Leppington, New South Wales

Leppington is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Leppington is located 55 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Liverpool and Camden Council.

History

The area now known as Leppington was originally home to the Darug people. It was named after a property called Leppington Park granted to William Cordeaux in 1821. Cordeaux used convict labour to build a two-storey mansion and to work in his fields. The house unfortunately burnt down in the 1940s but some of the bricks from the house were re-used at Leppington Public School.^[2]

The suburb could easily have become Raby. The first land grant in what is now Leppington was made to Alexander Riley in 1810, who named his property Raby. The property was subdivided in 1914 and a school established in 1923, called Raby Public School. Leppington Post Office opened on 12 February 1924.^[3]

In 1955 the name of the school was changed to Leppington Public School, possibly inspired by the bricks they inherited from William Cordeaux's mansion. The suburb has been known as Leppington since then. Ironically, Raby Road which connected the property to Campbelltown would later lend itself to the modern suburb of Raby.

In 2004, Leppington was identified as part of Sydney's South West Growth Centre.^[4][5]

Leppington was the birthplace of convicted Sydney murderer, kidnapper and drug dealer Anthony Perish.

People

At the 2011 census, the suburb of Leppington recorded a population of 2,383 people. Of these:^[1]

• Age distribution: Residents had a similar range of ages to the country overall. The median age was 40 years, compared to the national median of 37 years. Children aged under 15 years made up 18.6% of the population (national average is 19.3%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.0% of the population (national average is 14.0%).
• Ethnic diversity : 64% were born in Australia, compared to the national average of 70%; the next most common countries of birth were Italy 6.0%, China 3.4%, England 2.4%, Lebanon 2.1% and Malta 1.4%. At home, 59% of residents only spoke English; the next most common languages spoken at home included Italian 8.4%, Cantonese 5.8%, Arabic 4.8%, Serbian 2.5% and Maltese 2.0%.
• Finances: The median household weekly income was $1,040, compared to the national median of $1,234. The median mortgage payment is $2,084 per month, compared to the national median of $1,800. The most common occupations in Leppington included Technicians and Trades Workers 18.9%, Managers 18.2%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 14.4%, Machinery Operators And Drivers 11.4%, and Professionals 10.5%.
• Transport: On the day of the Census, 4.1% of employed people traveled to work on public transport and 64.9% by car (either as driver or as passenger).
• Housing: The majority (86.1%%) of occupied private dwellings were separate houses. Another 0.8% were semi-detached (row or terrace houses, townhouses etc.), none were flats, units or apartments and another 13.1% were classified as "other dwellings". The average household size was 2.9 people.

Transport

Camden Valley Way connects Leppington to Camden and Liverpool as well as the Westlink M7, a pay road providing relatively quick connection to Sydney CBD and other parts of greater Sydney. Leppington railway station on the South West Rail Link connects the suburb with the Sydney Trains rail network at Glenfield. Construction began in mid-2010 and opened 8 February 2015.^[6] See Leppington railway station for details of local bus services.

Politics

The bulk of Leppington belongs to the north ward of Camden Council while the northwest part of the suburb sits within the City of Liverpool. The suburb is contained within the federal electorate of Macarthur, represented by Russell Matheson (Liberal), and the state electorate of Camden, currently held by Chris Patterson (Liberal).

References

External links

• Liverpool City Council