Westleigh, New South Wales

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Westleigh is a suburb of Sydney, Australia, on the Southern border ^[1] of the Hornsby Shire, about 24 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. Developed in the 1950s as a residential suburb, it is located directly west of Thornleigh (and possibly giving rise to the choice of its name. Note, however, 'Westleigh' is also a township in England) and is framed by bush on three sides, with Cherrybrook and Dural to the west, Hornsby to the north-east, and Pennant Hills to the south.

1 Residential Areas
- 1.1 South Side
- 1.2 North Side
2 Surrounding Bushland
3 Statistics & Demographics
- 3.1 Population
- 3.2 Housing
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Residential Areas

Defined by its geographical make-up, Westleigh is clearly divided near the midpoint of Quarter Sessions Rd: this may be seen in a the sudden absence of houses, as drivers find themselves immersed in a thick bushland foliage. The sweeping dip in this section has also proven a non-fatal but dangerous hazard for drivers throughout Westleigh's history, however reflective signs appear to have minimised the danger to tired or reckless drivers.

[edit] South Side

On the southern side of this division is the older side of Westleigh. Westleigh's public amenities appear largely concentrated in this area, including a a shopping centre, "Top Video" video-hire store, day-care centre, dentist, petrol/service station, and a public primary school (Thornleigh West Public School) with a number of recreational features. Furthermore, two large public parks are available in the south side of Westleigh: Oakleigh Oval, home to the Thornleigh Thunder Football Club, and Ruddock Park (Presumably, given the year of establishment of the suburb, named after Max Ruddock, father of Phillip Ruddock), which is the site of annual "Carols by Candlelight" and summer outdoor movies. Play equipment, public toilets, and BBQ facilities are all freely available. Ruddock Park's tennis courts are available for hire: keys are held with the newsagent in the shopping centre nearby. A fenced off-leash dog park was established in about 2005 between Ruddock Park and the shopping centre, despite opposition from the "Westleigh Progress Association" as to its placement near the local day-care centre, due to hygiene concerns.

Recently there have been three housing "villages" built, named "Sanctuary Gardens", "Wild Ash Grove" and "Huntingdale", in addition to the longer-established "Settlers' Green" (Named in recognition of the "stalwart people who, by their actions opened the door to the migrants of the world and thus the nations development." ^[2]). Notably, the border of Westleigh was moved at an undetermined time, from near the roundabout at the Duffy Ave/Quarter Sessions Road intersection, to further up Duffy Avenue, presumably to encapsulate these new housing estates in a purely residentially-zoned suburb, as opposed to the partly-industrialised Thornleigh. These housing estates have brought many more people - primarily families - into the southern side of the suburb, boosting the suburb's population.

[edit] North Side

The northern side of the bushland division is the "newer" side of Westleigh, and is endowed with far fewer public amenities than those the southern side.

Some line-of-sight can be established from the North-East side across the bush-filled valley to Hornsby, with some potential for wireless networking, given willing participants. (See also Wireless mesh network, or Wireless for a (seemingly) inactive community, with more information and maps.)

[edit] Surrounding Bushland

The entire suburb (except the southern side) is surrounded by natural bushland, which at times poses significant bush fire danger. On the western side of the suburbs runs the Great North Walk, which can be accessed from multiple points within the suburb. Heading north, the walk leads to a nearby water hole "fragile rock", also known as "Fraggle Rock", which is an excellent spot for kids to enjoy themselves. It features a large ten meter cliff sometimes used for diving, underwater tunnels and minor waterfalls. However, swimmers should be aware of pollution levels when swimming in any bushland water system, especially within 48 hours of rainfall.

Also found in the bushland to the west is "Refuge Rock", a large area of sandstone rock. Used for training of soldiers prior to WWII, bushwalkers can observe blast marks from morter fire in the sandstone.

Westleigh Waterboard: Despite once being a rubbish dump, dumping is now prohibited.

On the eastern side of the suburb lies the old dog pound. Nearby (directly east/south-east) is an old dump, which is often used by a wide manner of 'Westleighians' for activities including walking, motorbike riding which has been happening for over 30 years, and general tom-foolerly. The disused rubbish dump borders on the local water reservoir: it should be noted that the reservoir is owned by the Water Board (and as such the whole area is commonly referred to as the 'Waterboard'). Public access is illegal and measures have been taken to block access to this area. The 'Waterboard' is also often used for illegal rubbish dumping and local rangers / volunteers patrol the area. The local rural fire brigade have permission to use the area for training (including live fire drills), and are somewhat regularly seen carrying out various forms of training and drills.

[edit] Statistics & Demographics

[edit] Population

2001 data suggests that Westleigh's population is 4,494, however new housing estates in the south-eastern side of the suburb will have increased this number. Data suggests that Westleigh is populated by a higher proportion of Australian-born individuals (73%) than that of greater Sydney (61%). 28% of Westleigh's population are aged under 19, 26% are aged in the 20 to 39 age bracket, 30% in the 40 to 59 age bracket, 16% in the 60+ bracket. ^[3].