Melrose Park is a suburb of Sydney, Australia,located 12 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district. Melrose Park is split between the

local government areas 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, province, division, or territory. The phrase i ...

of the

City of Ryde The City of Ryde is a local government area in the Northern Sydney region, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It was first established as the Municipal District of Ryde in 1870, became a municipality in 1906 and was proclaimed as the ...

and the City of Parramatta. It is part of the

Northern Sydney Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney is ...

region. Melrose Park sits on the northern bank of the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. S ...

History

Aboriginal culture

The

Wallumedegal The Wallumettagal or Wallumedegal (derived from ''wallumai'', meaning snapper (fish)) tribe was an indigenous Aboriginal tribe that inhabited the area of Sydney today known as the Ryde–Hunters Hill area of the Northern Suburbs. Common Abo ...

Aboriginal tribe lived in the area between the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding thro ...

and

, which was known as Walumetta.

European settlement

Melrose Park was the name of the large housing estate subdivided in 1928, with High Water Mark boundaries of riverfront properties, approved by the Sydney Harbour Trust (Roads and Maritime Services). Melrose Park is named in honour of aviator

Charles James Melrose Charles James Melrose (13 September 1913 – 5 July 1936) was an Australian aviator who held a number of flying records, and was the youngest and only solo flier to finish the Melbourne (MacRobertson) Centenary Air Race in 1934. History Jimmy ...

(1913–1936). He held a number of flying records, was the only solo flyer to finish the Melbourne Centenary Air Race in 1934 and helped in the unsuccessful search for Sir

Charles Kingsford Smith Sir Charles Edward Kingsford Smith (9 February 18978 November 1935), nicknamed Smithy, was an Australian aviation pioneer. He piloted the first transpacific flight and the first flight between Australia and New Zealand. Kingsford Smith was b ...

. He died when his plane broke up in turbulence on a charter flight from Darwin to

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. Streets in the suburb also recall other aviators such as Sir

Alan Cobham Sir Alan John Cobham, KBE, AFC (6 May 1894 – 21 October 1973) was an English aviation pioneer. Early life and family As a child he attended Wilson's School, then in Camberwell, London. The school relocated to the former site of Croydo ...

Jean Batten Jane Gardner Batten (15 September 1909 – 22 November 1982), commonly known as Jean Batten, was a New Zealand aviator, making a number of record-breaking solo flights across the world. She is notable for completing the first solo flight fro ...

and

Amy Johnson Amy Johnson (born 1 July 1903 – disappeared 5 January 1941) was a pioneering English pilot who was the first woman to fly solo from London to Australia. Flying solo or with her husband, Jim Mollison, she set many long-distance records du ...

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 1,574 people in Melrose Park. 68.1% of people were born in Australia and 66.9% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 35.0%, No Religion 22.9% and Anglican 11.4%.

Transport

Melrose Park is served by bus route 524, connecting the suburb to

West Ryde West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

and

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

. The nearest train station is Meadowbank Station, located in the centre of Meadowbank. Stage 2 of the

Parramatta Light Rail The Parramatta Light Rail (often unofficially referred to as the Western Sydney Light Rail) is a project for a light rail line in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, which is under construction and due to start passenger services in 2024. The ...

is a proposed light rail link between Westmead and Sydney Olympic Park via Parramatta. The project would include the construction of a bridge across the Parramatta River, between Melrose Park and

Wentworth Point Wentworth Point is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, on the eastern edge of the local government area of City of Parramatta. It is on t ...

Redevelopment

The western part of Ermington, located within the City of Parramatta has historically been industrial, including the Australian operations of large pharmaceutical companies such as

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

and

Reckitt Benckiser Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, trade name, trading as Reckitt, is a United Kingdom, British multinational corporation, multinational fast moving consumer goods, consumer goods company headquartered in Slough, England. It is a producer of health, ...

. In 2005 the NSW Geographic Names Board approved the “boundary creep” of Melrose Park to include much of the Ermington industrial area, which contravenes Principle 6.8.1 of the NSW Address Policy and User Policy May 2021. This “boundary creep” was instigated by City of Parramatta and NSW Geographic Names Board without consultation with City of Ryde or Melrose Park residents within the Ryde Local Government Area. In February 2016, Payce Consolidated Limited announced plans for a major urban renewal of the industrial part of Melrose Park. This would include the development of 5000 new apartments, new affordable housing, public parks and community facilities. In 2017, Payce Consolidated Limited applied to gain trademark approval for the terms, Melrose Park, Melrose Park Village, & Melrose Park Town Centre from IP Australia without success. An electric shuttle bus service to Meadowbank railway station and West Ryde railway station was proposed. Sustainability proposals include renewable energy generation for new homes, electric charge points for cars, as well as electric shuttle bus services & improved cycleways. The redevelopment is expected to cost $5 billion.

References

External links

CC-By-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyrics ...

] {{Geography of Parramatta River Suburbs of Sydney City of Ryde