Wetherill Park is a suburb in Greater Western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wetherill Park is located 34 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Fairfield. The recorded that Wetherill Park as having a resident population of 6,127. Just under half of these residents were born in Australia. The area is 11.2 km2. Most residents live in the south-east corner, the larger portion of the suburb being an industrial area. Wetherill Park sits on the southern border of Prospect Reservoir. Located partially in the suburb, the Smithfield-Wetherill Park Industrial Estate is the largest industrial estate in the southern hemisphere and is the centre of manufacturing and distribution in Greater Western Sydney.
History
Aboriginal culture
Aboriginal people from the Cabrogal clan of the Gandangara tribe, have lived in the area for more than 30,000 years.
White settlement
Wetherill Park was named after a businessman who offered of his property to the State government as a park. The offer was accepted and the park was named after the donor. The first settlers in set up their homes north of the present school site at Wetherill Park. One hundred years ago, there were not enough homes in this suburb to need a school. With the commencement of the Prospect Reservoir Waterworks, a local storekeeper, Samuel Booth, made available a section of his land for a school, free of charge. The school, called 'Macquarie Park', was located on the corner of Victoria and Daniel Streets being 365 Victoria Street, Wetheril Park. It opened in May 1882 with 8 children but it was changed in June 1882 to 'Boothtown' for Samuel Booth’s involvement in the establishment of the school. In 1884 it became Reservoir Public School and in 1896, it became the Wetherill Park Public School. In 1986 the school made way for the Phuoc Hue Temple, and was relocated down the road to Lily Street and renamed William Stimson Public School, in honour of the first mayor of the City of Fairfield.
Street names
A characteristic of Wetherill Park is that all the streets are named after famous writers. Some examples include: Vidal Street, Shakespeare Street, Stevenson Street, Locke Street, Gogol Place, Swinburne Crescent, Homer Place, Emerson Street, Wordsworth Street, Dickens Road, Longfellow Street, Chaucer Street, Ainsworth Crescent, Coleridge Road, Frost Close, Gissing Street, Maugham Crescent and Langland Street.
Commercial areas
Stockland Wetherill Park is a major shopping centre in the area and features one of Australia's largest cinema complexes owned by Hoyts. The shopping centre opened in 1983 and in recent years, underwent major renovations.
Wetherill Park Shopping Centre opened in the early 1980s on the corner of The Horsley Drive and Rossetti Street, adjacent to Emerson Street Reserve tennis courts. It originally featured approximately 25 specialty shops, including a Franklins supermarket. In recent years, the shopping centre underwent renovations which saw the shopping complex completely reformed, and the rear parking lot expanded. Today, the complex also features a bowling centre. An Aldi chain opened in market town.
Wetherill Park is home to the largest industrial estate in the Southern Hemisphere, with companies such as Jaguar, BMW, Subaru and Mercedes-Benz situated in the area. Despite the heavy industrial presence, the suburb maintains a coppice environment dominated by eucalyptus trees. Within the industrial estate there are furniture stores, home depot stores, car mechanic services and clothing factories, among others.
Transport
bus route T80 operated byTransit Systems Sydney, opened in 2003 and runs partly through Wetherill Park. It is also located close to the Westlink M7 Sydney Orbital motorway. The Horsley Drive is the major road which runs through Wetherill Park. Other major roads include Polding Street and Victoria Street.
Demographics
According to the 2016 Census, the most common ancestries in Wetherill Park were Australian 10.6%, Italian 9.6%, English 8.9%, Assyrian 7.6% and Chinese 4.7%. 46.0% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were Iraq 11.6%, Italy 3.7%, Vietnam 3.3%, Chile 1.8% and Croatia 1.7%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 45.4%, No Religion 9.4%, Not stated 6.2%, Buddhism 5.5% and Islam 5.2%. Overall, Christianity was the largest religious group reported. 35.7% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Assyrian Neo-Aramaic 8.7%, Arabic 8.0%, Spanish 6.7%, Italian 5.2% and Chaldean Neo-Aramaic 4.4%.
Schools
William Stimson Public School.
Parks and recreation
The suburb features a large recreational park and an urban forest, Wetherill Park Nature Reserve. Adjacent to that Reserve is the Emerson Street Reserve, which is a 6-hectare, rectangular-shaped sports ground which features a walking track, a tennis facility, a skate park, a basketball court, cricket practice nets and a soccer field. Although not in the suburb, Rosford Street Reserve is adjacent to the eastern outskirts of Wetherill Park. As part of Fairfield City Council's Parks Improvement Program, Shakespeare Park was upgraded in 2006.
Places of worship
Wetherill Park is home to a large Buddhist temple which was visited by Prince Charles in 1994.
Notable residents
Wetherill Park was once home to famous Italian footballer, Christian Vieri.
