Roselands is a suburb to the south-west of the Sydney CBD, 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. Roselands is located 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown. It is one of the easternmost suburbs in the

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US * Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

area.

Geography

Roselands lies in the Cooks River watershed. The soil is clay, based on

Wianamatta shale The Wianamatta Group is a geological feature of the Sydney Basin, New South Wales, Australia that directly overlies the older (but still Triassic in age) Hawkesbury sandstone and generally comprise fine grained sedimentary rocks such as shales an ...

and is on the eastern edge of the great

Cumberland Plain The Cumberland Plain, an IBRA biogeographic region, is a relatively flat region lying to the west of Sydney CBD in New South Wales, Australia. Cumberland Basin is the preferred physiographic and geological term for the low-lying plain of the P ...

which extends westward to the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

and into the Blue Mountains. The topography is low rolling hills. Before settlement, the vegetation was open eucalypt woodland.

History

Aboriginal

The first inhabitants of surrounding areas were

Australian Aboriginals Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isla ...

. At the time of British settlement in 1788 the inhabitants were Aborigines of the

Darug The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

language group and they called themselves Kuri or Koori. Land grants by the new colonial government began in about 1810.

European

This area was originally part of the suburb of Punchbowl and still shares its postcode of 2196. H.R. Morgan was granted land in the area in 1842. John Fenwick bought in about 1880 from Matthew Norman in the area between Canterbury, Canarys and Bonds Roads. He built Belmore House on this land, which was demolished for the construction of

Roselands Shopping Centre Roselands Shopping Centre (previously known as Centro Roselands) is a shopping centre in the suburb of Roselands in South Western Sydney. Transport Roselands Shopping Centre has bus connections to Greater Western Sydney, Inner West, St George ...

. The closest railway line was built to the neighbouring suburb of Belmore in 1895 and extended to

Bankstown Bankstown is a suburb south west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is located in the local government area of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, hav ...

in 1909. The suburb takes its name from the plant nursery that originally occupied the land. Later a golf course was built with same name which was taken over to build the shopping centre. It became a suburb on 9 February 1987, after some years of agitation by local residents and members of parliament.History of Canterbury suburbs – Roselands
/ref>

Commercial area

Roselands Shopping Centre was the third fully enclosed shopping precinct in Australia, opened in October 1965 (predated by Monaro Mall arch 1963in Canberra and Miranda Fair arch 1964in Sydney). Older open-air shopping precincts in Australia included Chermside Drive-in Shopping Centre (May 1957) in Brisbane, Top Ryde Drive-in Shopping Centre (November 1957) in Sydney, Chadstone Shopping Centre ctober 1960in Melbourne and Warringah Mall (April 1963) in Sydney. Roselands was built on the site of a golf course. It boasted a large

Grace Bros Grace Bros was an Australian department store chain, founded in 1885. It was bought by Myer (later Coles Myer) in 1983. There were 25 stores across New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory plus a few in Victoria, until they were r ...

Department Store (now

Myer Myer (stylised MYER, sometimes known as Myers) is an Australian mid-range to upscale department store chain. It trades in all Australian states and one of Australia's two self-governing territories. Myer retails a broad range of products ...

), a single movie cinema, an indoor rainfall water feature (the 'raindrop fountain'), tennis courts and the first food court in Australia (Four Corners, demolished in 2000, remade as the Raindrop Food Court in December 2000). Many local bus services were diverted to service the new shopping centre upon its opening, but the centre was primarily designed for the age of the automobile with plenty of parking as it was distant from any railway stations. It has since had many upgrades although it remains smaller than other Sydney shopping centres.

Transport

King Georges Road is the main road through Roselands. It is a ring road which connects the northern suburbs of Sydney and the north coast motorways of New South Wales to the southern beaches of Sydney and the south coast motorways of New South Wales. King Georges Road also connects Roselands to the

M5 South Western Motorway The M5 Motorway is a motorway located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is designated with the M5 route and forms part of the Sydney Orbital Network. The M5 route number comprises two connected parts, separately owned and operated: * ...

which links to Sydney's International Airport (15 minutes drive east) and west to Canberra and Melbourne. The nearest

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

is in neighboring Punchbowl

Sport and recreation

The Lantern Club is located in Roselands Avenue. Roselands Aquatic Centre is located in Centre Avenue, opposite the shopping centre. Roselands soccer club is located at Bennett Park.

Demographics

According to the 2016 Census, 44.5 per cent of Roselands residents stated they had been born overseas.

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

was the birthplace of the most foreign-born residents in Roselands at 5 per cent, followed by those born in

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

at 3.8 per cent. In terms of ethnicity, the largest group in 2016 were those claiming Greek ancestry with 12.4 per cent of the responses, followed by those claiming Lebanese background at 12.3 per cent, and thirdly by those claiming Australian descent with 11.3 per cent.Roselands 2016 Census statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics English only is the most common home language in Roselands, used by a plurality of 35.9 per cent of residents, followed by

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

– the home language of 16.6 per cent – and

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

spoken by 12.2 per cent at home. According to the census,

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

was the most followed faith in Roselands with 60.5 per cent of residents reporting that they were Christian. However, Christians in the area belong to many denominations, with the largest proportions being

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

at 24.3 per cent,

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

with 17.3 per cent. Islam is the second largest religious group, accounting for 18.8 per cent of residents.

Politics

Roselands is in the state electorates of Lakemba and

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...

, both of which are safe

Labor Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the la ...

seats.

Gallery

Roselands Memorial.JPG, Memorial, Roselands Avenue Roselands Centro 2.JPG, Roselands Shopping Centre Roselands shopping centre 1.jpg, Roselands Shopping Centre Roselands Bowling Club.JPG, Roselands Bowling Club ((Old clubhouse demolished, replaced by Lantern Club) Poker Machine Club) Roselands Sculpture.JPG, Unused Water Fountain, Roselands Avenue

References

External links

{{City of Canterbury-Bankstown topics, state=collapsed Suburbs of Sydney City of Canterbury-Bankstown