Willetton, Western Australia

Willetton is a large southern suburb of Perth, Western Australia. Its local government area is the City of Canning.HistoryWilletton's name derives from Henry Willett of Willett & Co, who was granted Canning Location 21 and settled in the area in June 1832. In November 1964, the Shire of Canning proposed the names "Burtsdale" and "Willetton" for Willetton and Lynwood/Parkwood respectively, the name Burtsdale honouring Septimus Burt, who purchased the land in 1882. In August 1965, developers at Lynwood requested the name "Clovercrest Estate", but finally agreed to "Lynwood". The name Willetton was shifted westwards and gazetted in December 1965 within its present boundaries.The original subdivision was opened in the early 1970s under the developer's name "Burrendah Heights". . The section to the east of Vahland Avenue was developed in the 1980s under the unofficial name "Rostrata". Most housing and infrastructure was completed in the 1990s.GeographyWilletton is located about 15 kilometres south of the Perth CBD. It is built on a section of flat sandy coastal plain which was originally covered with open Banksia woodland and stands of Paperbark trees marking the edges of shallow seasonal swamps.Willetton is bounded by Karel Avenue to the west, Leach Highway and High Road to the north, Willeri Drive to the east and South Street and Roe Highway to the south. Vahland Avenue runs north-south through the suburb.At the ABS 2001 census, Willetton had a mostly average-income population of 17,571 people living in 6,300 dwellings, nearly all of which are detached houses on single lots. The ABS reported that almost 20% of the suburb's population were of East, Southeast or South Asian origin. Retail trade (1,515), property and business services (1,118), manufacturing (944), education (911), and health and community services (904) were the key occupations of Willetton's residents.