East Cannington, Western Australia

East Cannington, previously part of Queens Park Road Board District and once incorporating present day Beckenham, was largely a semi-rural area, with only the area near the railway used for housing. In 1959, the suburb was gazetted as a postal district. Many farms and horse agistment properties once populated East Cannington until developers realised its potential in the 1990s and thus almost all available land has now given way to suburban housing.

In Fred Carden's book Along the Canning East Cannington had a few notable industries, including a jam factory near the site of the old Cannington Train Station and a garment manufacturer in Lacey Street.[2]

Evidence of the early retail trade can still be gleaned from the weatherboard shops now making up the East Cannington General Store opposite the old Cannington Railway Station site.

East Cannington is bounded by the Armadale railway line to the southwest, Thomas and Gibbs Streets to the northwest, Welshpool Road to the north and Lacey Street to the southeast. It is at the eastern fringe of urban settlement in the City of Canning, with only semi-rural parts of Kenwick and Wattle Grove between the suburb and the Lesmurdie section of the Darling Scarp.[3]

East Cannington is a residential suburb, with a small neighbourhood shopping centre in Gerard Street (now closed and houses are being built where it was) and relying on the nearby Westfield Carousel shopping centre in Cannington boundary for other commercial services. The suburb contains a primary school (Gibbs Street), and Saint Francis Catholic Primary School in Renou Street. Sevenoaks Senior College is nearby. The eastern end of the Welshpool industrial area borders the suburb to the north. A large park along the Welshpool Road border includes a nature reserve of indigenous species and a scout hall. A few other small parks throughout the suburb provide recreational facilities.

East Cannington is served by the Cannington train station at its western corner, linking the area to the Perth central business district. The suburb is also served by buses from Cannington, including a circular route. All services are operated by the Public Transport Authority.