It's all about play
- Multiple days and locations
- Multiple locations
Learn more about the Clarkson, Merriwa, Ridgewood and Butler neighbourhood.
This neighbourhood shares a sense of place shaped by accessibility, residential diversity and ongoing growth. Clarkson functions as a key suburban hub, anchored by strong public transport connections, major shopping and essential services that support both commuters and local residents. Merriwa offers a predominantly residential environment with a mix of family homes and retirement living, creating a diverse and established community. Ridgewood provides a quieter, more modest suburban setting, characterised by lower-density housing, local parks and easy access to neighbouring amenities. Butler, one of the area’s newer suburbs, reflects rapid, planned expansion from its former bushland state into a growing residential community with increasing density and supporting infrastructure. Together, these suburbs form a connected northern corridor balancing convenience, variety and evolving suburban life.
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Place name and meaning
Butler
The name Butler was chosen by the Shire of Wanneroo in 1979 in honour of John Butler, the first recorded non-Aboriginal explorer of the Wanneroo and Lake Joondalup areas. John Butler was the first to suggest the land might be suitable for grazing and requested John Septimus Roe order a survey be done. Butler was approved as the locality name on 8 January 1980.
Clarkson
The suburb's name honours the Clarkson family. The first colonial settler to make a permanent farm in the area was Bernard Drummond Clarkson, a sheep-farmer who also held land in Toodyay. Clarkson first acquired a pastoral lease in 1888 of 18,000 acres in the areas comprising modern-day Mindarie, Clarkson, Quinns Rocks and Merriwa. The leases were known as the Mindarie Pastoral Company, and the lands were primarily used for sheepherding by subsequent generations of the Clarkson family. Clarkson was originally gazetted as Mindarie by the Shire of Wanneroo in 1979, but the two names were transferred in 1985 at the request of the Smith Corporation, which went on to develop the Mindarie Keys Marina three years later.
Merriwa
The City of Wanneroo originally proposed the name ‘Hester' for this suburb - after Thomas Hester, one of the first landowners in the vicinity. This was approved in 1980, but the name was opposed by Australia Post because of duplication. Consequently, 31 March 1980 the name Merriwa was adopted, which is an Aboriginal word for ‘a good place’.
Ridgewood
The suburb name of Ridgewood refers to the wooded ridge on the Swan Coastal Plain. The name was approved on 19 June 1998. The suburb was formerly a part of Merriwa until 1998, when Merriwa was split in two along Connolly Drive. The eastern half of Merriwa was gazetted as Ridgewood.
Neighbourhood priorities
Through the City’s Liveability Survey you told us what your priorities are. Here are your top five priorities, and what the City is doing to address them to create great places.
