Leppington, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Leppington
city = Sydney
state = nsw
lga = City of Liverpool
lga2 = Camden Council
pop = 1900 (2006)
est = 1914
postcode = 2571
stategov = Camden
fedgov = Macarthur
near-nw = Austral
near-n = Hoxton Park
near-ne = Horningsea Park
near-w = Rossmore
near-e = Edmondson Park
near-sw = Catherine Field
near-s = Varroville
near-se = Denham Court
dist1 = 55
dir1 = south-west
location1= Sydney CBD 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. [cite web | url= http://www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/adetailedhistoryofliverpool.htm#suburbs | title=History of our suburbs: Leppington | publisher=Liverpool City Council | accessdate=2008-04-12 ]

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. However, 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. The Leppington part of the development isn't in the first stage of the program but a rail link from Glenfield to Leppington has been announced and is scheduled for completion in 2012. It is expected that major development in Leppington will follow shortly after. [cite web | url= http://www.gcc.nsw.gov.au/the-growth-centres/south-west-growth-centre.aspx | title= South West Growth Centre | publisher= Growth Centres Commission | accessdate=2008-04-13 ] [cite web | url= http://www.gcc.nsw.gov.au/the-growth-centres/south-west-growth-centre/leppington.aspx | title= South West Growth Centre - Leppington | publisher= Growth Centres Commission | accessdate=2008-04-13 ] [cite web | url= http://www.tidc.nsw.gov.au/Documents/1655_projupdate.pdf | title= South West Rail Link - Project update | publisher= Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation | accessdate=2008-04-13 ]

People

According to the 2006 census taken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Leppington had a population of 1,892, whose median age (39) was slightly older than average (37) and whose median household income of $967 per week was slightly lower than average ($1027). There were a higher than average number of couples with children (56%) and the major industry of employment was mushroom and vegetable growing (9.3%). Leppington also had a substantial number of people speaking languages other than English including Italian (10.4%), Arabic (8.7%) and Cantonese (4.2%).Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC17839 | name = Leppington (State Suburb) | quick = on | accessdate = 2008-04-15]

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. The only public transport in the area is the Route 850 bus service running along Camden Valley Way from Camden to Liverpool. [cite web | url= http://www.busabout.com.au/HTML/Route850-852/R850-852Map.html| title=Route 850/852 Map| publisher=Busabout | accessdate=2008-04-15 ] A proposed new South West rail line will connect Leppington with the South line at Glenfield and an intermediate station would also be constructed at Edmondson Park. [cite web|author=Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources|title=South West Rail Link - Overview Report|url=http://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/plansforaction/pdf/swrl.pdf|format=PDF document|accessdate=2006-12-30]

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 former ultra-marathon runner Pat Farmer (Liberal), and the state electorate of Camden, currently held by former mayor Geoff Corrigan (Labor).

References

External links

* [http://www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/default-liverpool.asp Liverpool City Council]