Mona Vale is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. It is located 28 kilometres north 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 ...

, in an area known as the

Northern Beaches The Northern Beaches is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, near the Pacific coast. This area extends south to the entrance of Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour), west to Middle Harbour and north to the ...

. Formerly the administrative centre of

Pittwater Council Pittwater Council was a local government area on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It covered a region adjacent to the Tasman Sea about north of the Sydney central business district. The area is named ...

, it is now located 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

Northern Beaches Council The Northern Beaches Council is a local government areas of New South Wales, local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the a ...

. The traditional custodians of the area are the Garigal people. It is often colloquially referred to as "Mona".

History

The area was known as "Bongin Bongin" by

Aboriginal Peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. The initial land grants in the district of

Pittwater Pittwater is a semi-mature tide dominated Ria, drowned valley estuary, located about north of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia; being one of the bodies of water that separate greater Metropolitan Sydney from th ...

were not made until April 1813, and those sections which now comprise Mona Vale, first surveyed in May 1814, were granted to Robert Campbell (1769–1846). These were originally part of that extended northwards from Mona Vale to the end of

Newport Newport most commonly refers to: *Newport, Wales *Newport, Rhode Island, US Newport or New Port may also refer to: Places Asia *Newport City, Metro Manila, a Philippine district in Pasay * Newport (Vietnam), a United States Army and Army of t ...

beach. Local lore suggests the name Mona Vale was chosen by Campbell in remembrance of a town bearing the same name in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, however the exact location of this place remains a mystery.

, after the council chambers moved from

Warriewood Warriewood is a suburb in northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Warriewood is located 26 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. Warriewood is pa ...

. Since then, Pittwater Council has been amalgamated with

Warringah Warringah ( ) is a name taken from the local Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It may refer to: * Division of Warringah, an electoral division of the Australian House of Representatives created in 1922 * E ...

and Manly to form the Northern Beaches Council.

Landmarks

Mona Vale has two primary schools and a high school, an RSL club, a park, public library, golf course, hospital, a world class skate park, a bus depot, three supermarkets, and a variety of shops and businesses. There are also a number of pathways and walking tracks around the area. Mona Vale Hospital is the local public healthcare facility, which has been undergoing a process of re-development since the opening of the newly built Northern Beaches Hospital. Mona Vale has a shallow beach (formerly known as "Bongin Bongin" Beach) which has a children's and lap pool at its northern end, with the main beach adjoining the golf course and a number of parks and reserves. There is a second beach north of this which is known as "The Basin" with a concentrated wave which, since the early 2000s, has been known as "Whomp" which is popular with body boarders. Mona Vale is a popular beach for surfing with beach breaks including "Main", "Suck Rock" which holds the annual competition known as KOTR or king of the rock, and "Rip Bowl".

Population

In the 2021 Census there were 10,877 people domiciled in Mona Vale, of which 71.3% of these were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were England 7.4%, New Zealand 2.0% and South Africa 1.3%. The area is relatively linguistically homogeneous, with 85.3% of residents speaking only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Serbian 1.0%, Croatian 1.0% and Portuguese 0.9%. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 39.8%, Catholic 22.8% and Anglican 16.6%.

Transport

Mona Vale is located at the junction of two major roads (

Mona Vale Road The A3 is a route designation of a major metropolitan arterial route through suburban Sydney, connecting the A8 at Mona Vale at its northern end, to Princes Highway at Blakehurst at its southern end. This name covers a few consecutive roads ...

A3 and

Pittwater Road Pittwater Road is a major arterial road along the coast of the Northern Beaches suburbs of Sydney, Australia, the majority of which is a constituent part of the A8 route. Route Pittwater Road commences at the intersection with McCarrs Creek ...

A8) and is accessible by B-Line bus from central Sydney ( Wynyard Station). There is a local bus depot located on Darley Street.

Churches

Mona Vale is home to the following churches: * Sacred Heart Catholic Church * Mona Vale

Anglican Church Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Christian Life Centre Christian Life Centre (commonly abbreviated to CLC) is or was a name given to a number of Pentecostalism in Australia, Pentecostal churches in Australia, many of them affiliated with the Australian Christian Churches (formerly Assemblies of God, o ...

*Mona Vale

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...

Church *Healing Word Church *Pittwater

Wesleyan Methodist The Wesleyan Church is a Methodist Christian denomination aligned with the holiness movement. Wesleyan Church may also refer to: * Wesleyan Methodist Church of Australia, the Australian branch of the Wesleyan Church Denominations * Allegheny We ...

Church *Ignite Cafe Church

Education

Mona Vale is home to three schools; two primary and one secondary: * Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School * Mona Vale Public School *

Pittwater High School Pittwater High School, (abbreviation PHS) is a school located in Mona Vale, New South Wales, Australia, on Mona Street and Pittwater Road. It is a co-educational high school operated by the New South Wales Department of Education with students f ...

Sports

While many outdoor activities in Mona Vale are primarily aquatic, the suburb is also home to a variety of sporting clubs and associations: * Mona Vale Raiders Rugby League Club * Pittwater RSL Football Club * Peninsula Netball Club * Mona Vale Cricket Club * Peninsula Junior Cricket Club * Mona Vale Surf Lifesaving Club * Mona Vale Boardriders * Mona Vale Commodores Netball Club * Pittwater Tigers AFL Club * Pittwater Aquatic Club

References

External links

Mona Vale Hospital
{{Sydney Northern Beaches suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Northern Beaches Council