Emu Plains, New South Wales
Encyclopedia
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.
Emu Plains is on the western side of the Nepean River
, located at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
and the Southern Highlands-based Gandangara people, whose land extended into the Blue Mountains. The local Darug people were known as the Mulgoa who lived a hunter-gatherer
lifestyle governed by traditional laws, which had their origins in the Dreamtime
. They lived in huts made of bark called 'gunyahs', hunted kangaroo
s and emu
s for meat, and gathered yam
s, berries and other native plants.
. It was first referred to by its current name by Governor Lachlan Macquarie
in 1814 when William Cox
started building his road over the Blue Mountains from there. A government farm with convict labour was established in 1819. It closed down in 1832 with the establishment of the village of Emu Plains.
The removal of river-stones from the Nepean River for concrete and road-base was begun by the Emu and Prospect Gravel and Road Metal Company in the 1880s. A railway siding, which was to be ultimately expanded into a short branch, was first laid in from the Main Western Line at Emu Plains in 1884. Railway operations, which included their own locomotives, continued until 1967, after when only a siding, shunted by Government trains, remained. All railway operations ceased in 1993.
Emu Plains has a number of landmark buildings:
.
of the CityRail
network. It is the last station on the suburban part of the line with Lapstone, the next station to the west, considered part of the Intercity network. While a long distance from Sydney city, there are many express services from Emu Plains to the city. Emu Plains is also serviced by the Blue Mountains Bus Company.
Emu Plains can easily be accessed from Penrith via the Great Western Highway
. Access from further east is best obtained by the M4 Western Motorway
. If travelling east from the Blue Mountains, access is best obtained by the Great Western Highway.
was 7944. The age profile and most other statistics were similar to the Australian national averages. Most people were Australian born (79%) with the remainder generally from English-speaking countries such as England
or New Zealand
. There were more detached houses (75%) and fewer apartments (7%) than in the national statistics while the median income ($536 per week) was slightly higher than the national average ($466).
, represented by Liberal
Stuart Ayres
. Federally, it is part of the Division of Lindsay
, represented by Labor's
David Bradbury
.
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...
. Emu Plains 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.
Emu Plains is 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...
, located at the foot of the Blue Mountains.
Aboriginal Culture
Prior to European settlement, what is now Emu Plains was on the border of the Western Sydney-based Darug peopleDarug people
The Darug people are a language group of Indigenous Australians, who are traditional custodians of much of what is modern day Sydney. There is some dispute about the extent of the Darug nation. Some historians believe the coastal Eora people were a separate tribe to the Darug...
and the Southern Highlands-based Gandangara people, whose land extended into the Blue Mountains. The local Darug people were known as the Mulgoa who lived a hunter-gatherer
Hunter-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:...
. They lived in huts made of bark called 'gunyahs', 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 to visit the area surveyed Emu Plains in 1790 and named it Emu Island after emus they sighted on the land and in the mistaken belief that the land was actually on an island in 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...
. It was first referred to by its current name by Governor Lachlan Macquarie
Lachlan Macquarie
Major-General Lachlan Macquarie CB , was a British military officer and colonial administrator. He served as the last autocratic Governor of New South Wales, Australia from 1810 to 1821 and had a leading role in the social, economic and architectural development of the colony...
in 1814 when William Cox
William Cox (pioneer)
William Cox was an English soldier, known as an explorer, road builder and pioneer in the early period of British settlement in Australia.-Early life:...
started building his road over the Blue Mountains from there. A government farm with convict labour was established in 1819. It closed down in 1832 with the establishment of the village of Emu Plains.
The removal of river-stones from the Nepean River for concrete and road-base was begun by the Emu and Prospect Gravel and Road Metal Company in the 1880s. A railway siding, which was to be ultimately expanded into a short branch, was first laid in from the Main Western Line at Emu Plains in 1884. Railway operations, which included their own locomotives, continued until 1967, after when only a siding, shunted by Government trains, remained. All railway operations ceased in 1993.
