Bouvard, Western Australia

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Bouvard
city = Mandurah
state = wa


caption =
lga = City of Mandurah
area = 2.0
postcode = 6211
pop = 792 (2006 census)
est = 1980s
dist1 = 97 | dir1 = SSW | location1 = Perth
dist2 = 22 | dir2 = SSW | location2 = Mandurah
stategov = Dawesville
fedgov = Canning
near-nw = Dawesville
near-n = Dawesville
near-ne = Harvey Estuary
near-w = Yalgorup NP
near-e = Harvey Estuary
near-sw = Clifton
near-s = Herron
near-se = Herroncoord|-32.682|115.62|type:city(792)_region:AU-WA_scale:50000|format=dms|display=title

Bouvard is the southernmost suburb of Mandurah, Western Australia, and is located convert|97|km|mi|0 south of the state capital, Perth. Its Local Government Area is the City of Mandurah.

History

Bouvard is named for Cape Bouvard some 5km to the west, which itself was named by Nicolas Baudin, who sighted the cape en route to Rottnest Island from what is now Bunbury in 1802-1803, either after Charles Bouvard (1572-1658), a French chemist, [cite web|url=http://www.mlssa.asn.au/journals/2001Journal.htm|title=2001 Journal|author=Marine Life Society of South Australia Inc.|month=December|year=2001|accessdate=2006-10-28] or Alexis Bouvard (1767-1843), an astronomer and director of Paris Observatory.

The Park Ridge estate was developed in the 1990s, and other estates have been built or proposed. Bouvard Coastcare, a volunteer group dedicated to maintaining the fragile coastal and dune environment, has won awards and grants for its work.

Geography

Bouvard consists of a narrow strip of land along both sides of the Old Coast Road, the main route between Mandurah and Bunbury and part of "National Highway 1") between Yalgorup National Park and the Harvey Estuary. The western part consists of sparsely populated rural residential land with large lots separated by bushland buffers, while the eastern part follows more traditional coastal suburban development patterns along the estuary. [Streetsmart WA|maps=Maps 818, 848]

At the ABS 2001 census, Bouvard had a population of 792 people living in 343 dwellings, one-quarter of whom were elderly, and nearly all of whom were from Australia, the United Kingdom or New Zealand.Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC51186|name=Bouvard (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-06-29
* Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC53261|name=Bouvard - Bal (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-06-29] The 2006 figure represented an increase of 421 people from the 2001 census.

Facilities

Bouvard has a boat ramp, tavern and accommodation (Park Ridge House and Yalgorup Country Lodge), as well as walking trails and a couple of small roadside shops and a fuel station along the Old Coast Road. There are no schools within easy reach of Bouvard, and the nearest shopping centre is at Falcon.

Transport

Bouvard is not served directly by public transport, but the 165 from Mandurah terminates 3 km from the suburb in Dawesville, and a Transperth school bus stops at the Bouvard Tavern. Private operator South West Coach Lines stops upon request at the Bouvard Tavern on its Perth to Bunbury service operating several times a day.

Politics

Bouvard is difficult to measure as it did not have a polling place at the election, but at the 2004 federal election, the nearest polling place at Dawesville recorded a 60.59% primary vote for the centre-right Liberal Party, [cite web|url=http://results.aec.gov.au/12246/results/HousePollingPlaceFirstPrefs-12246-7482.htm|title=Polling Place - Dawesville (Canning)|author=Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)|date=9 November 2005|accessdate=2007-06-29] while at the 2005 state election, the Liberals received 43.8% of the vote compared to 36.8% for the centre-left Australian Labor Party and 9.2% for the Nationals. [cite web|url=http://www.electionswa.com/content/Polling_Dawesville.htm|title=District of Dawesville - Polling Place Results|author=Western Australian Electoral Commission|date=30 November 2005|accessdate=2007-06-29]

References