Villawood, New South Wales
| Villawood Sydney, New South Wales | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Woodville Shopping Centre | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°53′10″S 150°58′44″E / 33.8861°S 150.9788°ECoordinates: 33°53′10″S 150°58′44″E / 33.8861°S 150.9788°E | ||||||||||||
| Population | 5,304 (2011 census)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2163 | ||||||||||||
| Location | 25 km (16 mi) west of Sydney CBD | ||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | |||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | |||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Blaxland | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
Villawood, a suburb of local government areas City of Bankstown and City of Fairfield, is 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the Greater Western Sydney region.
History
The Aboriginal tribe of Gandangara once lived in the area. European settlement began in the early 1840s. During the 1860s, Villawood was used as pastoral land, but it was overrun with wild dogs. Woodville Road, which runs through Villawood, was once named Dog Trap Road because many farmers set dog traps for these wild dogs. A train station opened in 1922 to service the area was originally known as Woodville Road. Unfortunately, there was confusion with another place called Woodville in the Hunter Valley and thus the name was transposed into 'Villawood'.[2]
Schools and churches
There are also day and community centres, two schools, and several Christian churches. Recently, new buildings have been built for the Sacred Heart Primary School.
Commercial area
Villawood Place was once a major shopping centre, serving the surrounding areas. After nearby Bass Hill Plaza opened, many Villawood businesses went into decline, leaving a legacy of abandoned shop fronts and buildings, including the abandoned Franklins supermarket and large Australia Post office. There has been rejuvenation and renovation of Woodville (Villawood) Place since with construction of the new Aldi supermarket, a bakery, chemists, grocers and other shops. It is located in proximity to Villawood railway station. A business park in Villawood holds enterprises concerning hardware products, furniture, auto parts and second-hand goods. Leightonfield railway station services an industrial area in the eastern part of Villawood.
Vilawood now houses a variety of youth recreational and entertainment venues including AMF Bowling, Wiggles World, M9 Laser Skirmish, Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym, and Kartatak go-karting, and further recreational and food attractions are planned. These are all part of a complex called The Woods Action Centre, which is located on the northern side of the railway line, directly across the road from the station on the Villawood station exit which is opposite the shopping centre. And for fast food, Villawood has KFC, McDonalds, Dominos, and Hungry Jack's.
Villawood Detention Centre
Villawood is home to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, a detention facility used in the processing of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.[3]
Transport
Villawood railway station and Leightonfield railway station are on the Bankstown Line of the Sydney Trains network.
Sport and recreation
Apart from the Woods Action centre (see above) which includes Indoor Climbing, Ten-pin bowling, Go-karting and the Wiggles indoor play centre, Villawood is home to three other major sport and recreation areas: The Wran Leisure Centre, Thurina Park and Villawood Skatepark.
The Wran Leisure Centre (named after Neville Wran) houses a swimming pool, tennis courts, a gymnasium and squash courts. Thurina Park houses two multi purpose sporting fields that cater for soccer, cricket and baseball. Thurina Park is also home to the Villawood United Soccer Club.
Population
At the 2011 census, Villawood recorded a population of 5,304. Of these:[1]
- The age distribution was quite typical of Australia as a whole. The median age of Villawood residents was 36 years, compared to the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 19.9% of the population (national average is 19.3%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.7% of the population (national average is 14.0%).
- There is a very diverse ethnic range. Fewer than half (46.8%) of residents were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth were Vietnam 14.6%, Lebanon 7.3%, China 3.3%, Iraq 2.0% and New Zealand 1.8%. Looking past the country of birth to residents' self-identified ancestry shows another dimension of this cultural diversity: the most common ancestries were Lebanese 14.7%, Vietnamese 14.6%, Australian 11.4%, English 10.4% and Chinese 6.6%. Less than one third (29.0%) of people spoke English at home; other languages spoken at home included Arabic 21.8%, and Vietnamese 18.0%.
See also
References
- 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Villawood(NSW)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
- ↑ The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 260
- ↑ The Immigration Departments Website on Villawood
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Villawood, New South Wales. |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||