The City of Cockburn is located in Perth’s outer southern suburbs, approximately between 15 and 29 kilometres south of the Perth GPO. The area is made up of residential, industrial and rural residential areas and is developing a retail and commercial centre in the suburb of Cockburn Central. Prior to the second World War the area mainly consisted of small rural communities, predominantly involved in market gardening and dairy farming; however, the post war years saw the commencement of housing development in areas such as Hamilton Hill, Coolbellup, Spearwood and Yangebup. The area gained City status in 1979, and has undergone a period of rapid growth since the 1980s, with further development in areas such as Spearwood and Yangebup, and the development of Coogee and Bibra Lake. In the 1990s, areas such as Atwell and Beeliar commenced development and, more recently, greenfield sites in Success have provided considerable new housing opportunities. In terms of industry, the City of Cockburn is an important centre for ship building, with the suburb of Henderson being home to the Australian Marine Complex, one of the largest ship building precincts in Australia. Industry is a major influence on the pattern of future development: in 2001 the Hope Valley-Wattleup development program identified the southern suburb of Wattleup as part of a major industrial precinct shared with the neighbouring Town of Kwinana. As part of this program, the township of Wattleup has been largely demolished in order to provide land for future industry, with the remaining residential and rural properties in the area expected to disappear in the near future.
The primary housing market role of the City has been to provide affordable home owning opportunities for families and prospective families from southern Perth. This traditional role is likely to continue in the short term with the continued development of the growth areas of Success, Aubin Grove and Hammond Park, as well as the re-zoning of market gardens in areas such as Munster and Spearwood for residential development. More recently, development aimed at specific markets has been occurring along the coast, in particular attracting second and third homebuyers and 'empty nesters' and retirees, with the commencement of the development of Port Coogee. In the longer term, these patterns are expected to change. The availability of large tracts of 'greenfield' land and other suitable sites for traditional family housing is decreasing within the City and are likely to be substantially exhausted before 2031, whilst significant sites are being made available in the neighbouring area of the Town of Kwinana, which is likely in future to meet an increasing proportion of the regional demand for this type of housing. Despite this, the development of higher density areas around Cockburn Central, with its rail links into inner Perth, Rockingham and Mandurah, and the proposed revitalisation and regeneration of Hamilton Hill, Spearwood and Coolbellup, are likely to provide housing opportunities to younger and older smaller household types in higher density developments. The proposed Cockburn Coastal Structure Plan is also likely to have considerable impact in the longer term, providing further coastal development aimed principally at mature households and older families.
The variety of periods of settlement in the City mean that various suburbs are at quite different periods in the suburb lifecycle. In the older areas of the City, such as Spearwood and Coolbellup, the original settlers have passed on, resulting in a diversity of age groups. Areas such as Yangebup and, to a lesser extent, Hamilton Hill have experienced some new residential development over recent years resulting in some regeneration of the area. The population in older areas such as Bibra Lake, Leeming and North Lake, are undergoing an ageing process and, as children leave home, a growth in the number of older and smaller household types. More recently developed areas such as Atwell, and suburbs such as Beeliar and Success, which are likely to be fully developed in the near future, are likely to age over time with fewer opportunities for young families to move into the area. It is also expected that Hammond Park and Aubin Grove will develop substantially over the next ten years, repeating the pattern of development in Success and Atwell, attracting young and prospective families, with a relatively large proportion of pre-school aged children.
As described above, different areas within the City of Cockburn have slightly different functions based on both era of development and amount of new housing opportunities. Bibra Lake and Munster are expected to attract some younger families, whilst losing some young adults leaving home and Jandakot, Leeming and North Lake are expected to attract older families, similarly losing young adults. Success and Beeliar are expected to continue to attract families in their development phase. New development areas such as Aubin Grove and Hammond Park are expected to attract a large number of young families with children, whilst Cockburn Central, Yangebup, Hamilton Hill, Coolbellup and Spearwood by contrast are expected to attract young adults in similar fashion to an inner city area. Finally, Coogee - North Coogee are likely to attract older smaller households and older families seeking the lifestyle opportunities offered by masterplanned coastal estates. The variety of function and role of the small areas in the City of Cockburn means that population outcomes differ significantly across the LGA.
There are also significant differences in the supply of residential property within the City which will also have a major influence in structuring different population and household futures over the forecast period to 2031. There remains significant further potential within the existing growth areas of Success and Aubin Grove with new 'greenfield' opportunities being identified in Hammond Park. There is also additional potential through high density developments in and around Cockburn Central, as well as smaller opportunities offered by the development of market gardens in Munster. Substantial interest in group dwelling development in the more urban parts of the city (Hamilton Hill, Spearwood and Coolbellup) is also likely to occur as these areas redevelop. There are also likely to be other greenfield, rural residential and, most notably, infill development opportunities throughout the City, albeit at lower levels than the growth areas identified above. In contrast, areas such as Jandakot and Banjup are likely to have very low levels of residential development owing to constraints around other land uses such as mineral extraction, rural activites and water catchment. Similarly, drainage issues and the preservation of wetlands are likely to constrain future development in a number of areas where there are remnant parcels of otheriwse developable land. Finally, Wattleup and Henderson are highly unlikely to have any future residential development as these are key locations for current and future industry.