The Locke Estate is an area of Crown land located on the coast of
Geographe Bay
Geographe Bay is in the south-west of Western Australia, around southwest of Perth.
The bay was named in May 1801 by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, after his ship, ''Géographe''. It is a wide curve of coastline extending from Cape Natur ...
near
Caves Road approximately west of the town of
Busselton
Busselton is a city in the South West (Western Australia), South West region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia approximately south-west of Perth. Busselton has a long history as a popular holiday destin ...
. Comprising an area of , the estate was designated an A-Class Reserve in the 1920s for the purposes of "Recreational Campsites and Group Holiday accommodation".
The estate was divided into 16 sites which have been leased to churches and community organisations at minimal rates. The presence of the church sites throughout the estate has led to the area being known locally as the "Holy Mile".
The Locke Estate provides low-cost accommodation along one of the most expensive real estate locations in the
South West region of
Western Australia
Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. As an A-Class Reserve the land cannot be sold and has the highest level of protection.
The estate was gazetted as a nature reserve with a size of on 11 February 1992.
In 2018, a bridge was built from the reserve across the
Buayanyup River to link two previously isolated populations of
western ringtail possum
The western ringtail possum or ngwayir (''Pseudocheirus occidentalis'') is a species of possum found in a small area of Southwest Australia. They are a cat-sized marsupial with a stocky build, dark greyish-brown fur, pale underparts and a long p ...
s.
References
{{reflist
Nature reserves in Western Australia
Busselton