Welcome to Meatworks Estate!

How insanely huge is this house?! This is in the new-ish Demco estate, aka Meatworks Estate (Demco was the meatworks company which was situated here until 1994). All the houses are well over $1 million. The apartments are a a bit less at $800,000.

Being an estate, the houses are all crammed together (this one is an exception but only because the next block is still empty) despite the price tags. There are also townhouses and units on the street behind the mansions.

According to Elaine Rabbitt a proposal was put to the council in '95 to turn the site into a 'prestigious resort development' fronting Roebuck Bay. This didn't happen, but it did become a prestigious residential development despite the fact that Broome residents didn't consider it to be a desirable part of town, the meatworks stench still fresh in their memories.

In her story of her childhood, Sally Bin Denim talks about fishing from the meatworks drain and how you had to be careful of the sharks that were attracted to the bay by all the blood washing out!

There are a few meatworks mansions on the market at the moment, so if you have a spare couple of million...! A few of the houses are on the edge of the dunes and would have a great view of the azure bay (and the port). Some may get a peek between the houses. The majority of houses wouldn't have a view, like this $1.8million 'Mediter-Asian Grandure'.

Sure you are in close proximity to the beach here, and also Town Beach, but neither are particularly nice! Meatworks beach (pictured right and below) is mostly rocks, many of which become very slippery when the tide goes out! I go there just because it is the only dog-friendly beach in walking distance, and also to collect sea-smoothed pieces of glass.

It isn't particularly well located, being halfway between town and the port and next to the Youth Sports Centre (or opposite it in the case of the first house!) and Caravan Park (the Youth Centre is also the overflow for the caravan park). It is surrounded by quite an expanse of bush, but that has a tendency to be set alight.

One thing about the estate, the banana palms grow really well!