Macarthur Heights is a new premium residential estate of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, 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 City of Campbelltown, 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 ...

, (direct line) south-west 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 ...

. It is part of the Macarthur region and is located between the M31 Motorway and Western Sydney University. The fledgling suburb consists mainly of new housing, 2 small feature parks and an

astronomical observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

. The principal access road is Goldsmith Avenue.

History

Macarthur Heights is constructed on open land formerly owned by Western Sydney University. Construction of Stage 1 of the new suburb began in 2013. The street names reflect an astronomical theme, including

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye ...

and Orion Street.

Gates of Light

A prominent feature of the new suburb is the "Gates of Light" sculpture, located in Main Ridge Park opposite the observatory, which recognises the contribution which the Observatory made to the area. The sculpture, by prize-winning artist Khaled Sabsabi, is illuminated at night and features the various astronomical constellations. Adjacent to the sculptures, large concrete spheres have been placed, to represent the planets.

Observatory

The

Campbelltown Rotary Observatory Campbelltown Rotary Observatory in City of Campbelltown (New South Wales), Campbelltown, NSW, Australia was opened in 2000 and is owned by Western Sydney University. It consists of twin domes of 4.5m and 2.9m diameter. The patron of the Observa ...

, formerly stood on a hilltop close to where the "Gates of Light" are now situated. The hilltop was bulldozed and the Observatory was relocated to make way for the new development. It now stands closer to the university on the highest point in the suburb.

Transport

The nearest railway station is Macarthur and various bus routes are accessible on Narellan Road and at Macarthur

References

{{coord missing, New South Wales Suburbs of Sydney

History

Gates of Light

Observatory

Transport

See also

References