Leonay, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
Leonay is a suburb
of Sydney
, in the state of New South Wales
, Australia
. Leonay is located 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district
, in the local government area of the City of Penrith
and is part of the Greater Western Sydney
region.
Leonay is located on the western side of the Nepean River
, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. The suburb is bounded by the M4 Motorway, the western railway line, and the Nepean River
. One of Leonay's prominent features is the golf course which meanders through the suburb.
lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in the Dreamtime
. Their homes were bark huts called 'gunyahs'. They hunted kangaroo
s and emu
s for meat, and gathered yam
s, berries and other native plants.
in what is now Leonay. For many years it was considered part of neighbouring Emu Plains
first as part of Sir Francis Forbes' Edinglassie Estate and then as part of Leo Buring's vineyard, Leonay. During the early years of settlement, Buring had a small fort, Fort Sanctuary, constructed to overlook his vineyard. Following Buring's death in 1961, the vineyard closed down and most of the land was sold to developers. The first houses were built in 1965 and in 1974, the name was officially changed to Leonay. Many homeless individuals made use of Fort Sanctuary as a shelter until it was boarded up in 1987; a small but influential local movement exists calling for the fort to be heritage listed.
network, while the Blue Mountains Bus Company connects Leonay to Penrith
. Leonay Parade is the main road into the suburb, connecting with both Emu Plains and the M4 Western Motorway
, which in turn provides quick connection to greater Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
.
was 2414. Most residents were Australian born (77%) with the next most common places of birth being England
(7%) and Germany
(1.4%) and New Zealand (also 1.4%). Reflecting the era in which the suburb developed, there are no apartments or terraces in the suburb with all 836 dwellings being detached houses. The median income ($663 per week) was noticeably higher than the national average ($466).
, represented by Liberal
Stuart Ayres
, who also lives in the suburb. Federally, it is part of the Division of Lindsay
, represented by Labor's
David Bradbury
.
Suburb
The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, in the state of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Leonay is located 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district is the main commercial centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It extends southwards for about 3 kilometres from Sydney Cove, the point of first European settlement. Its north–south axis runs from Circular Quay in the north to Central railway station in...
, in the local government area of the City of Penrith
City of Penrith
The City of Penrith is a Local Government Area in Sydney, located about west of Sydney's central business district.- History :The Municipality of Penrith was incorporated on 12 May 1871 under the Municipalities Act 1858. On 3 March 1890, St Marys was separately incorporated, and on 26 July 1893...
and is part of the Greater Western Sydney
Greater Western Sydney
Greater Western Sydney is a term used to describe the western region of the metropolitan area of Sydney, Australia. The University of Western Sydney defines Greater Western Sydney as comprising 14 local government areas...
region.
Leonay is located on the western side of the Nepean River
Nepean River
The Nepean River is a river in the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia.The headwaters of the Nepean River rise near Robertson, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney and about 15 kilometres from the coast. The river flows north in an unpopulated water catchment area into Nepean Dam, which...
, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. The suburb is bounded by the M4 Motorway, the western railway line, and the Nepean River
Nepean River
The Nepean River is a river in the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia.The headwaters of the Nepean River rise near Robertson, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney and about 15 kilometres from the coast. The river flows north in an unpopulated water catchment area into Nepean Dam, which...
. One of Leonay's prominent features is the golf course which meanders through the suburb.
History
The area was once the vineyard of Leo Buring, the suburb is named after Leo and his wife Nay. The vineyard has been replaced with designer homes climbing the hill at the foot of the Blue Mountains Escarpment.Aboriginal culture
Prior to European settlement, what is now Leonay was home to the Mulgoa people who spoke the Darug language. They lived a hunter-gathererHunter-gatherer
A hunter-gatherer or forage society is one in which most or all food is obtained from wild plants and animals, in contrast to agricultural societies which rely mainly on domesticated species. Hunting and gathering was the ancestral subsistence mode of Homo, and all modern humans were...
lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in the Dreamtime
Dreamtime
In the animist framework of Australian Aboriginal mythology, The Dreaming is a sacred era in which ancestral Totemic Spirit Beings formed The Creation.-The Dreaming of the Aboriginal times:...
