Homebush Bay is a

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

on the south bank of the

Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, Ria, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average Altitude, height, and depth, depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour ...

, in the west of

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 ...

, Australia. The name is also sometimes used to refer to an area to the west and south of the bay itself, which was formerly an official

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 ...

of Sydney, and has now become the suburbs of

Sydney Olympic Park Sydney Olympic Park is a suburb of Greater Western Sydney, located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the City of Parramatta, City of Parramatta Council. It i ...

, Wentworth Point and part of the neighbouring suburb of

Lidcombe Lidcombe () is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north in t ...

, all part of the

City of Parramatta The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a Local government in Australia, local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between th ...

. Homebush Bay is located 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 ...

The bay has a natural and artificial shoreline on the southern side of the Parramatta River between the suburbs of Wentworth Point and

Rhodes Rhodes (; ) is the largest of the Dodecanese islands of Greece and is their historical capital; it is the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, ninth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Administratively, the island forms a separ ...

. In the 1900s the bay was contaminated with

dioxins Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. They are mostly by-products of burning or various industrial processes or, in the case of dioxin-like PC ...

and other chemicals by the local

Union Carbide Union Carbide Corporation (UCC) is an American chemical company headquartered in Seadrift, Texas. It has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow Chemical Company since 2001. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more f ...

chemical plant, which has led to commercial fishing bans in most of

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

, and health advisories about limiting the quantity of fish eaten from the Parramatta River. Other contaminants in the bay include phthalates, lead,

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon A Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) is any member of a class of organic compounds that is composed of multiple fused aromatic rings. Most are produced by the incomplete combustion of organic matter— by engine exhaust fumes, tobacco, incine ...

s, DDT, and heavy metals. The eastern shore of the bay was remediated starting in 2008 to remove about 75% of the dioxins from the bay. Remediation was completed in mid-2010, however fishing is still prohibited in Homebush Bay. The western shore of Homebush Bay is 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 ...

of the

, while its eastern shore is in the

City of Canada Bay The City of Canada Bay is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Inner West region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The city was formed on 1 December 2000, following the merger of Municipality of Concord, Concord an ...

. As a result, the bay forms part of the geographical boundary between the

Greater Western Sydney Greater Western Sydney (GWS) is a large region of the metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia that generally embraces the north-west, south-west, central-west, far western and the Blue Mountains sub-regions with ...

region in the west and the

Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...

region of Sydney in the east, except that the suburb of Wentworth Point, at the northern tip of the western bank, is sometimes marketed as being in the Inner West.

Homebush Homebush is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Strathfield. The name o ...

and Homebush West are suburbs to the south, some distance away from the shores of the bay, in the

Municipality of Strathfield The Municipality of Strathfield is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The municipality was incorporated on 2 June 1885. The council area was made up of ...

History

The region is a part of the traditional land of the Wann-gal people who lived in Homebush Bay thousands of years ago and survived on the resources offered by the estuary. The first European settlers arrived here in 1793 and declared the land as 'Flats' whose grants were given to free men. For this reason, it came to be known as the 'Liberty Plains'. The land was dominated by two families during this period - the Blaxlands and the Wentworths. The Home Bush Estate was established in the 1800s by the colony's assistant surgeon

D'arcy Wentworth D'Arcy Wentworth (14 February 1762 – 7 July 1827) was an Irish-Australian surgeon and the first paying passenger to arrive in the new colony of New South Wales. He served under the first seven governors of the Colony, and from 1810 to 1821 ...

. According to local government historian Michael Jones, "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

." The Wentworth family's estate lay on the southwestern shore of the bay, between Powell's Creek and Haslam's Creek, and south to Parramatta Road. Further to the northwest, to the west of Haslam's Creek, the Blaxland family owned the Newington Estate. The bay took its name from the Home Bush Estate. When the railway came through the area south of Parramatta Road in 1855, a station was built in the area to serve the racecourse on the Wentworth estate, and took its name ("Homebush") from the estate also. The village and later

that developed to the south of - and later the north of - the railway station took its name from the station, and is today partly in the suburb of Homebush and partly in the suburb of Strathfield. Meanwhile, the Home Bush Estate became part of the Municipality of Rookwood in 1891, renamed Lidcombe in 1906. Thereafter, it was part of the suburb of Lidcombe and known as "North Lidcombe". In 1989, North Lidcombe was renamed "Homebush Bay". This history of name borrowing has resulted in the names "Homebush Bay" and "Homebush" being used at various times for a large and disparate area ranging from modern-day Wentworth Point in the

, to the seat of the

in modern-day Strathfield, almost 6km away. Wentworth Point, the point on the western extremity of the bay, and Wentworth Bay, the nearby inlet on the western shore of Homebush Bay, are named after the Wentworth family - the bay has now disappeared due to land reclamation. Mud Island was an island in the bay, which became connected with the western mainland due to land reclamation. In the 20th century, Homebush Bay became a centre of heavy industry, with large scale land reclamations to accommodate industrial facilities. When industrial operations scaled down, the bay became a dumping ground for a large range of unwanted material - from waste to broken up ships, even toxic industrial waste.

had manufactured chemicals, including

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...

