Dunlop is a suburb of the Belconnen district of Canberra, located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. Dunlop is at the far north-west edge of Canberra, near the border with the state of New South Wales. Approximately 11.6 kilometres (7.2 mi) north-west of the city, Dunlop is next to the suburbs of Fraser, Charnwood and Macgregor. At the edge and within Dunlop lies the Canberra Nature Park called Dunlop Grasslands Nature Reserve, West Belconnen Ponds, Jarramlee Pond and Fassifern Pond which are part of the Ginninderra Catchment.[3]
At the 2016 census, there were 7,197 persons usually resident in Dunlop (Suburb): 49.1% were males and 50.9% were females. Of the total population in Dunlop (Suburb) 2.3% were Indigenous persons, compared with 2.8% Indigenous persons in Australia.[4]
The Census showed 25.7% of the population usually resident in Dunlop (Suburb) were children aged between 0–14 years, and 15.9% were persons aged 55 years and over. The median age of persons in Dunlop (Suburb) was 33 years, compared with 38 years for persons in Australia.[4]
The 2016 Census showed that 76.3% of persons usually resident in Dunlop stated they were born in Australia. Other common responses within Dunlop (Suburb) were: England 2.2%, India 1.9%, Philippines 1.0%, China 1.0% and New Zealand 0.9%.[4]
At the 2016 Census 77.9% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin at 1.5%.[4]
In the 2016 Census, the most common responses for religious affiliation for persons usually resident in Dunlop (Suburb) were No Religion 32.3%, Catholic 26.2%, Anglican 12.3%, Not stated 6.9% and Islam 2.8%.[4]
In the suburb of Charnwood there are two churches. In the now closed Charnwood High School is Life Unlimited Church and Brindabella Christian College Charnwood Campus and just down the road is Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church.
Playgrounds and parks
Dunlop is in the foreground of the aerial picture looking to the southeast over Belconnen
In the Dunlop suburb, there are around 8 children's playgrounds for all ages with an array of play equipment. There are also a number of parks that are grassed and covered with different varieties of trees, large rocks to play on and walking and cycle paths.
Fassifern Homestead was originally a working homestead, and purportedly once owned by Charles Sturt as part of a Soldier Settlement, but by the 1980s it was an active equestrian park.[5] The property was recognised as some of the best wheat growing land in terms of yield and quality in the district up until the late 1990s, and was also grazing sheep and cattle. The original late 19th century house was demolished by the ACT Government following Compulsory Acquisition in the 1990s. Fassifern Homestead is currently unused and it is owned by Territory and Municipal Services (TAMS). [citation needed]
Estates
The suburb of Dunlop has been designed to have a number of 'estates' which are small areas within the suburb. Some estates range from the beginning of the development of Dunlop and number around 50 houses to the recent development of Ginninderra Ponds with house numbering around in the 100s. All the estates entrances have unique signs and features.
The estates are:
The Meadows
Ginninderra Ridge
Ginninderra Ponds
Dunlop Hills
Jarramlee Park
Some street names in the suburb of Dunlop are:
Akubra Place – Akubra is an Australian brand of hat, whose wide-brimmed styles are a distinctive part of Australian culture, especially in rural areas. The name is believed to be derived from an Aboriginal word for head covering.
Buckmaster Crescent – Ernest William Buckmaster (1897–1968) Australian artist born in Victoria who won the Archibald Prize in 1932 with a portrait of Sir William Irvine.
Evelyn Owen Crescent – Evelyn Ernest Owen (15 May 1915 – 1 April 1949) was an Australian who developed the Owen Submachine Gun which was used in the Second World War, Korean War and the Vietnam War.
Lance Hill Avenue – he manufactured the Hills hoist, in 1945 in Adelaide. A Hills hoist is a height-adjustable rotary clothes line.
Polilight Street – The Polilight is a portable, high-intensity, filtered light source used by forensic scientists and others to detect fingerprints, bodily fluids and other evidence from crime scenes and other places.
Stump Jump Crescent – The stump-jump plough is a kind of plough invented in South Australia in the late nineteenth century by Richard Bowyer Smith to solve the particular problem of preparing mallee lands for cultivation.
Victa Place – The Victa lawn mower was invented in 1952, in Concord a suburb of Sydney, Australia, by Mervyn Victor Richardson.
Rocks in Dunlop are from the Silurian age. Deakin Volcanics purple rhyodacite is found in most of Dunlop. Grey tuff from the Laidlaw Volcanics was erupted on top in the south west. The Deakin Fault passes along the north east edge of Dunlop. On the north east of the fault the green-grey dacite and quartz andesite of the Hawkins Volcanics were uplifted.[8]
