Macquarie Park, New South Wales

Wallumatta Nature Reserve

The whole area between the Parramatta and Lane Cove Rivers was originally known by its Aboriginal name Wallumatta. Contact with the first white settlement's bridgehead into Australia quickly devastated much of the population through epidemics of smallpox and other diseases. Their descendants live on, though their language, social system, way of life and traditions are mostly lost. The Aboriginal name survives in a local reserve, the Wallumatta Nature Reserve, located at the corner of Twin and Cressy roads, North Ryde. Very few remnants of Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest still exist. The most substantial undisturbed area is the Wallumatta Nature Reserve in North Ryde, which is owned and managed by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. This small and critically endangered reserve, also known as the Macquarie Hospital Bushland, is one of the last remnants of the remaining 0.5% (as at 2007)[3] of original and endangered[4] turpentine-ironbark forests on Wianamatta shale soil in Sydney.[5] See Sydney Turpentine-Ironbark Forest.

Macquarie Park is located within what was once the larger suburb of North Ryde.

Macquarie Park is named for Governor Lachlan Macquarie (1762–1824), a British military officer and colonial administrator who served as the Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821. The area that is now Macquarie Park was part of the suburb of North Ryde from the late 19th century. The area was once filled with market gardens, poultry farms and vast tracts of bushland, with many beautiful picnic spots and waterfalls.

The mid-1960s saw the establishment of Macquarie University and the 'Macquarie Park Employment Area' which saw the rezoning of 'Green Belt' bushland to allow for industrial activities. The initial concept for Macquarie Park was based on the idea of a similar hi-tech industrial area surrounding Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, the goal being to provide for the interaction between industries and the university.[6]

During the 1970s, companies such as Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited, Beiersdorf, Racal and Universal Press located their corporate headquarters in the area. Macquarie Park has since gained a reputation of being a leading high-tech industrial area in Australia. It attracts many local and international companies from high-tech fields including electronic, scientific, computing, medical, communication, pharmaceutical and business supply.

Macquarie Park is Northern Suburb's centre for major commercial and retail districts. The "Sydney global economic corridor", is used to describe a geographical "arch" of Sydney, home to international corporations.

A substantial re-development of the Macquarie University Station Precinct (also known as the Herring Road Precinct) in Macquarie Park is planned and underway as part of the NSW State Government's "Priority Growth Precincts" program (originally known as the "Urban Activation Precincts" program). The objective is to provide housing and employment close to transport to help meet Sydney's growth needs, including up to 2,400 new homes by 2021 and up to 5,800 by 2031 that are within a ten-minute walk from Macquarie University Station. Following public display and consultation, the rezoning proposal was finalised in September 2015.[10][11]

Macquarie University station

Macquarie Park has access to the M2 Hills Motorway, that runs through the northern part of the suburb. It is serviced by Forest Coach Lines, Hillsbus, State Transit, Transit Systems and Transdev NSW bus services.

During peak hour, the whole area gets very congested with traffic.

Macquarie Park, Macquarie University and North Ryde stations are underground stations on the Metro North West Line which opened on 26 May 2019. Until 30 September 2018 they were on the Epping to Chatswood rail line operated by Sydney Trains. The line opened on 23 February 2009 and closed for metro conversion on September 30, 2018.

At the 2011 census, only 27.3% of employed people travelled to work on public transport and 42.4% by car (either as driver or as passenger).

Macquarie University is one of Australia's largest universities. It features a 126-hectare park-like campus beside a high-technology corridor.[12]

University Lake at Macquarie University

The University is affiliated with a number of colleges also located in the suburb including Dunmore Lang College,[13] Robert Menzies College [14] an Anglican college, Macquarie Christian Studies Institute [15] and Sydney Institute of Business & Technology.[16]

Macquarie University has in recent years become a major research centre, with Macquarie University Hospital and the Cochlear Research Centre located within the university grounds.

Excelsia College moved to a Macquarie Park campus in 2016.[17]

At the 2016 census, Macquarie Park recorded a population of 8,144. Of these:[1]

Age distribution

In keeping with its proximity to the university, Macquarie Park shows an over-representation of younger adults compared to the rest of the country. Macquarie Park residents' median age was 29 years, compared to the national median of 38. Children aged 0–14 years made up just 10.7% of the population (compared to the national average of 18.7%) and people aged 65 years and over made up 8.1% of the population (national average is 15.8%).

Ethnic diversity

31.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 14.8%, India 9.4%, South Korea 3.1%, Philippines 2.9% and Hong Kong 2.6%. However, only 10.2% identify their ethnic ancestry as Australian; the other most common self-identified ancestries were Chinese 20.8%, English 12.6%, Indian 9.4% and Irish 4.2%. 35.5% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 15.5%, Cantonese 4.8%, Hindi 4.5%, Korean 3.4% and Indonesian 2.1%.

Religion

This is an optional question on the Census. Of the people who answered it, the most common responses were No Religion 33.8% and Catholic 13.8%.

Income

The median weekly household income was $1,631, higher than the national average of $1,438.

Housing

Most private dwellings (79.6%) were flats, units or apartments. A further 18.8% were semi-detached (townhouses etc.). 58.3% were family households, 31.8% were single person households and 9.8% were group households. The average household size was 2.1 people.

Macquarie Park is in the State of New South Wales electorates of Lane Cove and Ryde, and the Federal electorate of Division of Bennelong.

Like the rest of the Sydney basin, Macquarie Park has a humid sub-tropical climate with warm to hot summers and cool, damp winters. The record low of −3.5 °C (26 °F) was recorded on 28 July 1986. The record maximum temperature was recorded more recently, on 21 December 1994 when the temperature reached 43.1 °C (110 °F).

Macquarie Park is also the location for the Lane Cove River Tourist Park where the Australian soap opera Home and Away is partly filmed.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Macquarie Park, New South Wales.

• Macquarie Park travel guide from Wikivoyage