Roleystone, Western Australia

Roleystone
Perth, Western Australia
Roleystone
Coordinates 32°05′28″S 116°07′19″E / 32.091°S 116.122°E / -32.091; 116.122Coordinates: 32°05′28″S 116°07′19″E / 32.091°S 116.122°E / -32.091; 116.122
Population 5,975 (2006 census)
 • Density 489.8/km2 (1,268/sq mi)
Established 1900s
Postcode(s) 6111
Area 12.2 km2 (4.7 sq mi)
Location
LGA(s) City of Armadale
State electorate(s) Darling Range
Federal Division(s) Canning
Suburbs around Roleystone:
Martin Canning Mills Karragullen
Kelmscott Roleystone Karragullen
Bedfordale Ashendon Illawarra

Roleystone is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia in the south eastern corridor.

History

Roleystone's name originates from a property purchased by Thomas Buckingham in 1860. In 1865, he decided to start a sawmill, which was located at Sparrow's Place, later known as Butcher's, on the Roleystone Road, about 6.5 kilometres from Kelmscott.[1] The town was also referred to as "The Rolling Stone" and "Rowley Stone" in early police reports. The area was subdivided into farmlets in 1902, and was subsequently developed as orchards and market gardens.[2] In 1905, Roleystone was opened up for closer settlement, with property brochures extolling the virtues of the beautiful scenery and fertile valley soils. It has fruit orchards and native bushland.

Reserves and residential gardens in the relatively large (0.5-acre [0.2 ha]) blocks are home to a variety of native wildlife with bandicoots, brushtail possums, shingleback lizards and children's pythons in relative abundance. Large numbers of Western Grey Kangaroos are found in bush surrounding the suburb.

Araluen Botanic Park

Facilities

The main suburban residential area to the west of Roleystone is served by a neighbourhood shopping centre, with Stargate Kelmscott and Armadale Shopping City providing other commercial services. The suburb also contains a primary school (K-5; 1905) and Roleystone District High School (6-10; 1983), with year 11 and 12 students travelling to Kelmscott or Lesmurdie Senior High Schools.


The Araluen Botanic Park and the Araluen Golf Resort are located in the south of the suburb off Croyden Road and are popular picnic and wedding locations, especially during "Springtime at Araluen" when all the flowers are in bloom. Araluen is also known for the Araluen Chilli Festival which is held every year. However, in 2010 it was renamed Araluen's Fremantle Chilli Festival due to the event being held in Fremantle.

Brookton Highway (State Route 40) runs through Roleystone.

The suburb is served by a number of school bus services and by Transperth bus route 241 which runs every hour during the day, connecting the suburb to Kelmscott train station and Stargate Kelmscott shopping centre. All services are provided by the Public Transport Authority.

Local sporting clubs

Roleystone is home to an Australian Rules Football Club The Roleystone Tigers. There is both a junior football club and a senior football club, with the latter having amateur league team. The Roleystone-Karragullen Cricket Club was established in 1950. The club currently fields five teams in the Swan & Helena Districts Cricket Association and celebrated its 60th year anniversary in 2010. The Roleystone Country Club is located on Wygonda Rd and commands a spectacular view down the Brookton valley.

Local Music

Roleystone is home to the Roleystone Musicians Club (RMC). The club was established in March 2007.

The town was immortalized by Kevin Peek, a guitarist and member of the band Sky, who named a Sky song after his home town of Roleystone.

Local news media

There are two Roleystone newspapers - the Roleystone Courier and the Valley Reporter VR website. These papers are published in Roleystone by local residents. There is also a community website called RoleystoneNet (or RoleyNet) that contains a local forum, local events calendar and an online flea market called Eflea.

Bushfire 2011

On the 6 February 2011, a declared total fire ban day, a bushfire occurred on private property adjacent to the Brookton Highway in the Roleystone/Kelmscott area. There were a total of 72 homes destroyed and 37 homes damaged. This is the second biggest house loss in Western Australia to a single bushfire event behind the January 2016 fires in Yarloop.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Western Australian". State Centenary: Old Mill at Roleystone: tablet unveiled. 19 August 1929. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  2. ↑ Western Australian Land Information Authority. "History of metropolitan suburb names – R". Retrieved 2007-01-17.
  3. ↑ Smith, Ralph; Leask, Jade; Negreiros, Ana; Valenti, Ann (10 November 2011). "Final Report On – "Investigation Of The House Losses In The Roleystone/ Kelmscott Bushfire 6 February 2011"" (PDF). Western Australia. Department of Fire and Emergency Services. DFES. Retrieved 26 February 2015.
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