About – Wellstead Community Resource Centre

The Wellstead Community Resource Centre is a not-for-profit, community managed organisation servicing the geographically isolated rural community of Wellstead. Formerly a Telecentre, Wellstead CRC has serviced the community for over 20 years. The Wellstead Community Resource Centre is one of 105 Community Resource Centres across Western Australia. The Wellstead CRC meets the needs and aspirations of the geographically isolated community. The core values underpinning initiatives are: inclusion, sustainability and collaboration. The organisation offers a range of workshop and training opportunities to the community each year. Wellstead CRC provides the community with: health promotion initiatives, job seeker assistance, business support, economic initiatives, networking and social events plus IT literacy support. The centre also provides a vital link for community members to access government information and services. In 2017, the Community of Wellstead initiated Whisper Coffee Shop: the CRC’s social enterprise.

Wellstead CRC’s Constitution can be found here: WCRC Constitution FINAL Updated_070524

Noongar people have historically fished and hunted along the southern coastal region. It was not until the mid-19th century that the district was settled by Europeans at Cape Riche. Descendants of these settlers continue to farm at Cape Riche today.

Edward John Eyre passed through this district when he was traversing the country from South Australia to Albany in 1841 and a cairn that marks his route can be seen at the junction of Sandalwood and Mettler’s Lake roads.

In from the coast, land was considered too poor to sustain agriculture. This changed when scientists found that with the application of trace elements, good pastures could be produced and the area was opened up in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. Conditional purchase blocks were allocated to people from all around Australia who had applied to the W.A. Land Board in the hope of acquiring a block.

Together with the earlier settlers, conditional purchase newcomers brought a feeling of community to the area. They established and built the original school, tennis courts, community hall and church: forming the foundations on which we continue today. The region supports agriculture, forestry, floriculture and other agricultural related industries. As the population of the area increased there was demand for the government to set aside land for a town site. The town site was gazetted in 1965 shortly after establishing a telephone exchange.

Today, conservation and agriculture work hand in hand for a sustainable future.

The name commemorates the Wellstead family who traversed through The District around 1860 and held extensive lands around Bremer Bay. They crossed over the Pallinup River at a river crossing which became commonly known as “Wellstead Crossing”. It is believed that in 1965, when the Governor of WA was asked to name a new “townlet” located in the South Coast region of WA, the name “Wellstead Crossing” was noted to be marked on a map. It was decided to use this name to call the nearby town “Wellstead”. There was a lot of disagreement on this name choice by many members of the surrounding rural District, but the Governor did not change his mind.

The Wellstead Historical & Heritage Society is a very active group preserving local and district history and displaying it at the Community Resource Centre. A number of their publications are available to purchase from Wellstead CRC/Whisper Coffee Shop

Wellstead CRC Committee

History