| City of Elizabeth South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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 City of Playford civic centre in 2017, formerly the City of Elizabeth council seat | |||||||||||||||
  City of Elizabeth | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°42′54″S138°40′12″E / 34.71500°S 138.67000°E | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1964 | ||||||||||||||
| Abolished | 1997 | ||||||||||||||
| Council seat | Elizabeth | ||||||||||||||
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The City of Elizabeth was a local government area located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide and seated at Elizabeth from 1964 to 1997.
Prior to the 1950s, most of the area surrounding today's suburb of Elizabeth was farming estates. After the end of the Second World War and the accompanying shortage of materials, the state government decided that South Australia needed to grow and become an industrialised state.
A satellite city was planned for northern metropolitan fringe of Adelaide, and the South Australian Housing Trust initiated a housing development program in the area, with a purchase of 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) of rural land between the established townships of Salisbury and Smithfield. In 1950 during the early planning stages the name Munno Para headed a list of names recommended by the Premier to the State's Nomenclature Committee name for the new satellite town. [1] The first survey and works started in July 1954. [2] Initially it was proposed that the Civic Administration of the New Town would be shared between the Salisbury and Munno Para 'East' District Councils. [3]
Elizabeth, the suburb, was established within the District Council of Salisbury on 16 November 1955, [4] being named after Queen Elizabeth II, who visited the city in 1963. More than seven years later, the Salisbury council was renamed to be the District Council of Salisbury and Elizabeth on 22 August 1963, in recognition of the burgeoning community on its northern lands. A year later, on 1 July 1964, the municipality of the Town of Elizabeth was created by severance from the District Council of Salisbury and Elizabeth, [5] and the latter reverted to the name Salisbury.
The new municipality encompassed most or all of the suburbs of Elizabeth North, to the north, Elizabeth Park, to the north east, Elizabeth East, to the east, Elizabeth Grove and Elizabeth Vale, to the south east, Elizabeth South, to the south and south west, and Elizabeth West (now most of Edinburgh North and the southern half of Davoren Park), to the north west.
The City of Elizabeth was amalgamated with the City of Munno Para in 1997 to form the City of Playford. [6] Twenty years hence, the term 'Elizabeth', in the context of Adelaide, still typically referred to the pre-amalgamation municipality encompassing both the suburb of Elizabeth and those suburbs surrounding it, and the distinct community they comprised. [7]
A total of nine suburban localities clustered around the Elizabeth town centre were named for the City of Elizabeth, by which they were locally governed at some point:
The early town centre, now Elizabeth Shopping Centre, had open air shopping malls and a theatre called the Octagon. [9] Residential suburbs of Elizabeth were established with the earliest being Elizabeth South and Elizabeth North. Each was configured as a local community around a small shopping centre containing a supermarket, bank, hotel and service station along with other shops. Automotive manufacturer Holden established a manufacturing plant in the area, becoming a major employer along with the Department of Defence with its Long Range Weapons Establishment, later the Defence Science and Technology Organisation, and RAAF Base Edinburgh. Migrants were encouraged to settle in Elizabeth and its suburbs.
Elizabeth had large areas of open space, with the most prominent being Fremont Park, on Main North Road. Elizabeth was the sister city of Fremont, California; [10] Lake Elizabeth in Fremont Central Park is named for the city.
Elizabeth also had a strong music scene, providing a home for Jimmy Barnes, [11] [12] [13] John Swan, [14] Bernard "Doc" Neeson and Glenn Shorrock, [15] among other musicians.
The following adjacent local government bodies co-existed with the Elizabeth council:
One Tree Hill is a town on the outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
The City of Playford is a local government area of South Australia in Adelaide's northern suburbs. It was named in recognition of Sir Thomas Playford, who played a part in the development of the area, and was South Australia's premier from 1938–1965. The city covers an area of 345 km2 (133 sq mi), and is home to over 90,000 residents. Playford was the fastest growing local government area in South Australia in the 2010s.
Elizabeth is an outer northern suburb of the Adelaide metropolitan area, South Australia, 24 km north of the Adelaide city centre. It is located in the City of Playford. At the 2016 census, Elizabeth had a population of 1,024.
The Town of Gawler is a local government area located north of Adelaide city centre in South Australia containing Gawler and its suburbs. The corporate town was established in 1857 due to the township's residents' dissatisfaction at being governed by three different district councils.
The City of Salisbury is a local government area (LGA) located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia, and neighbours City of Playford, City of Tea Tree Gully and City of Port Adelaide Enfield geographically.
Uleybury is a rural locality near Adelaide, South Australia. It is located at the eastern side of the City of Playford local government area, just north of One Tree Hill along Gawler-One Tree Hill Road.
