Belconnen
The name Belconnen has long been associated with the locality, taken from a land grant made in 1837 to the explorer Captain Charles Sturt. Originally, it was the name of a pioneer’s homestead and later on of a rural district in the ACT. The precise origin of the name is not known. The streets of Belconnen are named after Lord Mayors and Mayors.
The suburb of Belconnen is the central area within the district of the same name. It contains the Belconnen Town Centre, Lake Ginninderra and several residential areas. It also has a number of parks, such as Diddams Close Park and John Knight Memorial Park.
Belconnen Town Centre is the major commercial centre for the Canberra district of Belconnen and is located in the suburb of Belconnen. Belconnen Town Centre includes the region’s major shopping centre, Westfield Belconnen, large government office buildings including Cameron Offices, Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Immigration and Citizenship, and three bus stations. Government plans were released early in 2009, detailing refurbishment of the areas surrounding the shopping centre, including the relocation of the bus interchange and the extension of the bus lane.
The service and trades area is located in the suburb’s west. In this area can be found car dealers and repairers, petrol stations, hardware stores, restaurants and many other specialty retailers.
Lake Ginninderra College, a secondary college for years 11 and 12, is located on Emu Bank, on the south-eastern shore of Lake Ginninderra.
Belconnen includes residential development areas, ‘Emu Ridge’ in the south-east, ‘Ginninderra Heights’ in the north-west and apartment buildings on Chandler and Beissel Street.
Emu Ridge, consisting solely of medium to high-density housing, is often regarded as a suburb, mainly due to its distinct boundaries and because the name helps differentiate this part of the suburb from others.
Ginninderra Heights was the name given to the medium-density residential development centred around Totterdell Street in the north-west of Belconnen.
The suburb of Belconnen is bounded by Ginninderra Drive, Aikman Drive, Eastern Valley Way, Belconnen Way and Coulter Drive.