Emu Plains has a number of landmark buildings:
- The railway station is a notable building of brick and sandstone, with Tudor chimneys, built in 1883. It is unusual for railway stations because it has two storeys; it has a Local Government Heritage Listing.
- Emu Hall is a substantial home by the Nepean River. It was built in 1851 by Toby Ryan (1818–1899), who occupied the house until 1875. The house has a Local Government Heritage Listing.
- St Paul's Anglican Church was built in 1848 and has a cemetery.
- The former Arms of Australia Inn was built in 1833 to service the roads through the area. It has been restored by the Nepean District Historical Society with government funding and is used as a historical museum. It has a Local Government Heritage Listing.
- At the corner of Russell Street and the Great Western Highway is the original Emu Plains post office, a sandstone Gothic cottage.
Commercial area
The main commercial centre is Centro Lennox, formerly Lennox Shopping Centre, named after David LennoxDavid Lennox
David Lennox was a Scottish-Australian bridge-builder and master stonemason born in Ayr, Scotland.-Personal details:...
.
Transport
Emu Plains railway station is situated on the Western LineWestern railway line, Sydney
The Western Line is part of the CityRail metropolitan rail network in Sydney, and is the suburban section of the Main West line which connects Sydney with the west of New South Wales. It connects the Sydney CBD to the employment centre of Parramatta and the outer western suburbs, terminating at Emu...
of the CityRail
CityRail
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. It is the last station on the suburban part of the line with Lapstone, the next station to the west, considered part of the Intercity network. While a long distance from Sydney city, there are many express services from Emu Plains to the city. Emu Plains is also serviced by the Blue Mountains Bus Company.
Emu Plains can easily be accessed from Penrith via the Great Western Highway
Great Western Highway
The Great Western Highway is a highway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs 210 km from Sydney to Bathurst.Starting as Broadway at the intersection of City Road near the fringe of the Sydney CBD, and becoming Parramatta Road to Parramatta itself, the Great Western Highway heads due west from...
. Access from further east is best obtained by the M4 Western Motorway
M4 Western Motorway
The M4 Western Motorway,, is a motorway in central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. If travelling east from the Blue Mountains, access is best obtained by the Great Western Highway.
Education
The local government primary school is Emu Plains Public School and the high school is Nepean High School. There is also a Catholic primary school, Our Lady of the Way, and high school, McCarthy Catholic College.Demographics
The recorded population of Emu Plains 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 7944. The age profile and most other statistics were similar to the Australian national averages. Most people were Australian born (79%) with the remainder generally from English-speaking countries such as 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...
or New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. There were more detached houses (75%) and fewer apartments (7%) than in the national statistics while the median income ($536 per week) was slightly higher than the national average ($466).
Notable residents
- Edwin EvansEdwin EvansEdwin Evans was an Australian cricketer who played in six Tests between 1881 and 1886.Born in Emu Plains, New South Wales and educated at Newington College , Evans was an off spinner with an ability to consistently land the ball wherever he wanted to and had some success in Australian first-class...
(1849–1921), Australian cricketer - Sir Francis Forbes (1784–1841), chief justice of New South Wales, who built the house Edinglassie at Emu Plains
- Gerald (1905–1962) & Margo (1908–1978) Lewers, artists who donated their house as the Penrith Regional Art Gallery
- Toby Ryan (1818–1899), early landholder, sportsman and politician
- Cassandra Hughes, a contestant on Australia's Next Top Model, Cycle 3Australia's Next Top Model, Cycle 3Cycle three of Australia's Next Top Model premiered on 27 March 2007 and concluded on 5 June 2007. As with the first two cycles, the third season was broadcast exclusively on the Foxtel network FOX8 in Australia...
Governance
Until 1963, Emu Plains was part of Blue Mountains City Council but was then transferred to Penrith City Council, where it is currently split between the North and South Wards. 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:...
. 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...
.