Villawood, New South Wales
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| Villawood Sydney, New South Wales |
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 Woodville Shopping Centre |
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| Postcode: | 2163 | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 25 km (16 mi) west of Sydney CBD | ||||||||||||
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| State District: | Fairfield | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Blaxland | ||||||||||||
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Villawood is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Villawood is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Bankstown and City of Fairfield. Villawood is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.
Villawood is a residential suburb with its name often associated with the notoriety of the detention centre located here.
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[edit] 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 and rabid dogs. Woodville Road, which runs through Villawood, was once named Dog Trap Road, due to the fact that 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 Newcastle and thus the name was transposed into 'Villawood'. [1]
[edit] 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 Recently, new buildings have been built for the Sacred Heart Primary school, to replace the outdated and dilapidated buildings of the old school.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Villawood Detention Centre
It is home to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, a detention facility used in the processing of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants. [2]
[edit] Transport
Villawood Railway station and Leightonfield railway station are on the Inner West Line of the CityRail network.
[edit] Sport and Recreation
The Wran Leisure Centre (named after Neville Wran) has swimming pools, a gym and tennis courts.
[edit] Population
It is an ethnically diverse suburb, typical of south western Sydney suburbs. There is a predominantly Vietnamese, and increasing Lebanese community in Villawood. There is also Pacific Islanders, Eastern Europeans and some British in the suburb. Around 35.5% of the citizens come from non-English speaking backgrounds.
According to the 2001 census, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the population declined slightly from around 4,007 to 3,328. Villawood has a high proportion of young children aged 5-11 and seniors over 65.
A majority of residential dwellings are government housing and villas. Unemployment is high, with more than a third of households earning only $400 AUD per week. Nearly 50% of residents live below the average income of Sydney. This is relatively typical of most south western suburbs in Sydney.
[edit] References
- ^ The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8
- ^ The Immigration Departments Website on Villawood
[edit] External links
- Villawood, New South Wales is at coordinates Coordinates:
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