Villawood, New South Wales

Villawood Sydney, New South Wales
Woodville Shopping Centre
Coordinates	33°53′10″S 150°58′44″E / 33.8861°S 150.9788°E / -33.8861; 150.9788Coordinates: 33°53′10″S 150°58′44″E / 33.8861°S 150.9788°E / -33.8861; 150.9788
Population	5,304 (2011 census)[1]
Postcode(s)	2163
Location	25 km (16 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Bankstown City of Fairfield
State electorate(s)	Bankstown Fairfield
Federal Division(s)	Blaxland
Suburbs around Villawood: Old Guildford Guildford Chester Hill Carramar Villawood Chester Hill Lansdowne Bass Hill Bass Hill

Villawood, a suburb of local government areas City of Bankstown and City of Fairfield, is 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia is a part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

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 dogs. Woodville Road, which runs through Villawood, was once named Dog Trap Road because 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 the Hunter Valley and thus the name was transposed into 'Villawood'.^[2]

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.

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.

Vilawood now houses a variety of youth recreational and entertainment venues including AMF Bowling, Wiggles World, M9 Laser Skirmish, Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym, and Kartatak go-karting, and further recreational and food attractions are planned. These are all part of a complex called The Woods Action Centre, which is located on the northern side of the railway line, directly across the road from the station on the Villawood station exit which is opposite the shopping centre. And for fast food, Villawood has KFC, McDonalds, Dominos, and Burger King.

Villawood Detention Centre

Villawood is home to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, a detention facility used in the processing of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.^[3]

Transport

Villawood railway station and Leightonfield railway station are on the Bankstown Line of the Sydney Trains network.

Sport and recreation

Apart from the Woods Action centre (see above) which includes Indoor Climbing, Ten-pin bowling, Go-karting and the Wiggles indoor play centre, Villawood is home to three other major sport and recreation areas: The Wran Leisure Centre, Thurina Park and Villawood Skatepark.

The Wran Leisure Centre (named after Neville Wran) houses a swimming pool, tennis courts, a gymnasium and squash courts. Thurina Park houses two multi purpose sporting fields that cater for soccer, cricket and baseball. Thurina Park is also home to the Villawood United Soccer Club.

Population

At the 2011 census, Villawood recorded a population of 5,304. Of these:^[1]

• The age distribution was quite typical of Australia as a whole. The median age of Villawood residents was 36 years, compared to the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 19.9% of the population (national average is 19.3%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.7% of the population (national average is 14.0%).
• There is a very diverse ethnic range. Fewer than half (46.8%) of residents were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth were Vietnam 14.6%, Lebanon 7.3%, China 3.3%, Iraq 2.0% and New Zealand 1.8%. Looking past the country of birth to residents' self-identified ancestry shows another dimension of this cultural diversity: the most common ancestries were Lebanese 14.7%, Vietnamese 14.6%, Australian 11.4%, English 10.4% and Chinese 6.6%. Less than one third (29.0%) of people spoke English at home; other languages spoken at home included Arabic 21.8%, and Vietnamese 18.0%.

See also

• Radburn design housing

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Villawood, New South Wales.

• The Fairfield City Council Website
• Bankstown City Council Community Profile