Regional parks in Western Australia are conservation areas with the purpose of serving as urban havens to preserve and restore cultural heritage and valuable ecosystems as well as to encourage sustainable nature-based recreation activities. [1]
As of 2021, there are eleven regional parks in the Perth region of Western Australia, [1] as well as regional parks outside the metropolitan area.
Apart from the already existing regional parks, future proposals exist, like the recently approved Kalgulup Regional Park, located within the City of Bunbury, Shire of Capel, Shire of Dardanup and Shire of Harvey, [2] which encompass the former Preston River to Ocean Regional Park proposal, proposed for almost 40 years, [3] and the Leschenault Regional Park along the Collie and Brunswick Rivers. [4]
Another one, the Darling Range Regional Park in the Darling Scarp, was proposed as the largest regional park in Australia, with 11,703 hectares, but never fully realised and eventually replaced by a number of smaller national and regional parks. [5] [6]
The concept of regional spaces in Western Australia open to the public was first proposed in 1955, when the Stephenson-Hepburn Report recommended preserving private land for future public use in what would become the Perth Metropolitan Region in 1963. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) identified areas of significant conservation, landscape and recreation value in a report in 1983. In 1989, the state Government allocated the responsibility of managing regional parks to the Department of Conservation and Land Management. [7]
A Regional Parks Taskforce was established in 1990 but the EPA reported in 1993 that the establishment of these parks encountered difficulties but, from the mid-1990s, a number of regional parks were established in Western Australia. [7]
The list of regional parks in Western Australia:
Greenmount National Park is a national park in the locality of Greenmount, Western Australia, 22 km east of Perth.
The Serpentine National Park is a national park located on the Darling Scarp, approximately 55 kilometres (34 mi) southeast of Perth in Western Australia. The depth of the falls has been undetermined, and is shrouded with conspiracy and enigmatism.
The Darling Scarp, also referred to as the Darling Range or Darling Ranges, is a low escarpment running north–south to the east of the Swan Coastal Plain and Perth, Western Australia. The escarpment extends generally north of Bindoon, to the south of Pemberton. The adjacent Darling Plateau goes easterly to include Mount Bakewell near York and Mount Saddleback near Boddington. It was named after the Governor of New South Wales, Lieutenant-General Ralph Darling.
Cape Peron is a headland at Rockingham, at the southern end of Cockburn Sound in Western Australia. The cape is locally known as Point Peron, and is noted for its protected beaches, limestone cliffs, reefs and panoramic views. Cape Peron includes the suburb of Peron and "Point Peron" is the designation of a minor promontory on the south side of the cape's extremity.
The Kwinana Freeway is a 72-kilometre (45 mi) freeway in and beyond the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with Mandurah to the south. It is the central section of State Route 2, which continues north as Mitchell Freeway to Clarkson, and south as Forrest Highway towards Bunbury. A 4-kilometre (2.5 mi) section between Canning and Leach highways is also part of National Route 1. Along its route are interchanges with several major roads, including Roe Highway and Mandjoogoordap Drive. The northern terminus of the Kwinana Freeway is at the Narrows Bridge, which crosses the Swan River, and the southern terminus is at Pinjarra Road, east of Mandurah.
Cooloongup is an outer southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia, the capital city of Western Australia, located within the City of Rockingham. It consists mainly of residential dwellings.
The City of Rockingham is a council and local government area, comprising the south coastal suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth.
Forrest Highway is a 95-kilometre-long (59 mi) highway in Western Australia's Peel and South West regions, extending Perth's Kwinana Freeway from east of Mandurah down to Bunbury. Old Coast Road was the original Mandurah–Bunbury route, dating back to the 1840s. Part of that road, and the Australind Bypass around Australind and Eaton, were subsumed by Forrest Highway. The highway begins at Kwinana Freeway's southern terminus in Ravenswood, continues around the Peel Inlet to Lake Clifton, and heads south to finish at Bunbury's Eelup Roundabout. There are a number of at-grade intersections with minor roads in the shires of Murray, Waroona, and Harvey including Greenlands Road and Old Bunbury Road, both of which connect to South Western Highway near Pinjarra.
Yellagonga Regional Park is in Perth, Western Australia, in the City of Wanneroo and the City of Joondalup. The park was established in 1989 by the Western Australian government and protects 1,400 hectares of land, including 550 hectares of Wanneroo wetlands – including Lake Joondalup, Beenup Swamp, Walluburnup Swamp and Lake Goollelal.
Beeliar Regional Park is a conservation park approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi) south of the central business district in Perth, Western Australia, located within the Citys of Cockburn, Kwinana and Melville. The regional park is named after the indigenous Beeliar people of the area.
The Yelverton National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, 252 kilometres (157 mi) south of Perth. It is located in the local government area of the City of Busselton in the locality of Yelverton, 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Busselton and 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Margaret River, on the Bussell Highway.
Rockingham Lakes Regional Park is a conservation park approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Rockingham. The park, established in 1997, covers a non-continuous area of 4,270 hectares and occupies approximately 16 percent of the area of the City of Rockingham.
Jandakot Regional Park is a conservation park approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Cities of Armadale, Canning, Cockburn, Gosnells and Kwinana as well as the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale. The park, established in 1997 as the Jandakot Botanic Park, covers a non-continuous area of 2,362 hectares and is managed by the Cities of Armadale, Cockburn and Kwinana. It stretches from the southern end of Jandakot Airport to south of Casuarina Prison.
Banyowla Regional Park, formerly Kelmscott-Martin Regional Park, is a conservation park in the Perth Hills, 20 kilometres south-east of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Cities of Gosnells and Armadale. The regional park was re-named in 2008 after Banyowla, who was a Noongar elder at the time of European settlement.
Lake Walyungup is a shallow saline lake in the suburbs of Warnbro and Port Kennedy, located 55 kilometres (34 mi) south of the central business district of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is part of Rockingham Lakes Regional Park. In the local Nyungar language, Walyungup means "place where Noongars talk".
Lake Cooloongup, sometimes also referred to as White Lake, is a shallow saline lake in the suburb of Cooloongup, 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of the central business district of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It is part of Rockingham Lakes Regional Park. In the local Nyungar language, Cooloongup means "place of children".
Wooroloo Regional Park, formerly Chidlow Regional Park, is a conservation park near Chidlow in the Perth Hills, 40 kilometres north-east of Perth, Western Australia, located within the Shire of Mundaring.
Ocean Reef Marina is a development project in Ocean Reef, Western Australia to construct a new marina with commercial and residential areas at the existing Ocean Reef Boat Harbour. The site is being developed by DevelopmentWA; construction of its two breakwaters started in April 2021, with the whole project expected to be fully completed in 2036 and then becoming part of the City of Joondalup. The concept for a marina by developers in the area of Mullaloo and Ocean Reef had been proposed as far back as 1973.