. Their homes were bark huts called 'gunyahs'. They hunted kangaroo
Kangaroo
A kangaroo is a marsupial from the family Macropodidae . In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, especially those of the genus Macropus, Red Kangaroo, Antilopine Kangaroo, Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Western Grey Kangaroo. Kangaroos are endemic to the country...
s and emu
Emu
The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...
s for meat, and gathered yam
Yam (vegetable)
Yam is the common name for some species in the genus Dioscorea . These are perennial herbaceous vines cultivated for the consumption of their starchy tubers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Oceania...
s, berries and other native plants.
European settlement
The first British explorers known to have visited Leonay were Jamison, Johnston, Wentworth and Jones in 1818 who named Glebrook Creek at the point where it enters the Nepean RiverNepean River
The Nepean River is a river in the coastal region of New South Wales, Australia.The headwaters of the Nepean River rise near Robertson, about 100 kilometres south of Sydney and about 15 kilometres from the coast. The river flows north in an unpopulated water catchment area into Nepean Dam, which...
in what is now Leonay. For many years it was considered part of neighbouring Emu Plains
Emu Plains, New South Wales
Emu Plains is a town, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Emu Plains is located 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region....
first as part of Sir Francis Forbes' Edinglassie Estate and then as part of Leo Buring's vineyard, Leonay. During the early years of settlement, Buring had a small fort, Fort Sanctuary, constructed to overlook his vineyard. Following Buring's death in 1961, the vineyard closed down and most of the land was sold to developers. The first houses were built in 1965 and in 1974, the name was officially changed to Leonay. Many homeless individuals made use of Fort Sanctuary as a shelter until it was boarded up in 1987; a small but influential local movement exists calling for the fort to be heritage listed.
Transport
The nearest railway station is Emu Plains on the Western Line of the CityrailCityRail
CityRail is an operating brand of RailCorp, a corporation owned by the state government of New South Wales, Australia. It is responsible for providing commuter rail services, and some coach services, in and around Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, the three largest cities of New South Wales. It is...
network, while the Blue Mountains Bus Company connects Leonay to Penrith
Penrith, New South Wales
Penrith is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Penrith is located west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith...
. Leonay Parade is the main road into the suburb, connecting with both Emu Plains and the M4 Western Motorway
M4 Western Motorway
The M4 Western Motorway,, is a motorway in central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, which in turn provides quick connection to greater Sydney and the Blue Mountains.
Education
Leonay Public School is the only school in the suburb. The nearest high school is Nepean High School in Emu PlainsEmu Plains, New South Wales
Emu Plains is a town, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Emu Plains is located 58 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Penrith and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region....
.
Demographics
The recorded population of Leonay in the 2006 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
was 2414. Most residents were Australian born (77%) with the next most common places of birth being England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(7%) and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(1.4%) and New Zealand (also 1.4%). Reflecting the era in which the suburb developed, there are no apartments or terraces in the suburb with all 836 dwellings being detached houses. The median income ($663 per week) was noticeably higher than the national average ($466).
Notable residents
- Leo Buring (1876-1961), Australian winemaker
- Sir Francis Forbes (1784-1841), Chief Justice of New South Wales, who built the house Edinglassie at Emu Plains
Governance
At a local government level, Leonay is part of the south ward of Penrith City Council, represented by Jim Aitken, Mark Davies, Karen McKeown, Susan Page and Gary Rumble. The current mayor is Pat Sheehy. At the state level, it is part of the Electoral district of PenrithElectoral district of Penrith
Penrith is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales. It has been represented by Stuart Ayres of the Liberal Party of Australia since the 2010 by-election...
, represented by Liberal
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...
Stuart Ayres
Stuart Ayres
Stuart Ayres MP is an Australian politician. He is a Liberal Party of Australia Member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly since 19 June 2010, representing the electorate of Penrith.-Private life:...
, who also lives in the suburb. Federally, it is part of the Division of Lindsay
Division of Lindsay
The Division of Lindsay is an Australian Electoral Division in the state of New South Wales. It is located in the outer western suburbs of Sydney, and is centred around Penrith. It also includes the suburbs of Castlereagh, Mulgoa and Werrington....
, represented by Labor's
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...
David Bradbury
David Bradbury
David John Bradbury is an Australian politician. He is an Australian Labor Party Member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Lindsay, New South Wales. Bradbury was elected at the 2007 federal election.Bradbury has lived in Western Sydney all his life, and was educated at...
.