Beeliar Regional Park

The concept of regional spaces in Western Australia open to the public was first proposed in 1955, when the Stephenson-Hepburn Report recommended preserving private land for future public use in what would become the Perth Metropolitan Region in 1963. The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) identified areas of significant conservation, landscape and recreation value in a report in 1983. In 1989, the state Government allocated the responsibility of managing regional parks to the Department of Conservation and Land Management.{{cite report |date=2010 |title=Rockingham Lakes Regional Park Management Plan 2010 |url=https://www.dpaw.wa.gov.au/images/documents/parks/management-plans/decarchive/rockingham_lakes_regional_park_management_plan__cover.pdf |publisher=Conservation Commission of Western Australia, Department of Environment and Conservation & City of Rockingham |access-date=28 May 2021 }}

A Regional Parks Taskforce was established in 1990 but the EPA reported in 1993 that the establishment of these parks encountered difficulties. Beeliar Regional Park was gazetted in the Government Gazette on 17 January 1995.{{cite web |url=https://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=14862|title=Beeliar Regional Park and Adjacent Areas, Beeliar Dr, Beeliar, WA, Australia |publisher=Australian Heritage Database |access-date=28 May 2021 }}

{{main|Aboriginal history of Western Australia}}

The area of the Beeliar Regional Park, with its freshwater lakes, was an important camping area and source of food for the Beeliar clan of the Whadjuk people from the Noongar nation. A major trade route connecting the Swan and Murray River passed through the wetlands of what is now Beeliar Regional Park. A number of Aboriginal heritage sites have been identified within the park and the area continues to be of spiritual importance to the local indigenous people.

European settlement of the area was slow because large tracts of land in the area were unsuitable for farming and initial attempts to establish a town in the 1830s failed. By the 1920s, an extensive network of canals had been constructed to drain the wetlands for agricultural use.

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Beeliar Regional Park stretches from its northern-most point, Blue Gum Lake, {{convert|10|km}} south of the CBD, to its southern extension, The Spectacles, {{convert|33|km}} south of the CBD. It consists of 19 lakes, arranged in two chains. The smaller, western one is within {{convert|2|km}} of the coast while the eastern, larger one is between {{convert|5|and|6|km}} from the coast. The park also contains the Henderson coastal limestone cliffs.{{cite report |date=2006 |title=Beeliar Regional Park Final Management Plan 2006 |url=https://www.bushlandperth.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/BeeliarMP.pdf |publisher=Department of Conservation and Land Management |access-date=28 May 2021 }}

===Eastern chain===

The main areas from north to south:

===Western chain===

The main areas from north to south:

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Beeliar Regional Park}}

• Parks and Wildlife Service: [https://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/park/beeliar Beeliar Regional Park]
• Urban Bushland Council WA Inc.: [https://www.bushlandperth.org.au/treasures/beeliar-regional-park/ Beeliar Regional Park]

{{Regional parks in Western Australia}}

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Category:Parks in Perth, Western Australia

Category:1995 establishments in Australia

Category:City of Cockburn

Category:City of Kwinana

Category:City of Melville

Category:Noongar place names