| Fairfield Sydney, New South Wales |
|||||||||||||
The Crescent Park |
|||||||||||||
| Population: | 32,846 | ||||||||||||
| Established: | 1856 | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 2165 | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 29 km (18 mi) west of Sydney CBD | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | Fairfield, Holroyd | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Fairfield, Smithfield | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | McMahon, Blaxland | ||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Fairfield is a western suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Fairfield is located 29 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Fairfield and is also partly in the local government area of the City of Holroyd.
Fairfield is one of the most multicultural and culturally diverse cities in Australia, with more than half of the residents having been born overseas, mostly in non-English speaking countries.[1] The majority of residents speak a language other than English at home, the most common being Vietnamese, Arabic, Aramaic (Assyrian), Cantonese and Spanish.[2]
Contents |
Aboriginal people from the Cabrogal tribe and the Gandangara tribe, have lived in the area for over 30,000 years.
The earliest recorded visit to the Fairfield District by Europeans is described in William Bradley's Journal where he noted an expedition from Rose Hill to Prospect Creek to determine whether Prospect Creek led to Botany Bay.[3]
Governor Phillip left Rose Hill on 7 October 1789, returning on the 10th. Bradley described a place on the Creek where the water changed from fresh to salt with a drop of 4 feet (1.2 m) (due to the tide being out). The location was "Rocky Bridge" in present-day Fairfield Park, directly opposite Oakdene Park. The presence of salt water confirmed Prospect Creek's connection to the sea. Travelling downstream on the western bank of the Creek, the party were hampered from continuing by the junction of Orphan School and Prospect Creeks. At this site Bradley recorded a fight between a kangaroo and one of the party's greyhounds in the Creek, which required one of the party to enter the water to save the dog. That location is near the present-day bend of Riverview Road, Fairfield.
Frenchman Gabriel Louis Marie Huon de Kerrileau, a soldier in the NSW Corps arrived in the colony in 1794, per the 'Surprise', having fled France during the French Revolution and enlisted in the NSW Corps in London. In 1800 he married Louisa Le Sage at St John's, Parramatta, to satisfy the Colonial law. In 1807 he received a grant of 100 acres (40 ha) in the centre of Fairfield, which he named 'Castel Paul'. Huon de Kerrileau received additional grants of land. further afield, between 1807 and 1825, including 400 acres (160 ha) at Narellan from Governor Macquarie in 1810.[4] By 1814 'Castel Paul' had been combined, by subsequent owners, with several similarly sized grants to form a largely uncleared 700 acres (280 ha)estate.
The free settler John Horsley, per 'Broxbornebury', 1814, purchased the estate in that year and named it 'Mark Lodge', after family properties in Essex, England. The Horsley family lived at 'Mark Lodge' until 1840, almost six years after John Horsley's death.[5] The next owner was Dr William Brand, who used 'Mark Lodge' as a country retreat until about 1860. Horsley, a Magistrate and Coroner at Liverpool (1825-1834), and his large family were some of the pioneers of European settlement in the Fairfield District.
Later, a Colonial Treasurer, Thomas Ware Smart (1810–1881) bought the estate and in the 1860s built the mansion, 'Fairfield House'.[6]
Fairfield railway station was opened in 1856 and has the oldest surviving railway building in New South Wales. Development began in the mid 19th century supported by railway construction in 1856. At the turn of the century the area had a population of 2,500 people and with fertile soils, produced crops for distribution in Sydney. Electricity was connected in 1921. A private railway existed from Fairfield station to the blue metal quarry at Widemere between 1924 and 1945.[7]
Rapid population increase after World War II saw the settlement of many ex-service men and European migrants. Large scale Housing Commission development in the 1950s swelled the population to 38,000. By 1979, the population had reached 120,000 and the City was becoming one of the larger Local Government Areas in New South Wales.
