Migrant Park

Statement of Significance

With its mature flame trees and parkland setting, the place has aesthetic value as an urban park. The place has historic value as the site of the camp established by the Metropolitan Water Supply during the 1940s to house displaced people who were contracted by the Government to work on upgrading the pipe link between Canning Dam and the reservoirs in Perth. The place is associated with the many displaced people who began new lives in the Armadale-Kelmscott area under the UN Refugee Resettlement Scheme established after WWII, and who went on to become valuable members of the local community The remaining concrete foundations of the former Nissen Huts are all that remains of the former Camp No. 1 and have potential to reveal archaeological information about the original layout and characteristics of the site.The place is valued by the local community as the site of the first homes of many displaced people who came to live in the Kelmscott-Armadale area after WWII, and whose descendants still remain in the area.

Physical Description

There is little remaining physical evidence of the displaced persons camps, apart from a number of mature Flame trees (planted around the huts to provide shade) and the remains of the concrete foundations from a Nissen Hut.

History

Hundreds of thousands of people from Europe came to Australia after World War II as part of the UN Refugee Resettlement Scheme which began the Australian government’’s massive migration program. Many of these new Australians came to Kelmscott to work for the Water Supply Department. Workers were needed to upgrade the pipe link between the Canning Dam and reservoirs in Perth. These migrants were contracted to the government to work for two years. Whilst the men worked for the Water Supply, many of the women found work cleaning houses and picking fruit in local orchards while the children attended the nearby Kelmscott School. Many of the men finished their working lives still employed by the Water Authority, and in some cases, their sons still work for the same Authority. The workers were accommodated in Nissen Huts, a pre-fabricated structure distinguished by its curved roof form and metal cladding. Each hut had two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen/living area and an external toilet. Two sites for housing the workers were selected in the area. Camp No. 1 was located on Reserve 2121 on River Road (now the corner of Brookton Highway and Bernard Street) and accommodated 42 Nissen Huts. Camp No. 2 was located on Reserve 30196 in Lefroy Road (now Roberts Road), and in the grounds of the Good Shepherd School, and accommodated approximately 30 huts as well as some workshops. Life in the camps offered comfort and stability for the new migrants. The camps received deliveries from the nearby store run by Ron and Vera Buckingham, as well as the local butcher, greengrocer and milkman. A wash house for laundering clothes was shared between families and vegetables and flowers were planted around the huts. Flame trees were planted around the huts to provide shade and brighten the area. As migrants became more settled in Western Australia, they aspired to leave the camps, and many families bought homes in the local area. As the Nissen Huts were vacated they were filled with other migrant families. Later the camps were used to relieve the shortage of public housing caused by servicemen returning from the Second World War and other post-war pressures. In the 1960s they housed families waiting for State Housing.

Integrity/Authenticity

Low-Moderate Moderate

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

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