AIW Centre, Peron

Statement of Significance

AIW Centre, Point Peron is associated with the practice of organisations, charities and churches providing or creating facilities for affordable sea-side holidays in Western Australia in the early to mid-twentieth century.
AIW Centre, Point Peron is representative of the development of recreational pursuits and holiday making in Western Australia during the post-war period.
AIW Centre, Point Peron is one of a number of similar sites along the Point Peron headland that are associated with the development of Rockingham as a holiday destination during the post-war period.
AIW Centre, Point Peron is valued by the original AIW members, employees of Commonwealth Government Departments of Civil Aviation, the Interior, and Works, and their families and descendants, who have stayed at the site since the mid-1950s. The inclusion of former Commonwealth structures in the construction of a small number of shacks is representative of the origins of the AIW Centre members.

Physical Description

The AIW centre is located on the northern side of point peron road, adjacent to the RSL caravan park to the west.
The AIW centre is an area totalling approx 1.71 hectares of bushland that has been used as a camp site since 1950s.
The site was cleared with holiday shacks being constructed in an orderly manner across the site accessed by a number
of tracks leading around the site and north and south through the site. The majority of shacks are single storey timber framed and asbestos- or weatherboard-clad buildings, although there are several examples of double height shacks or partially elevated buildings with storage areas below. Roof types vary, with examples of skillion, gable, shallow pitch and pitched corrugated iron, and a small number of tiled roofs. They are also painted a variety of colours. Windows are a variety of styles and sizes and construction materials (timber and aluminium framed, aluminium sliding windows, louvres, flyscreens). Additions and alterations have been made to the shacks over the last sixty years.
Two ablution blocks are located in the centre of the site.

History

In the years after World War II, the Rockingham District Road Board proposed the establishment of leases in the Point Peron area for the provision of holiday shacks to private individuals. The popular scheme was well underway by 1956, when a number of organisations, churches and charity groups had taken up large leases to provide for members. The AIW Recreation Centre site owes its origins to the social clubs of three Commonwealth Government Departments; Department of Civil Aviation, Department of the Interior, and the Department of Works. The three social clubs joined forces to secure the lease of one of the new camping sites. The name chosen for the club reflects the initial of each of the departments. The first committee meeting was held on 25th March 1957.
The majority of shacks were constructed from scratch, although some were transported complete or dismantled from other places (including other Commonwealth government sites) and reconstructed on site. In 1964, the land was transferred from the Commonwealth Government to State Government, under the management of the Department of Sport and Recreation. By this time, the majority of shacks and the ablution blocks had been constructed. Works to the site were completed by owners at their own expense or through fundraising efforts.
Physical evidence and information from the club members indicates that the shacks have not been replaced since the original construction although additions and alterations have occurred. The individual leases taken up by employees of the three commonwealth departments have been passed on to succeeding generations. The shacks have been the venue for regular holidays by the same family groups since the 1950s.
The AIW Camp is located within the proposed Mangles Bay Marina-Based Tourist Precinct. The AIW camp will be vacated and the structures removed under the proposal, which has been recently approved by the State Government. The proposal is opposed by local community groups, including members of the AIW Centre.

Uses

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.