Nicolas Trandos

Joondalup resident, Nicolas (Nick) Trandos OAM JP, was born in Kafalari, Greece in 1934. He came to rural Wanneroo in 1949 with his family, where he finished his schooling before working in the family vegetable garden.

Nick served as President of the WA Market Gardeners’ Association for 25 years from 1973 to 1997. Nick represented WA growers’ interests on the Federal body – the Australian Vegetable Growers’ Federation and is the only Western Australian to serve as National President on the Federation (1983-85). He started in local government in 1960 on the Wanneroo Road Board. Nick was heavily involved in the Shire of Wanneroo and City of Wanneroo at a time when Wanneroo and Joondalup were a single local government. He was the Shire of Wanneroo’s last President and the former City of Wanneroo’s first Mayor. He served a total of 24 years as an elected member of Wanneroo local Government between 1960 – 1966 and 1970 – 1988.

A State Government Act established the Joondalup Development Corporation (JDC) in 1976 to oversee the development of Joondalup City Centre until it became part of LandCorp in 1992. He played an important and critical role in the establishment of the Joondalup City Centre and was the Council’s representative on the JDC, which was headed by businessman Robert Holmes a Court.

Nick played a part in every Wanneroo Council decision to impact the future direction of Joondalup during those early years. In 1988, he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for community service and was also named Freeman of the City of Wanneroo, which at the time included the now City of Joondalup. He was the City of Wanneroo’s first Freeman. He firmly believed in the Joondalup City Centre concept and was one of its strongest advocates. He was behind the Mitchell Freeway extension to Ocean Reef Road in 1988, seven years earlier than planned, by raising funds and lobbying the State Government.

Nick was involved in the development of Hillarys Boat Harbour and has been a Justice of the Peace for many years.  He founded the very successful Olympic Kingsway Sports Club and was President of the Club from 1966-1968 and again from 1996-2005. He has been an active member of the Wanneroo and Joondalup community since 1960 and despite retiring from local government in 1988 – he is well remembered in the community as a man with great vision and community spirit. Becoming an inaugural Freeman of the City of Joondalup is another reminder that Nick Trandos was integral in the push to make Joondalup a prominent location in WA.