Hazelhurst Gallery, Gymea, New South Wales (2010-07-05) 01

Gymea is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

southern Sydney Southern Sydney is the southern metropolitan area of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney includes the suburbs in the local government areas of Georges River Council and part of Bayside Council (collectively known ...

, in the state of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Gymea is located 26 kilometres south of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...

in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

of the

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated population of . Sutherland Shire is colloquially ...

. The postcode is 2227, which it shares with adjacent suburb

Gymea Bay The Gymea Bay is a bay on the upper estuarine Port Hacking River, fed by the Coonong Creek in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia Location and features The bay, the locality, suburb of and the adjacent suburb of Gymea ...

History

The

Gymea Lily ''Doryanthes excelsa'', commonly known as the gymea lily, is a flowering plant in the family Doryanthaceae that is endemic to coastal areas of New South Wales near Sydney. It has sword-like leaves more than long and it grows a flower spike u ...

, ''Doryanthes excelsa'' is a 6m tall perennial that is prevalent in the area. It was named by the local Dharawal people and became the inspiration for the suburb's name, by government surveyor W.A.B. Geaves in 1855. The Gymea Lily has been adopted as a symbol of the area and features on the crest of many local organisations. Development in the area has eradicated most of the lilies but many can still be found, a few kilometres south, in the Royal National Park. By the 1920s, steam trams operated between Cronulla and Sutherland, via Gymea. The railway station on the line to Cronulla opened in 1939.

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 7,589 people in Gymea. 75.7% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were England 4.2%, China 1.6% and New Zealand 1.6%. 83.1% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 1.6%, Greek 1.5% and Cantonese 1.3%. The most common responses for religion in were Catholic 29.5%, No Religion 25.5% and Anglican 21.1%.

Commercial area

Gymea is primarily a low density, residential suburb. Located close to Gymea railway station, the suburb's shopping strip is known as Gymea Shopping Village. Over the last decade it has become a popular shopping and 'café culture' district with many cafés, restaurants, boutiques and gourmet food shops opened along Gymea Bay Road. The Gymea Hotel is also located on Gymea Bay Road. It was opened in 1959 and was originally called the Gymea Rex Hotel.

Transport

Gymea railway station Gymea railway station is located on the Cronulla line, serving the Sydney suburb of Gymea. It is served by Sydney Trains T4 line services. History Gymea station opened on 16 December 1939 when the Cronulla line opened from Sutherland to Cro ...

is on the

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is located 26 kilometres south of the Sydney ...

branch of the

Illawarra railway line The South Coast Railway (also known as the Illawarra Railway) is a commuter and goods railway line from Sydney to Wollongong and Bomaderry in New South Wales, Australia. Beginning at the Illawarra Junction, the line services the Illawarra an ...

, part of the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the operator of the suburban passenger rail network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The network is a hybrid urban- suburban rail system with a central underground core that covers over of track and 170 ...

network, which provides regular rail services to the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. Gymea railway station is on Gymea Bay Road, in the middle of the main shopping area. Adjacent stations are Kirrawee and Miranda. Private buses, principally operated by

Transdev NSW Transdev NSW is a bus operator in the northern, southern and western suburbs of Sydney, Australia, operating on behalf of Transport for NSW. It is a subsidiary of Transdev Australasia. It is a different subsidiary to Transdev John Holland, whi ...

also service the local area and provide school student transport.

Education

The suburb has one public primary school, Gymea North Public School; a Catholic primary school, St Catherine Labouré Primary; a secondary school,

Gymea Technology High School Gymea Technology High School (abbreviated as GTHS) is a technology oriented, public and co-educational high school, located on the Princes Highway in the suburb of Gymea, in the Sutherland Shire, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, next to Gym ...

; and the Sydney Montessori School for pre-primary, primary and secondary students. Many children in Gymea attend schools in

, especiall
Gymea Bay Public School
the largest primary school in the Sutherland Shire), and

Kirrawee Kirrawee is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kirrawee is located 25 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire. Kirrawee lies between Sutherland, to the west, and ...

. Gymea is also home to a campus of the

Sydney Institute of TAFE TAFE NSW is an Australian vocational education and training provider. Annually, the network trains over 500,000 students in campus, workplace, online, or distance education methods of education. It was established as an independent statutory bod ...

Churches

* St Paul's and St Barnabas Anglican Churc

* St Catherine Labouré Catholic Church * St Stylianos Greek Orthodox Church (officially known as St Stylianos, Saints Peter and Paul, St Gregory of Palamas

* Gymea Baptist Churc

* Gymea People's Churc

Culture

Art

Gymea is home to the

Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre Hazelhurst Arts Centre, also known as Hazelhurst Regional Gallery & Arts Centre, Hazelhurst Gallery and Hazelhurst, is an arts complex located on Kingsway in the suburb of Gymea, in southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is the first ...

, which features art galleries, art studios, a theatrette, gardens, meeting rooms, gallery shop and cafe. A number of special events are held at the gallery throughout the year.

Sport

Like many suburbs in the Sutherland Shire, Gymea maintains an active culture of youth sport and has well-established

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

Gymea Bay Amateur Swimming Club
,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

(Gymea United FC, which is currently the largest club in the Oceania region), and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

clubs.

Pop culture

Australian writer Scot McPhie named hi
collection of poetry
published in 1999 'Gymea', after living near the suburb in the 1990s. 2SSR broadcasts from Gymea TAFE.

Events

* The Gymea Village Fair is held every year in the last Sunday in October. The streets are closed for stalls, arts and crafts, rides and music.

Plant Nursery

The Sutherland Shire Council's Plant Nursery, with local plants propagated by Bushcare volunteers, is in Gymea. Plants are available for revegetation and landscaping.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gymea, New South Wales Suburbs of Sydney Sutherland Shire