Gillman, South Australia
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Gillman | |||||||||||||
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 Aerial view of Gillman and surrounding areas | |||||||||||||
  Gillman Location in greater metropolitan Adelaide | |||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Gillman | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates: 34°50′28″S 138°31′37″E / 34.84111°S 138.52694°E | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | South Australia | ||||||||||||
| City | Adelaide | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 76 (SAL 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 5013 | ||||||||||||
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| Adjoining suburbs[2] | |||||||||||||
Gillman is a predominantly industrial north-western suburb of Adelaide, in the City of Port Adelaide Enfield. It is located within the federal Division of Hindmarsh and the state electoral district of Port Adelaide.[3]
Gillman had been the site of railway marshalling yards on the Dry Creek–Port Adelaide railway line. The line was constructed through the area in 1868, leading in to Port Dock railway station. Connections were created from the yard to the industrial and port sidings on the eastern side of the Port River. In 1915, a junction to the south was added called the Rosewater Loop, which connected the Dry Creek line to a new alignment of the Outer Harbor railway line through a new Port Adelaide railway station and bridge over the Port River.
The tracks in the area were converted from broad gauge to dual broad and standard gauge in 1982 as part of the works to convert the Adelaide to Crystal Brook railway to standard gauge.[4]
The Gillman marshalling yards were closed and removed in the early 1990s, leaving the Rosewater Loop as the main line, and a northern branch to sidings on the Port Flats.
In 2008, the Rosewater Loop was closed and the main line branched from the Port Flats branch over the new Mary MacKillop Bridge.
Multifunction Polis
Gillman was intended to be the site of the Multifunction Polis (MFP), a joint project by the Australian and Japanese Governments in the late 1980s and 1990s. Started in 1987 by the Hawke government, the MFP was intended to be a high-tech industry and technology hub with local laws similar to those found in special economic zones around the world today.[5][6] Protests from the local community and controversy over the proposed partnership with Japan led to the collapse of the project, which later was re-purposed into Technology Park and Mawson Lakes nearby.[7]
Motorsport
Gillman has been the home of Motorcycle Speedway in Adelaide since 1981 when the 280-metre (920 ft) North Arm Speedway opened. The speedway, located on the Grand Trunkway, operated from 1981 until its forced closure in 1997.[why?] Since 1998 it has been the home of a larger motorcycle speedway venue, the 300-metre (980 ft) Gillman Speedway located on Wilkins Road.
