| Quakers Hill Sydney, New South Wales |
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Quakers Court shopping centre |
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| Population: | 25,015 (2006) | ||||||||||||
| Established: | 1904 | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 2763 | ||||||||||||
| Location: | 40 km (25 mi) NW of Sydney CBD | ||||||||||||
| LGA: | City of Blacktown | ||||||||||||
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Quakers Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Quakers Hill is located 40 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown. Quakers Hill is part of the Greater Western Sydney. Quakers Hill is colloquially known as 'Quakers'.
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The first recorded use of the name Quakers Hill was in an 1806 report of the area by government surveyor James Meehan. The origin of the name is unclear and the next references are more than sixty years later when Thomas Harvey used it for his property in what is now western Quakers Hill. When the railway station was built in 1872, it was called Douglas' Siding for over thirty years. The catalyst for the name change came with the subdivision of Harvey's Quakers Hill property in 1904. The residents of the newly forming village preferred that name and in 1905, the name of the railway station was changed to Quakers Hill.[1]
Postal services began in 1907 and the first post office was built in 1915. A school opened in the Presbyterian church hall in what is now Marayong in 1911 and Quakers Hill Public School took its first students in 1912. During the 1920s, the population grew dramatically, a number of shops opened in the area around the station and a public hall, the Empire Theatre, opened in 1925, screening movies and hosting dances. The village became a centre for the surrounding farms.[2]
In the 1960s, Sydney's suburban sprawl reached the Quakers Hill area and the five acre farms surrounding the village began to be subdivided. In 1994, HMAS Nirimba, a naval training property on the western side of the suburb, was decomissioned and converted into an educational precinct. In 1996, a new development in the south-east of Quakers Hill was converted into a new suburb, Acacia Gardens.[3]
On 18 November 2011 an early morning fire at Quakers Hill Nursing Home killed 11 elderly residents, seriously injured others and caused the evacuation of up to 100 people.[4] Three people died in the fire, and a further eight residents of the home have died later in hospital from their injuries.[5][6] The fire started in two places and was regarded by police as suspicious.[4]
A male nurse working in the home was later arrested and charged with four counts of murder.[7] More charges were expected due to the subsequent deaths.[8]
Public Transport to and from Quakers Hill is provided by train and a number of bus services by Busways. Quakers Hill railway station is on the Richmond branch of the Western railway line of the CityRail network.
Quakers Hill has experienced much road development over recent years including the construction of a new road leading directly to the education precinct, bypassing the town centre. The Westlink M7, which links the suburb directly to all major routes in and out of the greater Sydney region, opened in December 2005. Following this opening the road overpass for the Quakers Hill Parkway has been widened from two to four lanes, improving toll-free traffic flow between Richmond and Sunnyholt Roads. The Quakers Hill Parkway bridge (going over the train line) was recently widened from two to four lanes.
Quakers Hill has a blend of old and new developments. There are some Housing Commission Houses on the older (southern) side of Quakers Hill, mainly near Marayong. The western side of the railway line predominantly has houses on standard residential blocks, some built when HMAS Nirimba was an active naval base, others through the 1960s and 1970s. The eastern side of the railway line consists of dwellings constructed since the 1980s, with a high proportion of high density homes or townhouses.
Quakers Hill is home to numerous schools and educational institutions. The oldest is Quakers Hill Public School, opened in 1912.[9] Two other public primary schools (Barnier[10] and Hambledon[11]) were opened in the 1990s to cope with suburb's growing population. All of these primary schools (mainly Quakers Hill and Barnier Public School are famous for their success in helping students to perform well. High schools in Quakers Hill are split between Quakers Hill High School, catering to Years 7-10,[12] and Wyndham College, years 11-12.[13] There is also a Catholic primary school (Mary Immaculate[14]) and high school (Terra Sancta College[15]). Post-secondary education is serviced by Nirimba TAFE College and the University of Western Sydney, Blacktown Campus. Four of these facilities (UWS, Nirimba TAFE, Wyndham and Terra Sancta) are located together in the Nirimba Education Precinct.[16]
Quakers Hill has become a fairly populated suburb, experiencing major growth in recent years. In 1991, the population was approximately 14,630 (1991 ABS Census) and in 1996, the population had grown by more than 4,000 people to 18,759 (1996 ABS Census). By 2006, the population of Quakers Hill had risen to 25,015.[17]