, on the site and

produced as a by product were buried in landfill or left in drums. A drive to regenerate and rehabilitate the bay began in the 1980s. This led to the construction of Bicentennial Park, including a program to regenerate some of the mangrove wetlands and saltmarshes which existed around the bay pre-development. In preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, it was decided to site

at Homebush Bay, which spurred the further regeneration and rehabilitation of the bay. A range of residential and commercial developments also began around the bay, including the development of a large shopping centre and residential district at

on the eastern shore.

Suburb name change

The former Auburn Council sought public comment on a proposal to rename the suburb of Homebush Bay, as well as removing connotations and confusion with its namesake suburb

. The waterfront residential area was renamed Wentworth Point on 2 October 2009, consistent with the gazetting of the northern part of the peninsula in 1976. the Carter Street industrial precinct was absorbed by the neighbouring suburb of

, and the remaining bulk of the suburb, consisting of

, was renamed to that name as a suburb.

Hydrography

Homebush Bay is located on the southern shore of Parramatta River. Immediately to the east is Bray Bay, which is separated from Homebush Bay by a narrow peninsula (considerably expanded through land reclamation) that forms the suburb of

. It is across the Parramatta River from Meadowbank. It is the westernmost of the major bays on the Parramatta River. Several tributaries enter Parramatta River at Homebush Bay: Powells Creek is joined by tributaries Boundary Creek and Saleyards Creek not far from the southern shore of the bay, and flows into the bay from the south, while Haslams Creek joins the bay further to the north. The shoreline of Homebush Bay is in large parts artificial, with large scale land reclamations for industrial purposes occurring throughout the 20th century. Its history of use for industry and as dumping ground has left the bay heavily contaminated, including with dioxin and other chemicals produced by

operations. Fishing is prohibited in Homebush Bay for health reasons. Other contamination includes phthalates, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, DDT and heavy metals. Remediation from 2008-2010 removed about 75% of the dioxin from the bay. A number of ships' hulls are visible in Homebush Bay, remains of the ship-breaking operations in the bay during the mid-20th century. These are the steam colliers SS ''Ayrfield'' and SS ''Mortlake Bank'', steam tugboat SS ''Heroic'', and boom defence vessel , all broken up in the early 1970s and now lying near the south-western shore of the bay. Remains of a number of smaller abandoned or broken up vessel lie nearby.

Landmarks

Water fountain olympic park new south wales

Bicentennial Park is located on the southern shore of the bay, and contains an area of rehabilitated

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

wetland representative of the native state of the bay.

is a area to the south west of Homebush Bay (and within the former suburb of Homebush Bay) which was notable as the site of the

2000 Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Since then, there has been much development in the area including office buildings and apartments in the centre of Sydney Olympic Park. Three completed residential developments in the area are Newington, The Waterfront and Mariners Cove. The Sydney Showground relocated from Moore Park in 1998, in preparation for the Olympic Games. The Sydney Showground provided Olympic venues along with

Stadium Australia Stadium Australia, currently known as Accor Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the suburb of Sydney Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The stadium, which is sometimes referred to as Sydney Ol ...

Sydney Super Dome The Sydney SuperDome (currently known as the Qudos Bank Arena for sponsorship reasons) is a multipurpose arena located in Sydney Olympic Park suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was completed in 1999 as part of the facilities for th ...

, Athletics Centre, Aquatic Centre, Tennis Centre, Hockey Stadium and multiple sports halls. On the eastern shore, within the suburb of

, lies the large Rhodes Waterside shopping centre. The

Novotel Novotel is a French midscale hotel brand owned by Accor. Created in 1967 in France, the company grew into what became the Accor group in 1983, and Novotel remained a pillar brand of Accor's multi-brand strategy. Novotel manages 559 hotels in 65 ...

Hotel features cafes, restaurants and bars with outdoor facilities that cater for special events held at Sydney Olympic Park. Bennelong Bridge, a bridge open to pedestrians, cyclists and buses but not to cars, crosses the bay near its mouth (between Rhodes on the east bank and Wentworth Point on the west bank). The bridge opened on 22 May 2016. Between 2014 and 2016, during construction, the low bridge was protected by a "maritime exclusion zone", meaning that watercraft was not able to enter or leave Homebush Bay.

