Chittering Julimar
Melaleuca Bullsbrook Gidgegannup
Melaleuca Melaleuca Upper Swan and Brigadoon

Although traditionally a predominantly rural suburb, the release in 2008 of the Bullsbrook Commercial Centre offers great scope for expansion in the commercial and light industrial land use capability of Bullsbrook. In addition, the City of Swan is awaiting the State's approval of the draft Bullsbrook Townsite and Rural Strategy which would see further industrial, commercial and residential growth in Bullsbrook.

History

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Settlement of the area dates from the 1890s, following the construction of the Midland railway line and military land use commenced from 1935. The most significant development occurred from the 1970s, with further population growth in the early 1990s.

Regarding the origin of the name, the Western Australian Department of Land Information states:[2]

...the name originates from the railway station, established during the construction of the Midland Railway in the 1890s and named after an adjacent watercourse, Bull's Brook. The watercourse may have been named after Lt Henry Bull who was granted Swan Location 1 about 8km south on 15 May 1831. Another possibility is that the watercourse was named after Richard ("Bull") Jones, one of Henry Bull's servants, who resided in the region for many years.

In September 2022, the construction of Western Australia’s quarantine centre near the RAAF Base Pearce was completed.[3] The centre cost about $400 million and can house 500 people.[3]

Population

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In the 2016 census, there were 5,185 people in Bullsbrook, 66.8% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 9.7% and New Zealand 3.6%. 84.9% of people spoke only English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 36.1%, Anglican 19.5% and Catholic 18.2%.[4]

Education

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Bullsbrook has one school, Bullsbrook College, which takes students from kindergarten to year 12. It was established in 1952.[5] There was previously another school that was built in 1901, and that the present school replaced.[6]

Climate

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The Bureau of Meteorology operates a weather station at RAAF Base Pearce. Bullsbrook has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification Csa), like the rest of the Perth metropolitan region. Bullsbrook is among the hottest parts of the metropolitan region during summer.

Climate data for RAAF Base Pearce (Bullsbrook)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 46.0
(114.8)
45.7
(114.3)
42.9
(109.2)
40.7
(105.3)
35.4
(95.7)
27.2
(81.0)
29.6
(85.3)
29.6
(85.3)
33.0
(91.4)
38.0
(100.4)
43.1
(109.6)
44.2
(111.6)
46.0
(114.8)
Mean maximum °C (°F) 41.9
(107.4)
41.6
(106.9)
39.1
(102.4)
34.0
(93.2)
28.9
(84.0)
23.5
(74.3)
22.2
(72.0)
23.7
(74.7)
26.8
(80.2)
32.7
(90.9)
36.9
(98.4)
39.9
(103.8)
43.4
(110.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 33.5
(92.3)
33.3
(91.9)
30.6
(87.1)
26.5
(79.7)
22.1
(71.8)
18.9
(66.0)
17.9
(64.2)
18.4
(65.1)
20.1
(68.2)
23.5
(74.3)
27.4
(81.3)
30.5
(86.9)
25.2
(77.4)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 17.0
(62.6)
17.6
(63.7)
16.0
(60.8)
13.3
(55.9)
10.7
(51.3)
9.3
(48.7)
8.4
(47.1)
8.2
(46.8)
8.8
(47.8)
10.2
(50.4)
12.6
(54.7)
14.6
(58.3)
12.2
(54.0)
Mean minimum °C (°F) 11.0
(51.8)
11.3
(52.3)
8.8
(47.8)
7.1
(44.8)
4.2
(39.6)
3.0
(37.4)
2.4
(36.3)
2.7
(36.9)
3.8
(38.8)
4.9
(40.8)
6.8
(44.2)
8.7
(47.7)
1.2
(34.2)
Record low °C (°F) 7.4
(45.3)
6.8
(44.2)
4.5
(40.1)
2.0
(35.6)
−0.6
(30.9)
−2.9
(26.8)
−1.9
(28.6)
0.5
(32.9)
0.5
(32.9)
1.2
(34.2)
2.8
(37.0)
5.3
(41.5)
−2.9
(26.8)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 10.5
(0.41)
13.1
(0.52)
16.3
(0.64)
34.0
(1.34)
82.9
(3.26)
130.7
(5.15)
133.8
(5.27)
106.1
(4.18)
68.2
(2.69)
35.8
(1.41)
22.3
(0.88)
10.9
(0.43)
652.1
(25.67)
Average precipitation days 2.0 2.5 3.6 7.2 12.1 15.6 17.5 15.8 13.5 8.9 5.8 3.3 107.8
Average afternoon relative humidity (%) (at 15:00) 30 31 35 43 60 60 61 57 54 46 39 33 46
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[7][8][9]
Temperatures: 1940–2020; Rain data: 1937–2020; Relative humidity: 1944–2011

References

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  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Bullsbrook (suburb and locality)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.  
  2. ^ "History of metropolitan suburb names – B". Western Australian Land Information Authority. Archived from the original on 16 March 2022. Retrieved 15 May 2007.
  3. ^ a b Law, Peter; Le May, Rebecca (20 September 2022). "Bullsbrook COVID quarantine facility: Build complete but skilled worker housing ruled out, Mark McGowan says". PerthNow. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  4. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Bullsbrook (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 22 September 2018.    Material was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
  5. ^ "Principal's Welcome". Bullsbrook College. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  6. ^ "WA Schools Gazetteer" (PDF). Geoproject Solutions. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Climate statistics for Australian locations – Pearce RAAF". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. ^ "Monthly highest temperature – Pearce RAAF". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  9. ^ "Monthly lowest temperature – Pearce RAAF". Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 15 July 2020.