Taylor is a single-member electoral district for the South Australian House of Assembly. This district is named after Doris Irene Taylor MBE, a leading force in the founding of Meals on Wheels, and Labor activist. Taylor is a 246.2 km2 semi-urban electorate in Adelaide's outer northern suburbs and market gardens on the Adelaide Northern plains. A large portion of the district lives in the western half of the City of Playford and it is regarded as a safe Labor seat. It now includes the suburbs and townships of Andrews Farm, Angle Vale, Bolivar, Buckland Park, Davoren Park, Edinburgh, Edinburgh North, Elizabeth North, Eyre, Macdonald Park, Munno Para West, Penfield, Penfield Gardens, Riverlea Park, Smithfield, Smithfield Plains, St Kilda, Virginia, and Waterloo Corner.
Playford International College is a high school in Elizabeth, a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is an amalgamation of three secondary schools in Elizabeth: Playford High School, Fremont High School, and Elizabeth City High School.
The City of Playford Library Service is the public library service of the City of Playford which is located in the northern suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia.
News Review Messenger is a weekly suburban newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, part of the Messenger Newspapers group. The News Review's area stretches from Pooraka in the south, through to Gawler in the north, and covers Adelaide's northern suburbs.
Craigmore is a large suburb north of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford local government area, just east of Elizabeth and south of Gawler.
Smithfield is a suburb in the northern outskirts of Adelaide, South Australia. It is in the City of Playford.
Davoren Park is a suburb at the northern extent of the Adelaide metropolitan area, South Australia in the City of Playford. The suburb was formed as part of a merger between Elizabeth Field and the northern part of Elizabeth West on 11 November 1993. It is named after the Davoren family, who were early pioneers of the area.
The City of Munno Para, formerly the District Council of Munno Para, was a local government area of South Australia from 6th November 1958 to 1997, seated at the township of Smithfield. In 1997 the City of Munno Para merged with the City of Elizabeth to form the new City of Playford.
Munno Para is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
Andrews Farm is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford.
Blakeview is a northern suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Playford. Blakeview is predominantly a residential suburb, but also has two commercial areas and two education areas.
The Hundred of Munno Para is a cadastral unit of hundred covering the outer northern suburbs of Adelaide north of the Little Para River and the flanking semi-rural areas in South Australia. It is one of the eleven hundreds of the County of Adelaide. It was named in 1846 by Governor Frederick Robe, Munno Para being a term from a local Kaurna Aboriginal people meaning golden wattle creek. This name refers to either the Gawler River or the Little Para River.
The District Council of Munno Para East was a local government area of South Australia from 1853 to 1958, seated at Uleybury.
The District Council of Munno Mara West was a local government area of South Australia on the central Adelaide Plains from 1854 to 1933.
On 16 November 1955, at a site on the Adelaide Plain, 17 miles north of Adelaide, a new town was inaugurated by Sir Thomas Playford, GCMG, Premier of South Australia
We have to be mindful about what we are talking about when we say Elizabeth. We are not so much talking about the existing physical suburb; indeed, Elizabeth proper these days means the few square kilometres around the Elizabeth City Centre. It has been subsumed physically and administratively by the City of Playford and by the unbroken urban sprawl which extends to the small green belt before you get to Gawler. For anyone who grew up in Elizabeth and anyone who has lived in Elizabeth for a long time, there is a very distinct physical and psychological place called Elizabeth. It is not Salisbury, it is not Munno Para, and for a lot of people it is not even the City of Playford, whose borders spread far beyond what anyone understands to be Elizabeth. For those of us who grew up there, and for those of us who live there, it is very clear where Elizabeth is. It is in many ways hard to define, but it is culturally different from other parts of the metropolitan area.
Current Name: Davoren Park; Other Details: Renamed in 1993 together with portion of Elizabeth West.
The Octagon Theatre Elizabeth was a multi-use auditorium specially designed for a wide range of activities. Built by the City of Elizabeth, it was completed in August 1965 and was a centre for live entertainment for the central and northern suburbs of Adelaide until it was closed in January 2003. The floorboards from the theatre were refurbished and used in the Great Hall of the City of Playford's new Civic Centre which opened in March 2004.
I grew up in Elizabeth, on the outskirts of Adelaide. Which, for a kid, it was a pretty good life. I mean, coming from Glasgow, where there was hardly any trees, and then suddenly getting to Elizabeth, with lots of open fields and trees and birds and football fields everywhere. Ah, we had a ball, we had a really good time. [...] Growing up in Elizabeth,... it was a wild place, but a great place for kids, Elizabeth. But when you became teenagers, there was nothing to do. So basically we got involved in gangs. There was lots of street fighting, and really all the sort of trouble you could get yourself into, was available there in Elizabeth... I grew up in Elizabeth, There was a lot of Scots, a lot of Poms, we were very proud of our Scottish heritage... I was in the pipe band.