Macarthur

Macarthur is a suburb in the Canberra district of Tuggeranong. The suburb is named after John Macarthur, who was one of the principal founders of the Merino Wool Industry in Australia.  Following suit, the wool industry is the theme for street names.

It was gazetted on 22 March 1982 and first settled in 1983. The suburb has an area of 1.27 km². It is next to the suburbs of Fadden and Gilmore, and is located north of Isabella Drive.

Wanniassa Hills, part of the Canberra Nature Park, is located in Macarthur. Macarthur also includes a horse holding paddock.

For a few short years Macarthur was part of the ACT’s motorsport activities. In 1978, a group of Canberra motorcycle racers approached the Department of the Interior for permission to use an unbuilt, yet developed, area in one of the unused suburbs in Tuggeranong for racing. The Department gave them permission provided they found a suitable suburb that was well away from built-up areas in the closest suburb, Kambah, and that they complied with noise restrictions of the time. Macarthur, which was being developed but not actively being built upon, was chosen and was thus called Macarthur Park.

Macarthur Park used Coyne Street, Jackie Howe Crescent, Merriman Crescent and Carson Street to form the circuit and the undulating nature of the course made it one of the most attractive road courses in south-east Australia. The Canberra Road Racing Club, formed while racing at Fairburn Park, organised its first race meeting in 1978. Between 1978 and 1982 many race meetings and championship races were run with some modifications to the circuit made to accept sidecars in the last two years of competition.

Now that the suburb has been developed the circuit no longer exists. The only signs of its previous existence are the miscoloured traffic island extension on Coyne Street, which was put back in after the island was shortened to allow sidecars to be raced on the circuit, and a sign in the nearby pines about 50 metres from a small off-street car park that explains the short history of the circuit and the riders that rode it. Visitors to the area may notice the name of Wayne Gardener on the sign.