Shepherds Bush Reserve

Statement of Significance

Shepherds Bush Reserve, Kingsley has aesthetic significance for its natural bush landscape and vegetation, and for its classification as a conservation reserve. The place has social significance as a passive recreational area central to a residential area with associations to the local community who purchased land there due to the proximity of the reserve.

Physical Description

Shepherds Bush is located within the Spearwood Dune System and comprises of sand derived from Tamala Limestone. It contains vegetation characteristic of the northern Swan Coastal Plain including regionally significant Banksia and Jarrah open woodland with the occasional Allocasuarina fraseriana (Sheoak) and tuart tree. Vegetation is relatively pristine in the interior and west. The reserve covers 14.3662ha of bushland and is bounded by Newhaven Place to the north, Barridale Drive to the east, Robertson Road Cycleway to the south and Shepherds Bush Drive to the west. The Barridale Drive side has some urban landscaping with paths and a grassed area, with angle parking along the boundary. There is also a playground and large grassed recreation oval.

History

The suburb of Kingsley is thought to be named after the village of Kingsley, near Winchester in County Hampshire, England. George Shenton, who leased land in the area, was from this village but the connection has yet to be confirmed. It is thought that Shepherd’s Bush was subsequently named after a district of London, in keeping with the English theme. A reserve was gazetted on 08 September 1961. The following year the Metropolitan Region Scheme (MRS) was established, setting out the broad pattern of land use for the whole Perth Metropolitan Region, at which time the area was zoned as Urban, putting the area under development pressure. On 12 October 1979 the reserve was set aside for Recreation. Up until the early-1970s, Kingsley was primarily rural, used for stock grazing and market gardening. By 1979 Whitfords Avenue had been built and a small suburban development was formed south of it, forming the now western boundary of a much larger reserve than now exists. The northern and eastern boundaries of the original reserve was developed intensively between 1985 and 1995, leaving the current reserve parameters. The suburb had a rich bush presence which attracted many of the first settlers to the area. The area was described by Conservation and Land Management in 1987 as having flora generally of high-quality, enough to warrant conservation. ‘Bush Forever’ was a strategic plan released in 2000 for the conservation of bushland within the Swan Coastal Plain portion of the Perth Metropolitan Region. A key objective of Bush Forever was to retain the Swan Coastal Plain’s rich biodiversity by protecting, where possible, representative areas of each of the 26 naturally occurring unique vegetation types (called ‘vegetation complexes’) that occur within the Swan Coastal Plain portion of the Perth Metropolitan Region. Shepherds Bush was designated as Bush Forever Area 39 in 2000. The MRS Amendment 1082/33 – Bush Forever and Related Lands (2010) amended the zoning from ‘Urban’ to ‘Parks and Recreation’. On 14 January 2000 the vesting was changed from the City of Wanneroo to the City of Joondalup. Within the ‘Perth and Peel Green Growth Plan for 3.5million’ released in December 2015 by the West Australian State Government, Shepherds Bush was included as a proposed specific conservation commitment, to be classified as a ‘conservation reserve’. In 2016, the ‘Shepherds Bush Reserve Management Plan’ was developed by the City of Joondalup. To inform the report, a flora, fauna and fungi survey was conducted in spring 2015. The results of this survey were combined with previous surveys to develop a comprehensive species list and ecological assessment of the site. The majority of the native vegetation on site is in very good or good condition and surveys have identified 110 native flora species (including one priority species and two significant species of the Perth Metropolitan Region), two native mammals, 29 native birds (including two species of conservation significance), 10 native reptile species and 34 native invertebrates. In 2023, Shepherds Bush is Crown Land, managed by the City of Joondalup and reserved for the purposes of Parks and Recreation. It is classified as a Major Conservation Area and is ranked in the City of Joondalup’s top five bushland natural areas due to its high biodiversity values.

Condition

Good - assessed from street view only

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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