Homebush West

This area was originally known as Liberty Plains but was called Flemington by John Fleming, who was granted 200 acres (0.81 km²) here in 1806. "Liberty Plains" survives as the name of the Parish of Liberty Plains, a cadastral unit for land titles. Homebush West is at the eastern extremity of the Parish of Liberty Plaints - neighbouring Homebush is in the Parish of Concord. The neighbouring suburb of Homebush was established in the 1800s by the colony's then assistant surgeon D'arcy Wentworth. According to local government historian Michael Jones, "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in Kent." [4]

The part of the Fleming estate south of the railway was acquired by the Underwood Estate and subdivided in 1882, with streets laid out in a grid pattern that survives to this day.[5] The north-south streets in the grid are named after various locations in southern England, such as Henley, Hampstead, Exeter, Tavistock and Eastbourne.

North of the railway, the bush was turned into paddocks and from 1883 was the site of a cattle saleyard, relocated from North Homebush, further east.[6]

In 1892, Strathfield Municipality expanded west, taking in a large area including the part of Flemington south of the railway, after which homes in this part of the suburb became listed in directories under "Strathfield".[5] The part of the suburb north of the railway was incorporated into the Municipality of Homebush (which also covered the part of Homebush north of the railway), which was eventually incorporated into Strathfield Municipality in 1947.

In the early 1970s, the Sydney Markets were built at Flemington to relieve the Paddy's Markets at Haymarket, in the city. Since the establishment of Sydney Markets at Flemington in 1975, the residential part of the suburb, south of the railway line became known as Homebush West.[7]

West of Flemington markets, separated from the rest of the suburb by the A3 arterial road and the railway, the Ford car factory was built in 1935 and closed in 1994. The residential area around the factory site were originally mostly built for Ford employees. The Ford factory site was part of the Borough of Rookwood, which became the Municipality of Lidcombe, which merged in turn into Auburn Council. In 1992, this area was transferred to Strathfield Council in exchange for an area to the north that was transferred to Auburn Council, in anticipation of the development of Sydney Olympic Park. A small, unpopulated strip of land in the northwest of the suburb immediately to the north of the Ford factory site, which lies between Parramatta Road and the M4 motorway, remained in Auburn Council and (after the abolition of Auburn Council) is now in Cumberland Council.

The Chinese community in Sydney has long had a strong presence in the market gardening sector in Sydney as well as the fruit and vegetable trade, which resulted in the development of a Chinatown at Haymarket. A number of these trading firms owned by members of the Chinese community developed into international conglomerates operating across the Asia-Pacific. When the markets, together with these trading firms, moved to Flemington, it brought a large ethnically Chinese presence to Homebush West in the form of Chinese grocery stores, restaurants and Chinese-speaking doctors and pharmacists to service the market traders and their customers. The move of the markets coincided with the start of the wave of Vietnamese migration to Australia in the 1970s. Many of these immigrants also moved into the market garden trade. With a concentration of Chinese, Vietnamese-Chinese and Vietnamese businesses, Homebush West village centre acquired a cosmopolitan character with a southeast Asian flavour which it has retained to this day.

Homebush West is serviced by Flemington railway station, on the Inner West & Leppington Line of the Sydney Trains network.

Homebush West has a small group of shops located on The Crescent and nearby Henley Road, beside Flemington railway station. The Flemington markets are within the suburb, and is serviced by a commercial complex called the Sydney Markets Plaza, which includes banks and a supermarket.

Although not technically part of the suburb, the DFO Homebush factory outlet shopping centre is located just to the north of the suburb.

Homebush West is home to a variety of Asian restaurants and business reflecting its ethnic demographics. Chinese, Vietnamese, Sri Lankan, Indian, Malaysian and Nepalese restaurants, businesses and food stores are found across the suburb.[8][9]

The local school is Homebush West Public School servicing K-6. St Dominics Primary School closed in 2006.

• St Dominic's Catholic Church
• St Columba Anglican Church (closed in 1999, used later as Inner West Baptist Church, heritage-listed by Strathfield Council)[10]
• St Sava Serbian Orthodox Church
• Sri Karphaga Vinayakar Hindu Temple[11]

At the 2016 census, there were 8,609 residents in Homebush West. 21.9% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were India 17.1%, China 17.1%, Nepal 5.6%, Korea, South Korea 5.0% and Sri Lanka 3.5%. The most common reported ancestries were Chinese 25.5%, Indian 17.4%, English 5.9%, Nepalese 5.6% and Korean 5.2%. 15.9% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 16.5%, Cantonese 8.6%, Tamil 6.4%, Nepali 6.0% and Korean 5.8%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 25.7% and Hinduism 24.4%.[1]

The following were either born or have lived at some time in the suburb of Homebush West:

• Greg Haddrick (born 1960), screenwriter and television producer
• Ron Haddrick AM MBE (1929–2020), theatre, television, film and voice actor[12]
• Bryan Palmer (1899–1990), Rugby Union player and coach of the Wallabies[13]