Bass Hill, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Bass Hill
city = Sydney
state = nsw


caption = Bass Hill Drive-in Cinema
lga = City of Bankstown
postcode = 2197
pop =
area =
propval =
est = 1924
stategov =
fedgov =
near-nw = Villawood
near-n = Chester Hill
near-ne = Sefton
near-w = Lansdowne
near-e = Yagoona
near-sw = Lansvale
near-s = Georges Hall
near-se = Condell Park
dist1 = 23
dir1 = south-west
location1= Sydney CBD

Bass Hill is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bass Hill is located 23 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Bankstown and is part of the South-western Sydney region.

History

Bass Hill is named after George Bass , a surgeon and explorer who was granted land here in 1798. He had arrived in the colony in 1795 on HMS "Reliance" and became friendly with midshipman Matthew Flinders and on arrival they decided to explore parts of the colony. In 1796 on a small boat called the "Tom Thumb" accompanied by a boy servant William Martin, they sailed into Botany Bay and explored the Georges River, twenty miles (32 km) beyond previous expeditions. They sailed as far as present day Georges Hall. For their exploration efforts Bass and Flinders were rewarded with convert|100|acre|km2|sing=on land grants in this area by Governor Hunter. [ "The Book of Sydney Suburbs", Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8, page 21 ]

The area developed rapidly after the completion of Liverpool Road in 1814. Originally known as Irish Town because of the Irish settlements, it later became known as Upper Bankstown. It became officially known as Bass Hill in October 1924. [ [http://www.bankstowncity.nsw.gov.au//coun/about/suburbGetItsName.cfm Bankstown Council - How Did Your Suburb Get Its Name? ] ]

During WWII, Bass Hill was the location for a small transmitting station that was owned and operated by the RAAF. It was located on the corner of Manuka Crescent & Johnston Road [http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=3284735&I=1&SE=1] . This facility worked in conjunction with the Bankstown Bunker on Black Charlies Hill in Condell Park, which also worked in conjunction with a remote receiving station that was located in Picnic Point. [ [http://home.st.net.au/~dunn/bunkers/bankstownremotereceivingbuilding.htm Bankstown Remote Receiving Building, Bankstown, New South Wales, during WW2 ] ]

Commercial Area

Bass Hill Plaza is a small shopping centre on the Hume Highway, beside Bass Hill drive-in cinema.

Education

Bass Hill has two schools, Bass Hill Public School for years K-6 and Bass High School for years 7-12.

port

Bass Hill is home to many sporting fields and facilities which cater for sports such as athletics, cricket, cycling, hockey, rugby league and soccer.

The Crest sporting complex is the major sporting complex in the area and contains the Dunc Gray Velodrome which was home of the track cycling events for the 2000 Summer Olympics and the Cycling World Cup, a state of the art athletics complex, soccer fields, hockey fields and cricket fields. The Crest is home to the Sydney Bulls Jim Beam Cup Rugby League Team, South West Strikers Soccer Club, Bankstown District Sports Club Hockey Club, Banksports Athletics, Bankstown Sports Cycling Club and Bankstown Sports Gymnastics.

Population

In the 2006 Australian Census the population of Bass Hill was recorded at 7,224. Like the rest of the Bankstown Area Bass Hill is a very culturally diverse suburb with 32.5% of residents being born overseas. Of these the largest groups came from Lebanon, Vietnam, Italy, China and New Zealand. [Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC11061|name=Bass Hill (State Suburb)|quick=on|accessdate=2008-02-28]

References

External links