Fairfield supports a mixture of commercial and residential developments, mostly characterised by medium-density buildings and some new high-rise apartments. Fairfield has two shopping malls: Fairfield Forum and Neeta City. The latter contains a Big W discount department store as well as a Woolworths supermarket. Fairfield's culturally diverse population is reflected in multicultural local businesses such as over twenty different types of cafés and restaurants that include Bosnian, Lebanese, Assyrian, Iraqi, Italian, Spanish, South American and Thai cuisine.
Fairfield's large Assyrian and Iraqi Arab community has had the media describe the suburb as 'Little Iraq' or 'Little Assyria'. More Iraqi/Assyrian businesses have opened in Fairfield, mostly around Ware Street. These businesses include everything from jewellery shops to restaurants, making the area favourite entertainment and shopping hotspot for the Iraqi/Assyrian community. Fairfield also has many Assyrian churches, sporting clubs, cultural associations and health groups.[8] Sydney's Iraqi community congregated in Fairfield to celebrate Iraq qualifying for the Asian Football Cup finals in 2007. More than 7000 people joined in street celebrations around Fairfield on Sunday 29 July 2007 after Iraq won the Asian Cup finals.
Fairfield railway station is on the Cumberland Line and South line of the CityRail network. Trains run frequently from Fairfield to Campbelltown and the City Circle. There are two trains a day from Fairfield directly to Blacktown. Fairfield also has a major bus interchange adjacent to the railway station, it provides many bus services several bus companies which include Hopkinsons, Veolia and Westbus.
Public Schools in Fairfield include: Fairfield High School, Fairvale High School, Fairvale Public School and Fairfield Public School. Private Schools are: Patrician Brothers' College and Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School, which are catholic schools. Patrician Brothers' Primary School was also previously located in Fairfield but closed in 2006.
Fairfield is slightly warmer and drier than Sydney CBD. Summer weather may come from north-east (hot and humid) or the north west (hot and dry). With the winter rain averaging at 169.4mm and summer rain higher at 268.4mm, this makes winter slightly drier than the summer months, even though fair amount of rain is spread throughout the year.
Fairfield is usually a few degrees warmer than Sydney on summer days and a few degrees cooler on winter nights. There could be a temperature differential of 5 degrees Celsius in summer due to sea breezes in the City, and in extreme cases there could be a 10 degrees differential.[9]
NOTE: Fairfield is a large suburb, therefore some areas in it may be adjacent to the climate of the top or bottom table.
| Climate data for Bankstown Airport | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 44.8 (112.6) |
43.3 (109.9) |
41.6 (106.9) |
36.9 (98.4) |
28.5 (83.3) |
25.4 (77.7) |
26.7 (80.1) |
30.2 (86.4) |
35.6 (96.1) |
39.7 (103.5) |
43.1 (109.6) |
43.6 (110.5) |
44.8 (112.6) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 28.2 (82.8) |
27.8 (82.0) |
26.2 (79.2) |
23.7 (74.7) |
20.4 (68.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
17.2 (63.0) |
18.9 (66.0) |
21.5 (70.7) |
23.7 (74.7) |
25.1 (77.2) |
27.3 (81.1) |
23.1 (73.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 18.1 (64.6) |
18.1 (64.6) |
16.2 (61.2) |
12.7 (54.9) |
9.6 (49.3) |
6.6 (43.9) |
5.1 (41.2) |
6.0 (42.8) |
8.7 (47.7) |
11.8 (53.2) |
14.3 (57.7) |
16.6 (61.9) |
12.0 (53.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.4 (50.7) |
10.0 (50.0) |
7.8 (46.0) |
2.4 (36.3) |
1.3 (34.3) |
−1.9 (28.6) |
−4 (24.8) |
−0.7 (30.7) |
0.0 (32.0) |
4.4 (39.9) |
