Merriwa, Western Australia

Merriwa is an outer suburb of Perth, Western Australia, north of Perth's central business district. It is part of the City of Wanneroo local government area. It is a predominantly residential suburb, containing two RAAF retirement villages.HistoryNameThe name "Hester" was originally approved for the suburb by the Shire of Wanneroo in 1980, after Thomas Hester, one of the first land owners in the vicinity. The neighbouring suburbs of Clarkson and Butler were also named this way. However, the name was opposed by Australia Post due to conflict with the already-existing town of Hester in south-west WA. "Merriwa", an Aboriginal word meaning "a good place", was then proposed and approved for the area within the same year. The original name survives in Hester Avenue, an east-west arterial road that forms the southern boundary of the suburb.A town also named Merriwa exists in New South Wales. The Geographical Names Board of New South Wales lists an alternate meaning for its name, as "plenty of grass seed and flour made from it."Suburban developmentUp until the late 1980s, Merriwa was unpopulated bushland with no notable land features other than Quinns Road, a two-lane arterial road linking the adjacent townsite of Quinns Rocks to Wanneroo Road. The original Quinns Beach Estate in the south of Merriwa was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Smith Corporation, who were also responsible for the development of the marina in nearby Mindarie at the time. Many early residents of Merriwa suffered from lack of facilities, poorly built pavements and roads, lack of street-lighting and isolation from other areas (as Marmion Avenue had not yet been extended.) This led to the formation of the Merriwa Development Committee, with the purpose of lobbying the Council to support the issues raised.