Nicholls is a suburb in the Canberra, Australia district of Gungahlin. It was named after Sir Douglas Nicholls (1906–1988) who was born at Cummeragunja Aboriginal mission, New South Wales. Nicholls was a footballer, pastor, activist, and Governor of South Australia, 1976–1977. In line with the philosophy of naming Canberra's streets, those of Nicholls are named after sportspeople. The suburb incorporates a large shallow body of water, designated Gungahlin Pond, with The Lakes golf course and the greatest number of residential streets on one side and a small cluster of residential streets, the "pondside promenade", named after birds, on the other. There is no direct connecting road between the two.
Nicholls adjoins the suburbs of Kinlyside, Casey, Ngunnawal, Crace and Palmerston. The suburb is located approximately 2 km from the Gungahlin Town Centre and about 13 km from the centre of Canberra.
Nicholls contains the remnants of Ginninderra Village, one of the earliest settlements in the Canberra region. The settlement included the former St Francis School of Ginninderra and the historic Ginninderra Schoolhouse which was built in 1883. The village was located at the intersection of the Queanbeyan-Yass Road (now the Barton Highway) and Gold Creek Road which until the founding of the suburb of Nicholls led to the Gold Creek Homestead.
In 1979 Cockington Green, a miniature English village, opened for business in Ginninderra Village. The private sector enterprise was the first of a number of tourism ventures to establish there over the coming years and in the early 1990s, the ACT government approved an application to rename the precinct Gold Creek Village. Sue Geh Circuit in Nicholls is named after Sue Geh, the former Australian basketballer.
According to the 2016 census, The top religious affiliations for the suburb of Nicholls are Catholic 27.4%, No religion, so described 27.2%, Anglican 13.8%, Not stated 8.6% and Buddhism 3.1%. The most common birthplaces in Nicholls are Australia 67.8%, England 4.0%, China 3.0%, India 1.7%, New Zealand 1.3% and Vietnam 1.3%.
History info courtesy of WikipediaLevel 9, 2 Phillip Law Street, Canberra, ACT, 2601
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