Lawson, Australian Capital Territory

Lawson Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Coordinates	35°13′30″S 149°05′17″E / 35.22500°S 149.08806°ECoordinates: 35°13′30″S 149°05′17″E / 35.22500°S 149.08806°E
Postcode(s)	2617
Area	3.1 km^2 (1.2 sq mi)
District	Belconnen
Territory electorate(s)	Ginninderra
Federal Division(s)	Fraser
Suburbs around Lawson: McKellar Giralang Kaleen McKellar Lawson Kaleen Belconnen Bruce Bruce

Lawson (postcode: 2617) is a suburb in the Belconnen district of Canberra, located within the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. It does not have any suburban houses, consisting only of part of Lake Ginninderra, the Belconnen Naval Transmission Station, and an open area of grassland where there is a reservoir and substation. A bicycle path runs alongside Ginninderra Drive, another along the shore of the lake. The area is surrounded by Baldwin Drive, William Slim Drive and Ginninderra Drive. It lies next to the suburbs of McKellar, Giralang, Kaleen, Bruce and Belconnen.

Two intersections were built in 2012 that lead into the suburb's grasslands, prepared for future development on the suburb, one leading off Ginninderra Drive, and another off Baldwin Drive. However, neither intersection continues on further than a few metres. Development was delayed by about two years by Commonwealth environmental clearance processes due to the presence of golden sun moth and native grassland. Construction of roads have commenced and the first residential land was sold on 3 December 2013.^[1]

The suburb derives its name from Henry Lawson, short story writer and poet. The streets in Lawson are named after aspects of Australia appearing in his writing.^[2]

Political representation

For the purposes of Australian federal elections for the House of Representatives, Lawson is in the Division of Fraser.^[3]

For the purposes of Australian Capital Territory elections for the ACT Legislative Assembly, Lawson is in the Ginninderra electorate.^[4]

Geology

Aerial view of Lawson, from the west.

The rocks in Lawson are from Ordovician and Silurian ages. The Ordovician age greywacke from the Pittman Formation is in the far south and east of Lawson, including a band of black Acton Shale. Greywacke is formed by underwater landslides of mud settling out on the ocean floor. The black shale was formed in the deep ocean when the water had no oxygen. Then in the north west there are late Silurian sedimentary rocks. From the center of Lawson there is mudstone, State Circle Shale, and then Black Mountain Sandstone that contains mica lenses of shale. On the west side of lake Ginninderra there is calcareous shale from the Canberra Formation in the north, Glebe Farm Adamellite intrusion in the center and a porphyry of Green-grey Dacitic intrusive containing large white Feldspar crystals in the south. A long fault that follows the east bank of the Lake Ginninderra, and Ginninderra Creek passes through Lawson in the north north west direction. It is likely that this fault has determined the location of the creek. The late Silurian sediments are to the east of the fault.

References

1. "Lawson blocks snapped up at top price". Canberra Times. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2014.
2. "Suburb Name search results". ACT Environment and Sustainable Development. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
3. "Profile of the electoral division of Fraser (ACT)". Current federal electoral divisions. Australian Electoral Commission. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
4. "Electorates 2012 election". Electorates. ACT Electoral Commission. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 17 December 2013.