Westmead is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Westmead is 26 kilometres (16 mi) west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government areas of the City of Parramatta and the City of Holroyd; and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.
Geography
Westmead is bounded by the Parramatta River, Toongabbie Creek and Finlayson Creek in the north. On the east it is bounded by Parramatta Park, the Parramatta Golf Club, Amos Street and Good Street. The southern boundary is the Great Western Highway. The western boundary is Bridge Road and Darcy Road.
History
With the British settlement of Parramatta, Westmead was originally part of the domain of Government House. What is left of this domain, including Government House, form Parramatta Park. The name Westmead came into use when the governor's domain was first subdivided in 1859. The subdivision of the domain was completed in 1889. The Northern Meadow and Western Meadow of the domain were split off and called Northmead and Westmead. From this time orchards were established by many new settlers, including some whose names were well known in the Parramatta area - George Oakes, Nat Payten and William Fullagar among them.
Parramatta Marist School was established by Fr. John Therry in Hunter Street Parramatta in 1820, under the direction of Mr. George Morley. The school was transferred to the site of the present junior school in 1837 and entrusted to the care of the Marist Brothers in 1875. This makes Parramatta Marist the oldest Catholic school in Australia.
Health
Health is the major employer in the area, with large public hospitals for both adults and children, a mental health hospital, a private hospital and three medical research facilities spanning basic, genetic and molecular science for both adults and children. A community foundation supports fundraising and awareness activities of Westmead.
Transport
Westmead railway station is on the North Shore, Northern & Western Line of the Sydney Trains network.
The Western railway line from Parramatta to Blacktown was built through the suburb in 1861. A railway station at Westmead was opened in April 1893 after a successful petition by local residents.
A bus transitway, the North-West T-way, services Westmead from both Parramatta and The Hills District.
The two-line Parramatta Light Rail project was announced in 2015. Westmead will be the terminus of both lines, which will operate to Carlingford and Strathfield.
On the day of the 2011 census, 39% of employed people traveled to work on public transport and 43% by car (either as driver or as passenger).