Best 26 Real Estate Agents In Westleigh [2024]

Westleigh Suburb Overview

Westleigh is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Westleigh is located 27 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Hornsby Shire.

Westleigh derived its name from its location, directly west of Thornleigh. Development as a residential suburb began in earnest from 1969, following the subdivision of the area bounded by Duneba and Eucalyptus Drive, and the former riding school which was situated near Billarga Road. Prior to this time the area was rural, with a small number of homes on acreage along Quarter Sessions Rd, extending north towards the former sandstone quarry near “Blackfellow’s Head”, which was used as a dumping ground for stolen cars of the 1940s and 1950s. The area was originally heavily timbered, so many streets bear the names of Australian trees such as Stringybark Close, Spotted Gum Road, Eucalyptus Drive, Peppermint Gum place and Ironbark Close. Although the naming of the streets seems only vaguely related to what was there before houses arrived, and many streets named for plants contain not a single representative specimen.

Defined by its geographical make-up, Westleigh is clearly divided at the midpoint of Quarter Sessions Road. This may be seen in a sudden absence of houses, as drivers find themselves immersed in a thick bushland foliage. The sweeping dip in this section has also proven a non-fatal but dangerous hazard for drivers throughout Westleigh’s history, however reflective signs appear to have minimised the danger to tired or reckless drivers. This deviation, constructed in 1978, was to eliminate the dangerous bend in the original alignment as the road followed the edge of the gully. The original alignment still exists as Warrigal Drive, although in very poor condition, passing by the entrance to the former rubbish tip, and providing a second access to the Bushfire Brigade.

The northern side of this bushland hiatus is the “newer” side of Westleigh, and features far fewer public amenities than those the southern side. The area was subdivided in 1974 and homebuilding commenced in 1977. The loop constructed at the northern end of Quarter Sessions Road has completely eradicated all traces of the former sandstone quarry which lay to the western side.

The southern side of this division is the older side of Westleigh. Westleigh’s public amenities are largely concentrated in this area, including the family friendly Westleigh Village Shopping Centre, which includes a Supermarket, Newsagent, Chemist, Baker, Fruiterer and other specialist stores, as well as nearby Cellars, day-care centre, dentist, petrol/service station, and a public primary school with a number of recreational features. In about 1983, the last areas of the south side were redeveloped. “Berenbel”, a property at the end of Duffy Avenue, and another small market garden property at the corner of Duffy Avenue and Quarter Sessions Road disappeared beneath suburban housing.

There are three housing ‘villages’ built here named “Sanctuary Gardens”, “Wild Ash Grove” and “Huntingdale”, in addition to the longer-established “Settlers’ Green” . Notably, the border of Westleigh was moved at an undetermined time, from near the roundabout at the Duffy Ave/Quarter Sessions Road intersection, to further up Duffy Avenue, possibly for the political purpose of encapsulating these new housing estates in a purely residentially zoned suburb, as opposed to the partly industrialised Thornleigh . These housing estates brought more people – primarily families – into the southern side of the suburb around their establishment, boosting the suburb’s population as reflected in the population changes between the 2001 and 2006 censuses.

Two large public parks are in the south side of Westleigh: Oakleigh Oval, home to the Thornleigh Thunder Football Club, and Ruddock Park , which was the site of annual “Carols by Candlelight” and summer outdoor movies. Play equipment, public toilets, and barbecue facilities are all freely available. Ruddock Park’s tennis courts are available for hire: keys are held with the newsagent in the shopping centre nearby. A fenced off-leash dog park was established in about 2005 between Ruddock Park and the shopping centre.

Most of the suburb is surrounded by natural bushland, which at times poses significant bush fire danger. On the western side of the suburbs runs the Great North Walk, which can be accessed from multiple points within the suburb. Heading north, the walk leads to a nearby water hole “fragile rock”, also known as “Fraggle Rock”, which is an excellent spot for kids to enjoy themselves. It features a large ten meter cliff sometimes used for diving, underwater tunnels and minor waterfalls. However, swimmers should be aware of pollution levels when swimming in any bushland water system, especially within 48 hours of rainfall. Furthermore, swimmers should be aware of the potential danger of the area, including the death of a 20-year-old woman after slipping and becoming “impaled” on a tree. “Refuge Rock”, a large area of sandstone rock in the bushland, to the west. Used for training of soldiers prior to WWII, bushwalkers can observe blast marks from mortar fire in the sandstone.

On the eastern side of the suburb between Warrigal Rd and Gum Blossum Drive lies an area of scrub and bushland formerly occupied by the council rubbish dump , the former sewerage dump , and the Sydney Water Reservoir which was completed in 1967. The former council animal pound existed at the northern edge of the old tip, and the southern area was used for a number of years by the Sydney County Council for seasoning timber power poles . This area is now often used by a wide manner of ‘Westleighians’ for activities including walking, motorbike riding and general tom-foolerly which has been happening for over 30 years. Due to the existence the local Sydney Water property, the disused rubbish dump and adjacent area is commonly locally referred to as the ‘Waterboard’). Since it has been used for illegal rubbish dumping, public access is illegal and measures have been taken to block access to this area, including local rangers / volunteers patrolling the area. The local rural fire brigade have permission to use the area for training , and are somewhat regularly seen carrying out various forms of training and drills.

2006 census data suggests that Westleigh’s population is 4,523, and populated by a higher proportion of Australian-citizens and Australian-born than that of greater Sydney .

21% of Westleigh’s population are aged under 15. Age distribution is similar to that of the rest of Australia: the median age is 40 years . 65% of residents are married, while 26% are single and have never been married – this reflects the large number of families with dependent children . The average household size is 3.1 people .

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