6.8 (44.2) |
6.3 (43.3) |
−4 (24.8) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 90.3 (3.555) |
106.4 (4.189) |
97.7 (3.846) |
83.2 (3.276) |
71.1 (2.799) |
73.1 (2.878) |
44.6 (1.756) |
49.1 (1.933) |
44.7 (1.76) |
62.1 (2.445) |
77.2 (3.039) |
67.2 (2.646) |
867.0 (34.134) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 11.1 | 10.9 | 11.3 | 8.8 | 9.8 | 9.3 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 9.5 | 11.0 | 9.8 | 114.5 |
| Source: [10] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Prospect Reservoir | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 44.7 (112.5) |
42.5 (108.5) |
39.5 (103.1) |
37.1 (98.8) |
29.4 (84.9) |
25.6 (78.1) |
26.5 (79.7) |
29.4 (84.9) |
35.0 (95.0) |
39.0 (102.2) |
42.0 (107.6) |
42.7 (108.9) |
44.7 (112.5) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 28.4 (83.1) |
27.9 (82.2) |
26.3 (79.3) |
23.6 (74.5) |
20.3 (68.5) |
17.3 (63.1) |
16.8 (62.2) |
18.7 (65.7) |
21.3 (70.3) |
23.7 (74.7) |
25.3 (77.5) |
27.5 (81.5) |
23.1 (73.6) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 17.6 (63.7) |
17.7 (63.9) |
16.1 (61.0) |
13.0 (55.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
7.4 (45.3) |
6.1 (43.0) |
6.8 (44.2) |
9.4 (48.9) |
12.1 (53.8) |
14.2 (57.6) |
16.4 (61.5) |
12.2 (54.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 10.0 (50.0) |
10.8 (51.4) |
7.9 (46.2) |
3.6 (38.5) |
1.2 (34.2) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
2.6 (36.7) |
4.5 (40.1) |
6.8 (44.2) |
7.8 (46.0) |
−0.8 (30.6) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 93.7 (3.689) |
96.0 (3.78) |
95.6 (3.764) |
74.1 (2.917) |
72.0 (2.835) |
74.9 (2.949) |
57.0 (2.244) |
50.3 (1.98) |
47.1 (1.854) |
59.4 (2.339) |
72.4 (2.85) |
75.2 (2.961) |
868.1 (34.177) |
| Avg. precipitation days | 10.7 | 10.6 | 10.9 | 9.3 | 9.0 | 9.4 | 7.8 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.9 | 113.0 |
| Source: [11] | |||||||||||||
Much of the original bushland cover within the City has been cleared through past land management practices. A few small areas of this original bushland remain, including examples of Cumberland Plain vegetation, which is listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act.
Eight creeks, 80 kilometres in length, have their headwaters in Fairfield City and flow into the Georges River and Hawkesbury Nepean catchments. The impact of development over the past 50 years has resulted in severe degradation of the natural habitat in the creek banks and water quality has been assessed as very poor in recent years. Strategies are being implemented so that this trend is being reversed.
Air quality in the City is heavily impacted upon by an insufficiently integrated public transport system, creating an over reliance upon private vehicles for moving people and freight.
According to the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census, the suburb of Fairfield had a population of 15,483 people, the majority of whom (60%) were born overseas. The largest groups were born in Iraq (18%) and Vietnam (7.5%), with the most common languages spoken other than English being Aramaic (Assyrian) (15%), Arabic (14%) and Vietnamese (9%). The number of Assyrian speakers in Fairfeld represented a tenth of the Assyrian speaking population of Australia. The median family income of people living in Fairfield ($740 per week) was much lower than the national average ($1171).[12]
Fairfield has two local newspapers, The Fairfield Advance and the Fairfield Champion. Fairfield Advance and Fairfield Champion are issued every Wednesday.
Fairfield is led by Fairfield City Council, with Nick Lalich as Mayor, Joseph Tripodi as State MP, and Chris Bowen and Julia Irwin as Federal MPs for the seats of Prospect and Fowler respectively.
|
|
||||||||