Epping, New South Wales

Epping Sydney, New South Wales
Epping from Pennant Hills
Population	20,227 (2011 census)[1]
Established	1899
Postcode(s)	2121
Location	18 km (11 mi) north-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Parramatta
Region	Northern Suburbs
State electorate(s)	Epping, Ryde[2][3]
Federal Division(s)	Bennelong
Suburbs around Epping: Beecroft Cheltenham North Epping Carlingford Epping Marsfield Dundas Valley Eastwood Marsfield

Epping is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. It is in the Northern Suburbs and Greater Western Sydney region.

History

The Wallumedegal Aboriginal tribe lived in the area between the Lane Cove River and Parramatta River.^[4] In 1792, Governor Phillip began the granting of parcels of lands to marines, and the area was referred to on Phillip's maps as the Field of Mars, Mars being the Roman god of War. It contained the area of what is now Epping, along with the surrounding suburbs of Ryde and Marsfield.

Epping railway station was opened on 17 September 1886, originally named "Field of Mars", and quickly renamed to "Carlingford" on 5 April 1887.^[5] The Post Office was opened on 16 October 1889, originally named "East Carlingford".

In 1899 the suburb name of Epping was adopted following the suggestion by a local landowner William Midson (1849–1924), after a town near Epping Forest in Essex, where his father was born.^[6] At this time, the names of the Post Office and the railway station were both changed to Epping.^[7][8]

The Seven Network had television production studios in Epping until 2009. The site is now occupied by residential apartments.

Commercial area

Epping features a shopping centre close to Epping railway station. The centre includes a large Coles supermarket on Rawson Street, and many small businesses including newsagencies, pharmacies, Asian grocers and many restaurants. Other commercial and light industrial developments are also located in the surrounding area.

The Epping RSL Club is a popular venue, which attracts many people including students from the nearby Macquarie University. Epping also has a pub (the Epping Hotel) with its own nightclub, Tracks.

• 
  The Epping Club
• 
  Former Seven Network television studios, now demolished
• 
  Epping Railway Station

Redevelopment as "Urban Renewal Area"

A major re-development of the Epping Town Centre is planned as part of the NSW government's "Urban Renewal Area" programme (originally called the "Urban Activation Precincts" programme). The changes to zoning for this programme cover 54 hectares, including provision for building heights of 8 to 22 storeys for mixed commercial and residential use within a 400-metre radius of the railway station, and about 3,750 additional homes within 800 metres of it.^[9] These zoning changes were finalized and approved in March 2014, although residents have expressed concerns about issues including traffic management, lack of parking, storm water drainage, and access to schools.^[10]

The first major project to commence under this programme is Grocon's amalgamation of four lots at 30-42 Oxford Street for a cost of $56 million. This is expected to produce more than 250 apartments for a total value of more than $300 million.^[11]

Transport

Beecroft Road

Epping railway station is a junction station on the North Shore, Northern & Western Line and the Epping to Chatswood railway line of the Sydney Trains network. It will also be a junction station on the new rapid transit Sydney Metro Northwest when that line is completed.^[12]

Epping is also well-serviced by bus facilities by Sydney Buses and Hillsbus. The M2 Hills Motorway runs along the northern border to the Sydney CBD. Epping Road is a major arterial road in the area that runs east from the railway station to the Pacific Highway.

In spite of the range of public transport options, the 2011 census found that only 31% of employed people travelled to work on public transport, compared to 51% who travelled by car (either as driver or as passenger).

Community facilities

Epping Community Centre, originally known as the School of Arts

Epping is well served with community facilities, provided by the councils or other organizations. These include:

• Epping Aquatic and Leisure Centre (also known as Dence Park Aquatic Centre) off 26 Stanley Road, features a heated 26 °C (79 °F) outdoor 50 metre pool, a warmer heated 31 °C (88 °F) "learn to swim" pool, a covered toddlers' play pool, a gymnasium and a kiosk/coffee shop. A range of classes and training is held at the centre.^[13]
• Epping Branch Library, at 1 Chambers Court (off Pembroke Street) is a branch of Hornsby Shire Library. Membership is free and provides access to a wide range of services (Printing requires a charged account).^[14]
• West Epping Community Centre is on the corner of Dent and Downing Streets, beside West Epping Park and Oval. Capacity: 100 people. Attached to the Community Centre is the West Epping Community Preschool which shares the two enclosed playgrounds.^[15]
• Epping Community Centre^[16] at 9 Oxford Street, near the railway station. Capacity: 300 people (all areas combined). Formerly known as the Epping School of Arts, the community centre was designed by Lord Livingstone Ramsay, an architect who was President of Hornsby Shire from 1909 until 1913. It was built in three stages between 1906 and 1916, and officially opened in 1909.^[17][18] The building has a large auditorium with a stage, two meeting rooms, a commercial standard kitchen, and a second smaller hall downstairs.^[19]
• Epping Leisure and Learning Centre at 1 Chambers Court (off Pembroke Street), downstairs from the Epping Branch Library. Capacity: 100 people.^[20]
• Epping Creative Centre at 26 Stanley Road, beside the entrance to Dence Park Aquatic Centre. Capacity: 100 people. This centre has an emphasis on creative and educational leisure activities. Epping Creative Centre was opened in September 1989, originally in the back rooms of the Dence Park building, then in 1999 the council granted full use of the premises.^[21]
• Epping YMCA at 15 Ward Street caters for the diverse ages, interests and abilities of the surrounding community. In 2012, a million-dollar redevelopment saw the family centre substantially modernized. Facilities include a health club, group fitness studio, one-court indoor stadium, community program room, international standard gymnastics arena, and tennis courts.^[22]

