City of Rockingham 3.35

The City of Rockingham is a local government area in the far southern suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth.HistoryIn 1896, residents of Rockingham petitioned to establish a road board, which they proposed be called "Clarence" which was the name of the failed settlement of Thomas Peel at Woodman Point. The area at the time fell within the responsibility of the Fremantle District Road Board. The name "Clarence" was declined by the Department of Lands and Surveys, and the Rockingham Roads District was gazetted on 4 February 1897.The agricultural hall on the corner of Flinders Lane and Kent Street in Rockingham was used for the Roads Board's administration until an office was constructed for the Roads Board on the corner of Office Road and Mandurah Road in East Rockingham in 1905. In 1929 the Board resolved to relocate the administration to Rockingham Beach and the various buildings, including the Agricultural Hall and the vacated Rockingham Beach Primary School building on Kent Street, were used as the Board's offices.A new office was constructed for the Roads Board in 1946 on the corner of Flinders Lane and Kent Street.In February 1954 the Kwinana Road District was formed from the northern portion of the Rockingham Road District.On 1 July 1961, the Road District became the Shire of Rockingham following enactment of the Local Government Act 1960. In 1971, the Shire relocated to new offices on Council Avenue on land donated by developers Rockingham Park Pty Ltd 2 km southeast of the traditional centre of Rockingham Beach, which was to become the new major centre of Rockingham and Kwinana. The Rockingham City Shopping Centre opened in the new centre in 1971. Despite the move to the new "city centre," the community apparently considered Rockingham Beach to be the rightful civic heart of Rockingham, as evidenced by the Shire's decision to construct Flinders Hall on Flinders Lane, despite the new Council offices being constructed in the same year.