Transport

Two stations on the

Sydney Trains Sydney Trains is the brand name and operator of Railways in Sydney, suburban and intercity train services in and around Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The metropolitan part of the network is a hybrid urban rail, urban-suburban r ...

metropolitan passenger rail network sit near the shores of the bay. To the south-west, Olympic Park railway station was built to cater for large crowds to the precinct during the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and is especially heavily used for special events in the Olympic Park precinct. It is serviced by a shuttle connecting Olympic Park to Lidcombe railway station. On the eastern shore, Rhodes railway station is on the T9 Northern line.

Sydney Ferries Sydney Ferries is the public transport ferry network serving the city of Sydney, New South Wales. Services operate on Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour and the connecting Parramatta River. The network is controlled by the New South Wales Government ...

Parramatta River ferry services The Parramatta River ferry service connects suburbs along the Parramatta River in Sydney with Circular Quay by commuter ferry. The service is numbered F3 and forms part of the Sydney Ferries network. History Regular ferry services between Sydn ...

run to the Sydney Olympic Park ferry wharf on the bay. Originally designed to service Sydney Olympic Park, the wharf now mainly serves the residents of Wentworth Point.

Busways Busways is an Australian bus company operating services in Sydney, and in the Central Coast, Mid North Coast regions of New South Wales and Adelaide. It is the largest privately owned bus operator in Australia. History The origins of Busw ...

run a number of regular bus services to the area around the bay. There are also a number of

Sydney Olympic Park bus routes The Sydney Olympic Park bus routes operate from various places in Sydney to Sydney Olympic Park when significant cultural or sporting events are held at the Sydney Olympic Park precinct. History During its project to host the 2000 Summer Olympic ...

for sporting events, concerts and other major events at the Sydney Olympic Park precinct such as the

Sydney Royal Easter Show The Sydney Royal Easter Show, commonly shortened to The Easter Show or The Show, is an annual show held in Sydney, Australia over two weeks around the Easter period. First held in 1823, it comprises an agricultural show, an amusement park and a ...

. A light rail line is planned to be constructed on the western shore of the bay, which will connect Olympic Park railway station with the centre of

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

, to the west. The line was initially planned to run alongside the parkland on the southern shore and connect with Strathfield railway station, but in the current plans the line will terminate in nearby Lidcombe.

Culture

Events

is an annual

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

held at the Sydney Showground at Homebush Bay.

Sport

''For more information see

'' *

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

games including the Grand Final are played at

. * AFL, the GWS Giants call this stadium their home, along with several

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a Austral ...

games being held at Stadium Australia each season. The stadium is also home to several NRL teams such as (

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

Canterbury Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

South Sydney Rabbitohs The South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, also known as the South Sydney Rabbitohs, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Maroubra that competes in the Nat ...

, NSW Blues). *

Cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

NSW Blues play 2 domestic

ING Cup The Ing Cup () is an international Go tournament with a cash prize of over US$400,000. It was created by, and is named after, Ing Chang-ki. The tournament is held once every four years and hence often nicknamed the Go Olympics. In the 7th In ...

matches at Stadium Australia each season *

Football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

the Socceroos have played a number of matches including matches against
-

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

for qualification into the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

- Friendly against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

.
-

A-league A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

team

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

also played a friendly game at Stadium Australia in November 2007 against

David Beckham Sir David Robert Joseph Beckham ( ; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Primarily a right winger and known for his range of passing, cross ...

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

which drew a crowd of 80,000. *

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship, also known as the Repco Supercars Championship under sponsorship and historically as V8 Supercars, is a touring car racing category in Australia and New Zealand, running as an International Series under Fédération I ...

have raced on a track located within the precinct in the Sydney 500 every year since 2009 as a round of the

championship.

Pop culture

The Brickpit at Sydney Olympic Park was used as a location for the filming of '' Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome''.Bartertown
Set for Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome

Gallery

File:Sydney Olympic Park hotels.JPG, Sydney Olympic Park hotels File:Homebush Bay Hill Road.JPG, Hill Road File:2007 0908klklk0023.JPG, Olympic Boulevard File:RFS HQ.jpg, The

New South Wales Rural Fire Service The New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) is a volunteer-based firefighting government agency, agency and statutory body of the Government of New South Wales. The NSW RFS is responsible for fire protection to approximately 95% of the la ...

headquarters on Carter Street.

References

External links

Sydney Olympic Park website
* CC-By-SA">Creative_Commons_license.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Creative Commons license">CC-By-SA/nowiki> {{Coord">-33.82870, 151.08088, format=dms, display=title, type:city_region:AU-NSW Suburbs of Sydney Bays of New South Wales