Waitara is a suburb in 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, or

Upper North Shore The North Shore is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, generally referring to suburbs located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour up to Wahroonga, and suburbs between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove ...

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 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 ...

19 kilometres north-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 ...

, 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 ...

Hornsby Shire Hornsby Shire is a local government area situated in Northern Sydney (Upper North Shore), as well as parts of the Hills District, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The shire stretches from the M2 Hills Motorway in the south to the Haw ...

History

Waitara is a word in the Maori language that means ''hail, pure water'' or ''hail, wide steps''. (There is also a town in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

named " Waitara".)''The Book of Sydney Suburbs'', Compiled by Frances Pollon, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia , page 262 The suburb takes its name from the

Waitara River The source of the Waitara River lies in the very steep hill country to the east of Mount Taranaki/Egmont, near Tahora. After proceeding in a southwesterly direction toward Central Taranaki, the river abruptly turns to flow in a northwesterly dire ...

in New Zealand, where Australian troops fought as Imperial volunteers during the Maori Wars.

European settlement

Myles McRae Myles McRae (1845 – 13 April 1926) was an Australian politician. He was born at Dunmore on the Hunter River to farmer Alexander McRae and Mary McInnes. He was a businessman in Morpeth, and later a land speculator in Sydney. In 1871 he m ...

once owned land in

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 ...

, near

Hurstville Hurstville is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is 16 kilometres south of the Sydney CBD and is part of the St George area. Hurstville is the administrative centre of the local government area of the Georges Riv ...

. When he sold that land to a development company, the manager used the name Waitara for the subdivision project. McCrae later bought land near Hornsby and when the railway station opened in 1895 he suggested the name Waitara, which was formally adopted. Waitara Post Office opened on 1 October 1913 and closed in 1986. Waitara East Post Office opened on 1 June 1966 and closed in 1994.

Transport

Waitara railway station Waitara railway station is located on the North Shore line, serving the Sydney suburb of Waitara. It is served by Sydney Trains T1 North Shore line services. And is the last station on the North Shore Line (Hornsby-Wynyard) that does not have ...

is on the

North Shore & Western Line The North Shore & Western Line (numbered T1, coloured orange) is a commuter rail line operated by Sydney Trains in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It serves the North Shore, parts of the Inner West and Western Suburbs. It was previously t ...

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. It was originally known as Sandy Bank.

Commercial and community facilities

Waitara is a centre for all things automotive, car dealerships both new and used, car maintenance and smash repairers. Waitara has just one hotel, the Blue Gum Hotel. There has been a hotel on the site since 1884, but two fires have destroyed the older buildings. The current building dates from 1962. Waitara also has a Rugby League Club, called Asquith Rugby League Club, and a gym, called Millennium Health Club. Police and Community Youth Clubs run a Performing Arts Centre in Edgeworth David Avenue (the latter is named after the scientist

Edgeworth David Sir Tannatt William Edgeworth David (28 January 1858 – 28 August 1934) was a Welsh Australian geologist and Antarctic explorer. A household name in his lifetime, David's most significant achievements were discovering the major Hunter V ...

Schools

* The public school is Waitara Public School, which has two O.C (opportunity class) classes. (Located in Wahroonga). * The Catholic school is Our Lady of the Rosary Primary School. It was established in approximately 1918 and was located on the Pacific Highway opposite the railway station. It has since been relocated to Yardley Avenue.

Churches

* Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Church was originally situated on the Pacific Highway opposite Hornsby railway station. It was later relocated to 27 Yardley Avenue. It has since become the cathedral church of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay The Roman Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay is a suffragan Latin Rite diocese of the Archdiocese of Sydney, covering the North Shore and Northern Beaches of greater metropolitan Sydney, and the Broken Bay and Central Coast regions of New South Wa ...

and is known as Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, Waitara. It is the namesake of the hymn tune ''Waitara''. * Waitara is home to a large Korean Catholic Community Church, which has produced the youth activity group WCKYS. The latter can be divided into three subgroups: Kerygma, J.O.Y. and Youth Legion of Mary. Kerygma group organises the youth mass, while J.O.Y. (Jesus Others and You) consists of teachers of Waitara Korean Sunday School. * The Anglican Church of Waitara (All Saints) is located on the corner of Burdett Street and Palmerston Road. In addition to church services, there are a number of other events during the week including ESL classes, children's groups, youth groups and Bible studies. * The Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at the corner of Park Avenue and Alexandria Parade, was established in 1903.Waitara Seventh-day Adventist Church
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Population

The 2016 census community profile for Waitara revealed roughly equal proportions of men (48.0%) and women (52.0%) in a total population of 5,941. The median age of the Waitara population was 35 years of age, which was similar to the national median of 37. The most common ancestries in Waitara (State Suburbs) were Chinese 20.0%, English 12.3%, Indian 10.7%, Australian 9.1% and Iranian 5.0%. 33.1% of people were born in Australia. The next most common countries of birth were China 14.0%, India 10.4%, Iran 5.1%, South Korea 4.6% and Philippines 3.3%. 34.6% of people spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 14.5%, Cantonese 5.9%, Korean 5.7%, Persian 5.5% and Hindi 3.8%.The average household had 2.4 people. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 32.5%, Catholic 16.3% and Hinduism 13.1%.

References

External links

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] {{Sydney Hornsby suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Hornsby Shire