Lurnea, New South Wales

Lurnea Sydney, New South Wales
File:LurneaNSWplaza.jpg Lurnea Plaza
Population	7,500 (2006 census)
Postcode(s)	2170
Location	35 km (22 mi) west of Sydney
LGA(s)	City of Liverpool
State electorate(s)	Holsworthy
Federal Division(s)	Werriwa
Suburbs around Lurnea: Cartwright Liverpool Liverpool Prestons Lurnea Liverpool Prestons Casula Casula

Lurnea is a suburb of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia 35 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool.

History

Lurnea was originally home to the Cabrogal people who spoke the Darug language. Following British settlement of the area in the 1800s it was given the name Hillview which persisted until after World War I when the land was converted into a soldier settlement which provided the soldiers with enough room for a house and a small farm. It was renamed Lurnea which means "a resting place". Lurnea Post Office opened on 15 February 1921. In the 1970s the area was redeveloped again into a residential suburb which this time became home to a number of veterans from the Vietnam War.

Transport

Hoxton Park Road runs along the northern edge of Lurnea providing access to Liverpool as well as suburbs to the west of Lurnea such as Hoxton Park. It also has relatively easy access to the M5 South Western Motorway to the city and the Westlink M7 to the northwest of Sydney. Lurnea is well serviced by Busabout bus routes with five services passing through the suburb and another three along Hoxton Park Road on the northern edge.

Education

There are three schools situated in the suburb:

• Lurnea High School is a co-educational secondary school. It is a public high school that caters for around 650 students from year 7 through to year 12. An Intensive English Centre and Hearing Impaired Unit are also established at Lurnea High. The school was first opened in 1965.
• Lurnea Public School is a primary public school. It caters for about 475 students from kindergarten through to year 6. The school was first opened in 1960
• St Francis Xavier Primary School is a co-educational primary catholic school.

Population

Lurnea's population at the 2006 Australian census was 7462, with 55.1% born in Australia, followed by those born in Lebanon 5.7%, New Zealand 2.0%, Fiji 1.9%, Italy 1.8% and Iraq 1.8%. English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 46.4% of persons and the most common languages other than English spoken at home were Arabic 17.5%, Vietnamese 2.7%, Spanish 2.5%, Italian 2.5% and Hindi 2.1%. The religious affiliations responses were Catholic 29.1%, Islam 17.9%, Anglican 18.7%, No Religion 6.1% and Eastern Orthodox 6.0%. The median household income of $743 per week is lower than the national average ($1027) while the rent and mortgage repayments are slightly higher than average.