Shire of Murray

A Brief History

Rail from Perth was pushed through Pinjarra in the 1890’s and enabled transport for a developing, largely international, timber industry centred on Dwellingup in the early part of the 20th centrury.

Prominent families have also contributed to the social heritage of the area including the McLarty family who produced three Members of Parliament, one of which Sir Ross, who went on to become Premier of the state from 1946 to 1962.

Much of the fabric that demonstrates the area’s heritage is still in existence, although many places are in need of restoration and reuse.

The Shire has historically been a small, generally farming community experiencing relatively slow growth and even stagnation in recent decades as many of its services have relocated to the more rapidly expanding Mandurah area.

As the metropolitan urban front edges further south and road and rail infrastructure is provided, the Shire has come under significant growth pressure. The Shire’s heritage contributes to its unique character and identity and provides a range of other social, economic and environmental advantages. The Shire therefore recognises the need to identify and protect those places of heritage value in planning for this growth.

Local Government Inventory

A Local Government Inventory is a heritage survey of the local area outlining an account of a local government’s history and providing the base information necessary to prepare heritage based policies and the Local Planning Scheme Heritage List.

An original Inventory was prepared for the overall Peel Region in the mid 1990s. The Shire initiated a review of the Inventory in October 2009. The revised Inventory comprehensively identifies the places and areas of cultural heritage significance in the Shire, including geographic coverage of all the Shire’s towns, suburbs or other areas and coverage of all place types (eg public and private buildings; residential and commercial places). It also recognises changes in local heritage since the original inventory was compiled. The revised Inventory was advertised for public submissions and adopted by Council on 25 August 2011.

The revised Inventory identifies some 84 places and three heritage areas which retain significant physical fabric from the past. 

Click here for the Local Government Inventory.

Shire of Murray Town Planning Scheme No. 4 Heritage List 

Click here for Scheme Heritage List

Heritage Council of WA State Heritage Register

The state register of heritage places is a list of places that have heritage value and importance to Western Australia. The register is maintained by the Heritage Council of WA. Entry in the State Register recognises the significance of the place and helps ensure that it is conserved into the future by requiring Heritage Council approval before any changes are made to the place and by being eligible for financial and professional assistance to maintain and enhance the heritage values. Information about places entered in the State Register is available from the Heritage Council of WA Website