Wentworth Point, New South Wales

Wentworth Point Sydney, New South Wales
Looking across Homebush Bay to Sydney Olympic Park near Wentworth Point
Coordinates
Population	2,759 (2011 census)
Established	2009
Postcode(s)	2127
Location	16 km (10 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)	City of Auburn
State electorate(s)	Auburn
Federal Division(s)	Reid
Suburbs around Wentworth Point: Melrose Park Meadowbank Rhodes Newington Wentworth Point Liberty Grove Lidcombe Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park

Wentworth Point is a suburb of west Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wentworth Point is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Auburn. It is on the western shore of Homebush Bay on the southern side of the Parramatta River

History

This suburb was once part of the suburb of Homebush, named after Homebush Bay, the bay with a natural and artificial shoreline on the southern side of the Parramatta River. Homebush was established in the 1800s by the colony's then assistant surgeon D'arcy Wentworth. According to local government historian Michael Jones, "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in Kent." It is considered unlikely that it was named after the village in Kent as D'Arcy Wentworth was Irish and had no links to the English county.

The northern part of the peninsula had been named Wentworth Point and gazetted in 1976. The waterfront residential area was renamed Wentworth Point on 2 October 2009,. Auburn Council sought public comment on a proposal to rename the Homebush Bay area, to remove confusion with its namesake suburb Homebush. The area encompassing Sydney Olympic Park was given autonomy as a suburb and the Carter Street industrial precinct was absorbed by the neighbouring suburb of Lidcombe. This effectively brought the suburb of Homebush Bay to an end.

Industrial and commercial usage

After much of the area was reclaimed from Homebush Bay, Wentworth Point was used for a variety of industrial uses.

The larger and better known include Ralph Simonds, a plywood manufacturer, which used the river as a transport route for large logs, which were then moored in Homebush Bay while awaiting processing. Other activities have included McPhee Transport depot (now TNT who are due to move out in mid-2015), the former Head Office and warehouse space for Hyundai Cars (now occupied by Acer Computers) and a radio transmission tower for 2GB, a Sydney radio station.

Residential development

Prior to the move of the Royal Agricultural Society showgrounds from Moore Park to Homebush (as the area of Sydney Olympic Park was then known), much of Wentworth Point was bought by Payce Consolidated Limited. Most of Wentworth Point is now zoned for medium to high density residential development.

Internet

ADSL/ADSL2 is not available in the Waterfront Community. This is because the local phone exchange is 8km away on Parramatta Road.

The Mariners Cove Community does have ADSL1 but with only 150 ports in the RIM and around 200 Apartments, many do without a copper line ADSL connection and connect to the internet in other ways.

For a long time Homelinx, which was owned by Payce Consolidated Limited, installed a fibre network and was the sole provider of internet to the Waterfront Community.

Net Open Access came into being to hold the network owned by Homelinx to open up the network to competition and to give residents choice.

Stealth Networks and W3 Networks now provide services, just as any other ISP can, as long as they cooperate with Net Open Access to start selling services as the network is open to anyone to use.

Transport

Buses

A bus route 526 services Wentworth Point and Burwood.

Ferries

Sydney Olympic Park ferry wharf is situated at the northern end of Wentworth Point and is served by Parramatta River ferry services. Regular services run to Circular Quay and Parramatta. The wharf was temporarily closed for upgrade on 14 January 2015 for approximately 5 months.

Trains

There is no train service to Wentworth Point, but nearby Olympic Park has a station, although services are infrequent out of major events and peak hours. The building of the new bridge between Rhodes and Wentworth Point will enable access to Rhodes train station due around the middle of 2015.

Commercial areas

Wentworth Point has some small shops, cafes and restaurants but there is no significant shopping centre. There is a large supermarket and shopping centre at nearby Newington and Rhodes.

NSW Maritime owns about 18 hectares of land at the northern end of the point. This land has been subject to proposals for marine related development including boat storage. It has been considered as a possible location for a primary school.

Recreation

Cycling and walking are well catered for by cycleways in the Millennium Parklands and Bicentennial Park. There are dedicated commuter cycleways to Sydney Olympic Park and Parramatta. Homebush Bay has potential for sailing, kayaking, rowing and dragon boating, but water access and boat storage facilities are limited. There is a recreation club in Wentworth Point called ‘Pulse’ which has a 25-meter indoor heated pool, gymnasium and tennis courts. A wide range of other recreation facilities are available at nearby Sydney Olympic Park.

Future development

Homebush Bay Bridge

A 300m bridge across Homebush Bay has been approved bringing benefits to the Wentworth Point area. The bridge will be used by local buses and emergency service vehicles along with cyclists and pedestrians. Making it easier for residents to access shops, public transport and place Wentworth Point on the map as a bay run. The bridge will be built between the proposed Bridge Boulevard at Wentworth Point and Gauthorpe Street at Rhodes. Construction commence early 2014, expect to finish by early 2016