Geography
Located approximately 25 kilometres west of the Sydney CBD, Greystanes is a suburb under the local government area of the Cumberland Council. It is part of Greater Western Sydney. Greystanes is around 9 square kilometres in area.
History
Previously known as Prospect Hill in the early years of British settlement, Greystanes is one of the oldest suburbs in Sydney. It is the site of the first land grants given to freed convicts in 1791. Prospect Hill is one of several areas where conflict between the Darug people and the colonial settlers continued for years. For a long time, Pemulwuy led the Darug people in guerrilla warfare.
Later, the area was divided into two separate suburbs. West of Greystanes Creek became Prospect. Greystanes was designated as east of the creek. It took its name from a historical home in Prospect Hill built by the third child of Lieutenant William Lawson, Nelson Simmons Lawson. The name ‘Grey Stanes’ was taken from the basalt outcrop found on Prospect Hill, “grey” being its colour and “stanes” being the Scottish word for stones.
In 1810, Lieutenant William Lawson acquired the land from William Cummings who was originally granted the land in 1799. From this land, William Lawson along with Gregory Blaxland and William Charles Wentworth successfully crossed the Blue Mountains in 1813 and discovered Bathurst Plains. To this day, the Lawson family crypt still exists at St. Bartholomew’s Church at Prospect.
In the earlier parts of the twentieth century, poultry farming was central to the area’s activities courtesy of the large Maltese population who were poultry farmers. The Maltese community bought the land and built a new church dedicated to Our Lady of Victories in 1975. In the 1950s and 1960s, Greystanes slowly developed into a residential suburb.
Demographics
From the 2016 census, there were 22,802 residents in Greystanes. 49.2% of them were male while 50.8% were female. Similar to the national median, the median age of Greystanes is 38 years old.
At 63.7%, the majority of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were Lebanon 3.6%, Malta 3.0%, India 2.5%, China 1.6%, and New Zealand 1.4%. 18.5% cite their ancestry as Australian, English 14.9%, Lebanese 9.9%, Maltese 5.6%, and Irish 5.6%.
In terms of language spoken at home, 58.6% exclusively spoke English. Other languages used at home included Arabic 10.4%, Maltese 3.1%, Greek 2.2%, Italian 2.1%, and Turkish 1.5%. Religion-wise, Catholic responses accounted for 46.4%, No Religion 11.6%, Anglican 9.9%, Not Stated 6.0% and Islam 5.7%.
Housing and Community
Greystanes is a truly diverse community and is appealing for many reasons. With its proximity, it is convenient to drive to and from the city. It is also close to Parramatta and is only 10-15 minutes away from Westmead Hospital. Greystanes has many great schools and parks. The suburb is clean and quiet especially in comparison to other surrounding western suburbs.
Houses in Greystanes tend to be older in terms of style but often feature quite large backyards. If you are on the market for an investment property, houses in Greystanes can rent out for $500 PW with an annual rental yield of 3.0%. On the other hand, units rent for $440 PW with a rental yield of 3.5%.
Education
Residents benefit from Greystanes’ many educational institutions, including a few child-care centres.
Greystanes Public School, Beresford Rd Primary School, Ringrose Primary School, and Widemere Public School are all primary schools in the area. High schools include Greystanes High School and Holroyd High School, with the latter hosting an Intensive English Centre. The centre provides a specialised program to non-English speaking migrants so that they can better assimilate into Australian society and culture.
Catholic education belonging to the Diocese of Parramatta is also present in the Our Lady Queen of Peace Primary School and St. Pauls Catholic College.
Transportation
Greystanes hosts arterial roads including the Cumberland Highway, the Great Western Highway, and the M4 Western Motorway which meet at the Greystanes M4 Junction. The M4 Western Motorway, exiting at the Cumberland Highway, is the fastest route from the Sydney CBD. Greystanes is primarily accessible by road.
Greystanes is also serviced by Region 3 Transit Systems Sydney bus services. Routes link to the Parramatta and Blacktown railway stations on the T1 North Shore and Western Line. On the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line of the Sydney Trains network, routes link to the Merrylands and Liverpool railway stations.
Commerce
Many poultry brands came out of Greystanes and became household names throughout Australia. These include Cordina Chickens, Baiada Chickens, and Pace Farm Eggs.
Anchored by Woolworths, Greystanes Shopping Centre is a single-level, neighbourhood shopping centre with 27 specialty shops including a nice Chinese restaurant, fish and chips, hairdresser, and banks.
Recreation
Perfect for families, Greystanes boasts of a number of parks and recreation areas, including sporting facilities and a golf course. It is peppered with smaller neighbourhood parks, a prominent one being the Canal Road Park. The park features a panoramic view of southwest Sydney as it is 70 metres above sea level.
The Gipps Road Sporting Complex and the Rosford Street Reserve are both located in the south-west of Greystanes. They consist of multiple ovals suitable for sports such as football and cricket. Open fields surround the ovals, which are ideal for other forms of recreation. A small BMX track can also be found on the Rosford Street Reserve.
On Hyland Road near the aforementioned sporting complexes and the Hyland Road Youth Centre exists a small-bore rifle club. The Cumberland Country Golf Club is also nicely located in the geographic centre of Greystanes.