Whalan is a suburb

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...

. Whalan is located 44 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 Blacktown

City of Blacktown

The City of Blacktown is a Local Government Area in the heart of Western Sydney, situated on the Cumberland Plain, approximately 35 km from Sydney CBD. It is bounded by the Local Government Areas of Penrith, Parramatta, Fairfield, Holroyd, Hawkesbury and The Hills Shire. It occupies an area...

 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.

History

Whalan takes its name from James Whalan, who was granted 300 acres (1.2 km²) at Mount Druitt

Mount Druitt, New South Wales

Mount Druitt is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mount Druitt is located 43 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Blacktown, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.There are numerous...

 by Governor Ralph Darling

Ralph Darling

General Sir Ralph Darling, GCH was a British colonial Governor and Governor of New South Wales from 1825 to 1831.-Early career:...

 in 1831. His father was Sergeant Charles Whalan who was 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...

's orderly sergeant and in charge of the Light Horse Guard. John Whalan explored the areas around Jenolan Caves

Jenolan Caves

The Jenolan Caves are caves in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia; 175 kilometres west of Sydney. They are the most celebrated of several similar groups in the limestone of the country being the oldest discovered open caves in the world...

 and the Blue Mountains and discovered the rock formation known as Grand Arch.

Parks and recreation

Whalan has an extensive reserve that is made up of four soccer fields and four football fields. It also has numerous parks and a large go-cart track that is available to use every Saturday. As well there are numerous smaller parks and reserves dotted around the leafy suburb including RAAF Park on the eastern boundary. This park is a memorial to the RAAF camp that was on the site during WW2. There was also an airfield with runways following what today are Belmore and Woodstock roads. THe old Mt Druitt motor racing track used to run along parts of Luxford Road and Kuringai Ave prior to the NSW Housing Commission developing the area in the mid 1960s.

Notable Locals

A resident since 1995, former 1994 World Full Contact Stick Fighting Champion and internationally renowned author Perry Gamsby lives there in his second Whalan home. Originally residing there from 1995 to 2002, he returned in 2006 after living in S.E. Asia for several years and prefers to live there because 'it is affordable and the people are an interesting mix.'

Schools

Whalan has three public schools, Whalan Public, Madang Public and the special needs school, Halinda. Whalan High School was closed shortly after the debacle involving the Daily Telegraph newspaper and Mt Druitt High School HSC students wrongfully labelled as 'failures' (for which the newspaper apologized and settled a class action brought about by students and teachers out of court). Several high schools in the area were closed and reorganized as CHifley College with campuses at Dharruk, Shalvey, Nth St Marys and Bidwell. Halinda and the PCYC offices are now using the grounds and buildings.

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