Macquarie Park, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Macquarie Park
city = Sydney
state = New South Wales


caption =Macquarie Centre
lga = City of Ryde
postcode = 2113
est =
pop =
area =
propval =
stategov = Ryde
fedgov = Bennelong
near-nw = South Turramurra
near-n = West Pymble
near-ne = Killara
near-w = Marsfield
near-e = West Lindfield
near-sw = Eastwood
near-s = North Ryde
near-se = Chatswood West
dist1 = 17
dir1 = north-east
location1 = Sydney CBD

Macquarie Park is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Macquarie Park is located 17 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Ryde. Macquarie Park is part of the Lower North Shore and Northern Suburbs regions.

Macquarie Park was part of the suburb of North Ryde and many businesses still use North Ryde as the address. Both suburbs share the 2113 postcode but Macquarie University, which is located at the northern part of the suburb, has its own postcode of 2109.

History

The area between Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers was originally, known by its Aboriginal name Wallumatta. The aboriginal name survives in a local park, the Wallumatta Nature Reserve, located at the corner of Twin and Cressy roads, North Ryde.

Macquarie Park is named for Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1762-1824) a British military officer and colonial administrator, who served as the Governor of New South Wales Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. The area that is now Macquarie Park was part of the suburb of North Ryde from the late 1800s. The area was once filled by market gardens, poultry farms, and vast tracts of bushland, with many beautiful picnic spots and waterfalls.

The mid 1960s saw the establishment of Macquarie University and the 'Macquarie Park Employment Area' which saw the rezoning of 'Green Belt' bushland to allow for industrial activities. The initial concept for Macquarie Park was based on the idea of a similar hi-tech industrial area surrounding Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. The goal being to provided for the interaction between industries and the University. [ "The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 189]

During the 1970s companies such as Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited, Beiersdorf, Racal and Universal Press located their corporate headquarters in the area. Macquarie Park has since gained a reputation of being a leading high-tech industrial area in Australia. It attracts many local and international companies from high-tech fields including electronic, scientific, computing, medical, communication, pharmaceutical and business supply solutions.

Commercial Area

The Macquarie Centre is a major regional shopping Centre at Macquarie Park. Macquarie University takes up a large part of the suburb.

Macquarie Park is a major centre for business in Australia and the state of New South Wales. The corporate prestige, close access to facilities and aesthetically pleasing environment is an attraction for many corporations. It had a total number of 32 308 jobs in 2001, making it the fourth largest concentration of jobs in NSW after Sydney CBD, North Sydney and Parramatta. Large businesses in the suburb include: AC Neilsen, Avaya, AstraZeneca, BOC, Canon, CA, Compuware, Australian Radio Network: Mix 106.5, 101.7 WSFM & Edge 96.1 [cite web | title = 3 Byfield Street, Macquarie Park: Key Property Information | publisher = Stockland | url = http://www.stockland.com.au/Commercial/NSW/Macquarie+Park/3ByfieldStreet/Property/ | accessdate = 2008-04-09 ] , CSC, Fujitsu, Fuji Xerox, Ford Motor Co/Premiere Automotive Group (Aston Martin, Jaguar, Volvo, Land Rover), Foxtel, General Motors (Holden & Saab), George Weston Foods, Hitachi, Hyundai (Site and buildings under construction), Johnson & Johnson, Kenwood, Kimberly-Clark, Lucent Technologies, Microsoft, Nestle Purina, Nortel Networks, Novartis, Optus [cite web | title = Optus Centre, Macquarie Park: Key Property Information | publisher = Stockland | url = http://www.stockland.com.au/Commercial/NSW/Macquarie+Park/OptusHQMacquariePark/Property/ | accessdate = 2008-04-09 ] (moved in late 2007 from North Sydney) [cite news | title = Optus campus is a showcase of innovation | publisher = The Northern District Times | date = 2007-07-18 | url = http://www.northerndistricttimes.com.au/article/2007/07/18/1285_news.html | accessdate = 2008-04-09 ] , Oracle Corporation, Orix, Philips, Raytheon, Sanofi-Aventis, Siemens, Sony, Toshiba, Warner Music Group, Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety. Businesses that have previously operated in Macquarie Park include Network Ten (until 1990) and Global Television Network Studios (until mid 2007).

Transport

Macquarie Park has access to the M2 Hills Motorway, that runs through the northern part of the suburb. It is serviced by Shorelink, Busways, Forest Coach Lines, Sydney Buses and Hillsbus bus services. With the completion of Epping to Chatswood rail link on the CityRail network in 2008 it will also have Macquarie Park railway station and Macquarie University railway station.

Education

Macquarie University is one of Australia's largest universities. It features a 126 hectare park-like campus beside a high-technology corridor. [http://www.mq.edu.au/] The University is affiliated with a number of colleges also located in the suburb including Dunmore Lang College [http://www.dunmorelangcollege.nsw.edu.au/] , Robert Menzies College [http://www.mq.edu.au/rmc/] an Anglican college, Macquarie Christian Studies Institute [http://www.mcsi.edu.au/] and Sydney Institute of Business & Technology [http://www.sibt.nsw.edu.au/] .

References

External links