Fairfield is a city which is continuing to develop, prosper and rise to its full potential. A city, which is as rich as a tapestry in colour, vibrancy and cultural mix
Fairfield City is located 32 kilometres south-west of the Sydney Central Business District and covers an area approximately 104 square km in size, incorporates 27 suburbs, and is home to more than 190,000 people, who have come from 133 countries and speak more than 70 languages.
With two major business and retail centres at Fairfield and Cabramatta, growing centres in Prairiewood and Bonnyrigg and many neighbourhood retail centres, our City offers excellent shopping and eating opportunities.
In addition, Fairfield City has beautiful parklands and large expanses of rural land in the suburbs of Horsley Park and Cecil Park, providing people with a close at hand retreat from city life, when they wish.
Fairfield City is located within easy reach of many major centres in the Sydney Metropolitan area, and has good access to the northern, southern and eastern parts of New South Wales via major roads.
Suburbs
Abbotsbury, Bonnyrigg, Bonnyrigg Heights, Bossley Park. Cabramatta, Cabramatta West, Canley Heights, Canley Vale, Carramar, Cecil Park, Edensor Park, Fairfield, Fairfield East, Fairfield Heights, Fairfield West, Greenfield Park, Horsley Park , Lansvale, Mount Pritchard, Old Guildford, Prairiewood, Smithfield, St Johns Park, Villawood, Wakeley, Wetherill Park, Yennora.
Maps
History
For more than 30,000 years, Aboriginal people from the Cabrogal tribe, a sub-group of the Gandangara tribe have lived in the area.
European settlement began in the mid 19th century, supported by railway construction. At the turn of the century the area had a population of 2,500 people and with fertile soils, produced crops for distribution across Sydney.
Rapid population increase after World War II saw the settlement of many ex-service men and European migrants.
Large scale Housing Commission development in the 1950s swelled the population to 38,000.
By 1979, the population had reached 120,000 and the City was becoming one of the larger Local Government Areas in NSW.
Population
The City of Fairfield is home to approximately 190,000 people, making it Australia’s fifth largest city and the third largest in the Sydney metropolitan area (after the City of Blacktown and Sutherland Shire).
A large portion of Fairfield’s residents are migrants and their descendants. Originally, most of the migrants were from Italy or the former Yugoslav.
Later came refugees from Vietnam affectionately known as ‘boat people’, then came migrants from Cambodia and Laos, followed by Assyrian, Lebanese and Latino populations.
In recent years, there has been an influx of African migrants to Fairfield.
Fairfield is one of the most ethnically diverse places in the world.
Large Vietnamese, Italian, Assyrian, Spanish, Filipino and African-speaking populations reside in Fairfield and the surrounding suburbs such as: Bossley Park, Wetherill Park and Smithfield.
While Fairfield City has a comparatively young population with many young families, the greatest growth is occurring in the number of older residents, those aged 65 years or more.
Land Use
Fairfield City is mainly residential in nature, but there are large-scale industrial estates at Wetherill Park and Smithfield.
There are four major retail centres at Fairfield, Cabramatta, Bonnyrigg and Prairiewood, as well as a number of additional suburban shopping malls across the Fairfield area.
Fairfield has three major shopping malls, which are; Fairfield Forum, Neeta City and Fairfield Chase.
Due to Fairfield’s culturally diverse population there are many different ethnic cafés and restaurants including Assyrian, Italian, Spanish and Thai.
Large expanses of rural land characterise the suburbs of Horsley Park and Cecil Park. There are 580 parks (60 of which are major parks) and the new Western Sydney Regional Parklands.
Environment
Much of the original bushland cover within the City has been cleared through past land management practices. A few small areas of this original bushland remain, including the vegetation in the Cumberland Plain, which is listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act.
Eight creeks, 80 kilometres in length, have their headwaters in Fairfield City and flow into the Georges River and Hawkesbury Nepean catchments. The impact of development over the past 50 years has resulted in severe degradation of the natural habitat in the creek banks and water quality has been assessed as very poor in recent years. However strategies are being implemented so that this trend is reversed.
Air quality in the City is heavily impacted upon by an insufficiently integrated public transport system, creating an over reliance on private vehicles for moving people and freight.
Schools
There are about 17 Public Schools in the Fairfield region, including: Fairfield Public School, Fairfield High School, St Johns Park High School, Westfields Sports High School and Yennora Public School, to name just a few. There are also many Catholic Schools such as: Freeman Catholic College, Mary Mackillop College, Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School and Patrician Brothers’ College.
Local Attractions
Two of the most prominent local attractions in the Fairfield area are, the Fairfield Markets at the Fairfield Showground and the Fairfield City Farm.
The Fairfield Markets are held at the Fairfield Showground every Saturday from 9:00am to 4:00pm in the covered area behind the grandstands.
The Markets started in 1978 and are now recognised as the third largest and best run markets in the State.
The Markets are very popular, with 630 stalls, free entry and lots of parking.
The Markets sell new products only and traders have a wide variety of clothes, toys, sporting gear, jewellery and household items, etc. If you are ever in the Fairfield area, remember to put the Markets on your must do list!
Fairfield City Farm is an award winning facility, the City Farm is a huge 600 acre working farm located approximately 50 minutes west of the Sydney CBD, behind Abbotsbury.
Visitors to the Fairfield City Farm, enjoy a hands on experience with many different kinds of farm and Australian native animals including koalas, kangaroos, horses, lizards, snakes, alpacas, emus, cows, sheep and lots more.
For more information about this unique Aussie experience, visit the Fairfield City Farm website by clicking on www.cityfarm.com.au
Annual Festivals
Fairfield is home to many exciting festivals held throughout the year! Thousands of people flock to the Moon Festival at Cabramatta, not to mention the many multicultural festivals, such as the renowned Oktoberfest, held at the Fairfield Showground every year.
Western Sydney Regional Park
Western Sydney Regional Park is located within the Fairfield Local Government Area and is characterised by a landscape of rolling hills with lots of picnic areas and walking trails that give you the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors in the middle of Western Sydney.
The Western Sydney Regional Park has large areas of open space interspersed with areas of forest, which provides many places to enjoy the outdoors within an urban setting.
The Knoll Lookout at the top of the hill near the Pimelia picnic area and the Moonrise Lookout near the Sugarloaf picnic area give panoramic district views that are unsurpassed anywhere in Fairfield.