Some schools and churches also have halls and other facilities that can be made available for community uses.

Parks, playgrounds, sports fields

Rockleigh Park, Epping

Churches

• All Saints Anglican Church a contemporary Anglican Church in North Epping
• Chester Street Uniting Church (incorporates Oxford Street Uniting Church)
• Chinese Lutheran Church
• Epping Baptist Church
• Epping Church of Christ
• Epping Gospel Chapel
• Epping Presbyterian Church
• Epping Seventh-day Adventist Church
• Life Way Church (a Lutheran Church, known as St. Mark's until March 2014^[39])
• North Side Chinese Alliance Church
• Northern Districts Chinese Christian Church
• Our Lady Help of Christians (Roman Catholic) Church
• Presbyterian Reformed Church Epping
• St. Alban's (Anglican), St. Aidan's - West Epping (Anglican) - part of the Epping Parish

St Alban's Anglican Church

• West Epping Uniting Church

Schools

• Arden Anglican School (formerly the Catholic girls' school Our Lady of Mercy College)
• Epping Boys High School (located in Marsfield)
• Epping Heights Public School
• Epping North Public School
• Epping Public School
• Epping West Public School
• Our Lady Help of Christians Catholic Primary School

Formerly the American International School of Sydney was located here.^[40]

Demographics

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011 Census, Epping had a population of 20,227, of whom 9,883 (48.9%) were male and 10,344 (51.1%) were female. Approximately half (49.5%) of residents living in Epping were Australian born and the majority of its migrant residents hail from China (11.7%), South Korea (6.6%), Hong Kong (6.1%), India (4.6%) and England (2.3%).

The age distribution is quite typical of the whole country: the median age of people in Epping was 38 years (national median is 37). Children aged under 15 years made up 16.3% of the population (19.3% nationally) and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.2% of the population (14.0% nationally).^[1]

Epping is also known to be a more affluent suburb in its region, as evidenced by its higher median house prices compared to neighbouring suburbs, and the high proportion of professionals (39.7%) who reside in Epping (nearly double the Sydney average of 21.3%). Average weekly household income was $1,683, compared to the national average of $1,234.^[1][41]

More than three-quarters (76.8%) of private dwellings were family households, 19.3% were single person households and 4.0% were group households. Stand-alone houses accounted for 62.6% of dwellings, while 27.9% were flats, units or apartments and 9.3% were semi-detached. The average household size was 2.8 people.^[1]

The most commonly reported religious affiliation in the 2011 Census was "no religion" (26.8%), followed by Roman Catholic (19.3%), Anglican (12.9%), Presbyterian and Reformed (6.9%) and Buddhism (5.2%). In the ten years from 2001 to 2011, the Census shows that the largest change in religion was the number of people who were not affiliated with any religion, which increased from 16.3% to 26.8% of the population. There were also increases in Buddhism (4.2% to 5.3%) and Hinduism (2.9% to 4.9%). The combined number of people following all Christian denominations dropped from 64.7% to 55.0%.^[1][42]

Politics

At a local government level, Epping lies solely within the City of Parramatta Local Government Area.^[43] Until May 2016, it was divided between three different local government areas: the Hornsby Shire, the City of Parramatta, and a smaller area in the City of Ryde. This changed under the 2016 NSW State Government's "Stronger Councils" amalgamation scheme.

At a state level, Epping is mostly represented by the electoral district of Epping, with a small area on the southern edge of Chesterfield Road that is within the Electoral district of Ryde.

At a federal level it falls in the Division of Bennelong.

References

External links

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

• Joan Rowland (2008). "Epping". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 27 September 2015.  [CC-By-SA]

Coordinates: 33°46′29″S 151°04′44″E / 33.7746°S 151.0788°E / -33.7746; 151.0788