Bouvard, Western Australia
Encyclopedia
Bouvard is the southernmost suburb of Mandurah
Mandurah, Western Australia
Mandurah is the second-largest city in Western Australia and is located approximately south of the state capital, Perth.The city attracts a large number of tourists, including many international visitors...

, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

, and is located 97 kilometres (60 mi) south of the state capital, Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

. Its Local Government Area
Local Government Areas of Western Australia
The Australian state of Western Australia is divided into 141 local government areas...

 is the City of Mandurah
City of Mandurah
The City of Mandurah is a Local Government Area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately 174 km² in the Peel region of Western Australia just beyond the southern boundary of metropolitan Perth, and lies about 75 km south of the Perth central business district.It is bordered by the...

.

History

Bouvard is named for Cape Bouvard some 5km to the west, which itself was named by Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas Baudin
Nicolas-Thomas Baudin was a French explorer, cartographer, naturalist and hydrographer.Baudin was born a commoner in Saint-Martin-de-Ré on the Île de Ré. At the age of fifteen he joined the merchant navy, and at twenty joined the French East India Company...

, who sighted the cape en route to Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island is located off the coast of Western Australia, near Fremantle. It is called Wadjemup by the Noongar people, meaning "place across the water". The island is long, and at its widest point with a total land area of . It is classified as an A Class Reserve and is managed by the...

 from what is now Bunbury
Bunbury, Western Australia
The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

 in 1802-1803, either after Charles Bouvard (1572-1658), a French chemist, or Alexis Bouvard
Alexis Bouvard
Alexis Bouvard was a French astronomer. He is particularly noted for his careful observations of the irregularities in the motion of Uranus and his hypothesis of the existence of an eighth planet in the solar system.-Life:...

 (1767-1843), an astronomer and director of Paris Observatory
Paris Observatory
The Paris Observatory is the foremost astronomical observatory of France, and one of the largest astronomical centres in the world...

.

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
Old Coast Road
Old Coast Road is a Western Australian highway linking Mandurah, WA's second-largest city located 75 km south of Perth, with Bunbury, WA's third-largest city. It is signed as Route 1 for most of its length and is long.-Overview:...

, the main route between Mandurah and Bunbury
Bunbury, Western Australia
The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

 and part of National Highway 1
Highway 1 (Australia)
Australia's Highway 1 is a network of highways that circumnavigate the Australian continent, joining all mainland state capitals. At a total length of approximately it is the longest national highway in the world, longer than the Trans-Siberian Highway and the Trans-Canada Highway...

) between Yalgorup National Park
Yalgorup National Park
Yalgorup National Park is a national park in Western Australia , 105 km south of Perth, and directly south of MandurahThe park is located on the western edge of the Swan Coastal Plain and contains a chain of about ten lakes, the name rises from the two Noongar words Yalgor meaning lake and up...

 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.

At the ABS
Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is Australia's national statistical agency. It was created as the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics on 8 December 1905, when the Census and Statistics Act 1905 was given Royal assent. It had its beginnings in section 51 of the Constitution of Australia...

 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. The 2006 figure represented an increase of 421 people from the 2001 census.

Despite similar names, Bouvard is not the same as Port Bouvard, which is an unofficial residential estate split between the suburbs of Wannanup
Wannanup, Western Australia
Wannanup is a residential suburb in Western Australia, located southwest of Mandurah and south-southwest of the state capital, Perth. It is surrounded on three sides by water — the Indian Ocean to the west, the Harvey Estuary to the east and the Dawesville Channel to the south — and is home to...

 and Dawesville
Dawesville, Western Australia
Dawesville is a suburb of Mandurah, and is located between the Harvey Estuary and the Indian Ocean.It is also home to the largest inland waterway in Western Australia - the Harvey Estuary and the Peel Inlet which combine to produce an array of fishing and crabbing options in the summer months...

.

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
Falcon, Western Australia
Falcon is a southern suburb of Mandurah, located southwest of Mandurah's central area on the Indian Ocean.-Geography:Falcon is one of four Mandurah suburbs that lie on an island bound by the Mandurah Estuary to the north, the Peel-Harvey Estuary to the east, the Dawesville Channel to the south and...

.

Transport

Selected 594 services from Mandurah Station started servicing Bouvard in May 2011, and a Transperth
Transperth
Transperth is the brand name of the public transport system in Perth, Western Australia. It is operated by the Public Transport Authority.-History:...

 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
Dawesville, Western Australia
Dawesville is a suburb of Mandurah, and is located between the Harvey Estuary and the Indian Ocean.It is also home to the largest inland waterway in Western Australia - the Harvey Estuary and the Peel Inlet which combine to produce an array of fishing and crabbing options in the summer months...

 recorded a 60.59% primary vote for the centre-right Liberal Party
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...

, while at the 2005 state election
Western Australian state election, 2005
Elections were held in the state of Western Australia on 26 February 2005 to elect all 57 members to the Legislative Assembly and all 34 members to the Legislative Council...

, the Liberals received 43.8% of the vote compared to 36.8% for the centre-left Australian Labor Party
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...

 and 9.2% for the Nationals
National Party of Australia
The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is...

.
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