Winmalee, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Winmalee
state = nsw


caption = View from Hawkesbury Lookout, Winmalee
lga = City of Blue Mountains
county
postcode = 2777
est = 1972
pop = 6315
elevation=
maxtemp =
mintemp =
rainfall =
stategov =
fedgov =
dist1 = 80
dir1 = west
location1 = Sydney
dist2 =
fedgov = Macquarie
near-nw = Faulconbridge
near-n = Yarramundi
near-ne = Hawkesbury Heights
near-w = Faulconbridge
near-e = Hawkesbury Heights
near-sw = Springwood
near-s = Springwood
near-se = Hawkesbury Heights

Winmalee is a town in New South Wales, Australia. Winmalee is located 80 kilometres west of Sydney, in the local government area of the City of Blue Mountains.

Oiginally known as North Springwood, Winmalee was officially established in 1972. Springwood is historically significant as the first settlement in the Blue Mountains. Winmalee is surrounded by Blue Mountains National Park. This National Park is on the World Heritage List and is known as the Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site. The Blue Mountains area is unofficially known as "The City Within a World Heritage National Park". Winmalee extends north from Linksview Road and Birdwood Avenue to Coramandel Avenue and east to a point part-way along Single's Ridge Road.

History

It is commonly believed that Winmalee is an Aboriginal word for "north". But, as Aboriginal cultures did not use north, south, east or west, this is doubtful. It is more likely a corruption of the world "Wimlah", the name of one of the Three Sisters, a famous rock formation 35 kilometres to the west.

Aboriginal heritage

The area now officially known as Winmalee was once inhabited by Aboriginal Australians known as the Dharug tribe. This was a nomadic tribe which inhabited much of the Lower Blue Mountains until European exploration and settlement. The dialect spoken by the tribe is known as the Dharug language. Current figures (as of the time of this article's publication) place the date of this settlement as beginning up to 50,000 years ago.

Except for a small number of descendants there are no members of the Dharug tribe now living in the area. The majority of this group were thought to have moved northward in the Blue Mountains and to have merged with the Gundungurra tribe. Others are thought to have been wiped out during European exploration and settlement. Archaeological evidence from the aboriginal inhabitants is common throughout Winmalee and includes several open sites and occupation shelters. [http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/barani/themes/theme1.htm]

European Settlement

In 1970, the Geographical Names Board of New South Wales suggested that the area which had been unofficially known as 'North Springwood' be made an independent suburb of the Blue Mountains and renamed 'White Cross' because of the rapidly increasing population growth of Springwood. However residents of the area objected to the name 'White Cross'.

In 1971, the Department of Education selected "Winmalee" as the name for a new school in the area. Though the residents of the area approved this as the name for the proposed school they rejected it as a name for the suburb. The name Winmalee was chosen by the Department of Education as the result of a competition that had been organised amongst the local people. Terry Macauley, who was to be one of the school's original primary students, suggested the name "Winmalee", an Aboriginal word for North. [ [http://www.winmalee-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/history.htm Winmalee Public School] Retrieved 5 February 2007] The word was in fact never used by the Dharug tribe's people in relation to the area, but is instead a reference to its previous unofficial name.

Winmalee was finally officially established as an independent town on 28 April 1972 after the Minister for Lands, Tom Lewis MLA announced the suburb's independence from Springwood and approved the name Winmalee despite objections from residents.

chools

High schools

*The first High School established in the Winmalee area was St Columba's High School. Originally a Catholic seminary, it was re-established as a high school in 1979, but did not cater for years 11 and 12 until 1993. The school and its grounds are some of the oldest forms of architecture in the area.The St Columbas property is one of the largest property holdings in the Blue Mountains and is rich in native flora and fauna.The whole of the St Columbas property is a Heritage property. St Columba's High School established the first Japanese Sister School agreement in the Blue Mountains. St Columba's sister school is called Hokusetsu Sanda Senior High School. . [ [http://www.parra.catholic.edu.au/Default.aspx?target=%2FOUR+SCHOOLS%2FSchool+Profiles%2FSchool+Profiles.htm&id=StColumbas/ "St Columbas School High, Springwood", Catholic Education Office Parramatta.] Retrieved 25 February 2007]

*Winmalee High School was the first high school developed after the suburb was named Winmalee and had established independence. It was officially established in 1985. Winmalee High has Sister School agreements with both Arima Senior High School in Japan and Aurora College in Invercargill, New Zealand. [http://www.winmalee-h.schools.nsw.edu.au]

Primary schools

*St Thomas Aquinas Primary School - Opened in 1921 with a total school enrolment of 24 pupils. The school was staffed up until the early 1980s by the Sisters of St Joseph. The school moved to its current site off Hawkesbury Road in 1982, which is situated on the same grounds as St Columba's High School.

*Winmalee Public School - The school's first year was in 1972 when pupils boarded at Springwood Primary. The first classes were actually held at Winmalee in the last weeks of 1972, but the school really began on the site at the beginning of 1973.

*Ellison Public School - Ellison Public School received its first complement of pupils in February 1986 under the supervising care of its foundation principal, and a staff of eight teachers. With an initial enrolment of 228 pupils, the school was organized into eight classes catering for kindergarten through to fifth grade. Ellison Public lies near the border of Springwood and Winmalee, drawing students from both regions. [ [http://www.ellison-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/ Ellison Public School.] Retrieved 24 January 2007]

Churches

Winmalee is the site of the 'Holy Monastery of St George', a monastic community for men under the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia. [ http://orthodoxwiki.org/Monastery_of_St._George_(Winmalee,_New_South_Wales) Monastery of St. George (Winmalee, New South Wales) ] .

Other churches in Winmalee include Winmalee Anglican Church (also known as St Georges) [ http://winmalee.swac.org.au/ Winmalee Anglican Church] and Winmalee Presbyterian Church.

Parks and recreation

Summerhayes Park is a public reserve which is used for sport and recreational activities. Its facilities include tennis and netball/basketball courts and fields for various codes of football. It is also the home of Springwood Soccer & Sports Club [http://www.sc.com.au/] , which also used by the Winmalee Netball Club [http://www.winmaleenetball.com.au/] . Summerhayes Park has a rich diversity of native flora and fauna and contains many threatened/endangered species and ecological communities. It is also a great bushwalking area with many interesting tracks, vistas and aboriginal archeological sites.

Commercial Area

The Winmalee Village centre was officially opened in the early 1980s and refurbished in 2005. It comprises a Target, a Coles Supermarket, a Liquorland, a vet and 22 specialty shops. There is a small food court which has a Donut King and a Michel's Patisserie. A tavern is located near the mall, as well as a dance studio.

There are also other smaller shopping districts. There a small strip mall located on Hawkesbury Road with a petrol station, a car mechanic, a takeaway and post office. There is another very small shopping area, near the Village Centre, with a pizza shop, a hairdressers and an office.

Population

On the night of the 2001 census there were 6,315 people residing in Winmalee (50.7% female, 49.3% male). The population consisted of 81.1% born in Australia, including 1% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, whilst 6.2% were born in England, 1.4% New Zealand, 0.9% Scotland, 0.7% Netherlands, and 0.5% Germany. [Census 2001 AUS|id=SSC13551|name=Winmalee (State Suburb)|accessdate=2007-06-30|quick=on]

References

External links

Winmalee is located at coord|33.6733|S|150.619|E|type:city|display=inline,title.

* Bushcare in the Blue Mountains - http://www.weedsbluemountains.org.au
* Springwood Model Railway Exhibition - http://www.springwoodtrainshow.com