Greater Western Sydney

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For the AFL club, see Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Greater Western Sydney
New South Wales
Greater Western Sydney Map.gif
Localities around Greater Western Sydney:
Greater Blue Mountains Area Greater Blue Mountains Area Northern Suburbs
Greater Blue Mountains Area Greater Western Sydney Western Sydney
South-western Sydney South-western Sydney Southern Sydney

Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is the region of the metropolitan area of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is generally accepted to embrace the northwest, southwest, central west, and western sub-regions of greater metropolitan Sydney. The University of Western Sydney defines greater western Sydney as comprising 14 local government areas; namely located within Auburn, Bankstown, Blacktown, Canterbury, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Liverpool, Parramatta, Penrith, The Hills Shire and Wollondilly.

In government administration, the region has a Minister for Western Sydney, currently held by the Premier, the Hon. Mike Baird, MP.

The population is predominantly of a working class background, with major employment in the heavy industries and vocational trade. The fourteen local government areas which comprise the Greater West together generate more than A$95 billion in Gross Regional Product a year, making its economy the third largest in Australia behind the Sydney CBD and Melbourne.[citation needed]

Sub-regions

Greater Western Sydney local government authorities agree on the broad definition of greater western Sydney, but divide the region based on the regional organisations of councils. The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (WSROC) includes the local government areas of Auburn, Bankstown, Blacktown, Canterbury, Fairfield, Hawkesbury, Holroyd, Liverpool, Parramatta and Penrith.[1] The Macarthur Regional Organisation of Councils (MACROC) includes the local government areas of Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly.[2]

The Department of Planning & Infrastructure Metropolitan Strategy for Sydney divides Greater Western Sydney into three sub-regions:[3]

Sub-region Local government areas Area Population
(2011 Census)		 Employment
(2011 Census)		 Housing
(2011 Census)		 Gross Regional Product
(FY2010/2011)
West Central and North West[4] Auburn, Canterbury, Holroyd,
Parramatta		 779 square kilometres (301 sq mi) ~846,000 ~389,000 ~302,000 A$48.5 billion
West[5] Blacktown, Hawkesbury, Penrith, The Hills 4,608 square kilometres (1,779 sq mi) ~327,000 ~119,000 ~127,000 A$13.0 billion
South West[6] Bankstown, Camden, Campbelltown,
Fairfield, Liverpool, and Wollondilly		 3,554 square kilometres (1,372 sq mi) ~829,000 ~298,000 ~286,000 A$33.5 billion
Totals 8,941 square kilometres (3,452 sq mi) ~2,002,000 ~806,000 ~715,000 A$95.0 billion

Geography

In 1820s, Peter Cunningham described the country west of Parramatta and Liverpool as "a fine timbered country, perfectly clear of bush, through which you might, generally speaking, drive a gig in all directions, without any impediment in the shape of rocks, scrubs, or close forest". This confirmed earlier accounts by Governor Phillip, who suggested that the trees were "growing at a distance of some twenty to forty feet from each other, and in general entirely free from brushwood..."[7]

Climate

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Further information: Climate of Sydney

Western Sydney experiences a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfa) with the annual temperatures having an average maximum of 23 °C (73 °F) and a minimum of 12 °C (54 °F), making the region a few degrees warmer than the Sydney CBD which has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb).

Greater Western Sydney is much warmer than Sydney city in summer. During this time, daytime temperatures can be 5 degrees Celsius warmer than the city (in extreme cases the West can even be 10 degrees hotter). This is because sea breezes in the City do not penetrate the inland areas. Northwesterlies occasionally bring hot winds from the desert that raise temperatures as high as 40 °C (104 °F). Winters nights, though, are typically a few degrees cooler and frost is not uncommon in some areas. Maximum summer temperatures average at around 28 °C (82 °F) to 30 °C (86 °F) and winter temperatures are mild; averaging at around 17 °C (63 °F) to 18 °C (64 °F), depending on the location.

Rainfall is almost evenly spread throughout the year, although the first half tends to be wetter, namely February through to June (late summer/early winter). The months from July through to December tend to be drier (late winter/early summers). Thunderstorms are common in late summer and early autumn. Winters are pleasantly cool and sunny, although east coast lows can bring large amounts of rainfall, especially in June.[8]

Most suburbs in the west have an annual precipitation that averages at around 700 mm (28 in) to 900 mm (35 in), in contrast to Sydney CBD's 1,217 mm (48 in). The humidity in the summer is usually in the comfortable range, though some days can be slightly humid (due to the ocean proximity) or very dry (thanks to the heat from the desert).[9]

Landmarks

Major tourist attractions in Western Sydney include the Blue Mountains and Sydney Olympic Park. The Western Sydney Parklands, a major urban parkland stretching through many local government areas in Western Sydney, also contains many attractions such as picnic areas and lookouts, Calmsley Hill Farm, Blacktown Olympic Park, Eastern Creek Raceway, and, most notably, the Nurragingy reserve (features picnic areas and a Chinese garden). Other major recreation include Auburn Botanical Gardens. Large shopping malls include Westfield Penrith, Westfield Parramatta, Westfield Liverpool and Westpoint Blacktown.

Parramatta has also become a major centre in Sydney, often being referred to as the second CBD of Sydney.

Media

The city is also served by several local radio stations, including those from Sydney.

Greater Western Sydney is also served by 5 Sydney television networks, three commercial and two national services:

Sport

The region hosts many professional sporting teams in a wide range of codes. The National Rugby League has several teams based in the region. The region acts as the namesake of the Australian Football League's Greater Western Sydney Giants Australian rules football club. The A-League's Western Sydney Wanderers association football club is also based in this region of Sydney. Greater Sydney Rams now represent the region in the National Rugby Championship. The Sydney Thunder play at the Big Bash League.

The Sydney Olympic Park was built for the 2000 Olympic Games, and has hosted the NRL Grand Final, the Sydney 500 auto race and the Sydney International tennis tournament.

Advocacy

The following organisations are directly involved in economic and other advocacy for this region:

  • The Centre for Western Sydney at the University of Western Sydney (www.uws.edu.au/cws)
  • Western Sydney Community Forum (www.wscf.org.au)
  • The Western Sydney Regional Organisation of Councils (www.wsroc.com.au)
  • Westir (www.westir.org.au)
  • The Wianamatta Institute (www.wianamattainstitute.org)
  • The Western Sydney Conservation Alliance (www.wsca.org.au)

Major education facilities

See also

References

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  7. ↑ Kohen, J., The Impact of Fire: An Historical Perspective, in Australian Plants Online, Society for Growing Australian Plants, September 1996
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External links

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