Wheeler Heights, New South Wales
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Wheeler Heights 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 ...
of Northern Sydney, 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 ...
. Wheeler Heights is located 22 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of
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 ...
and is part of 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 ...
region. Wheeler Heights was designated as a separate suburb in 1977 with a postcode of 2097 but was reassigned as a locality within Collaroy in 1984. In 2001, all localities were renamed Urban Places. In 2011, Wheeler Heights, along with
Collaroy Plateau Collaroy Plateau is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Collaroy Plateau is 22 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the Local government in Australia, local government area o ...
, was re-established as a suburb by the Geographical Names Board of NSW, after lobbying by the community, who had never ceased considering it to be a suburb since its loss of that title in 1984.


History


Heritage and History of Warringah

* 'There are over 1000 sites of Aboriginal culture and heritage in the areas of Sydney known as North Sydney, Lane Cove, Willoughby, Manly, Warringah, Ku-ring-gai, and Pittwater.' 'Despite its relative proximity to Sydney, the Warringah area remained predominantly rural throughout the nineteenth century. The region's isolation and difficult terrain were natural barriers to development.' * The Wheeler family, originally from Somerset, England, were one of the first families in the (Wheeler Heights) area. James Wheeler (1810-1890), a free settler who already owned land at Dee Why, purchased 150 acres in January 1842 made up of 100 acres on South Creek and 50 acres on Narrabeen Lagoon, where his family remained for over 100 years. In the years that followed, he purchased further land in the area and the Wheeler homestead was a feature of the southern shore of Narrabeen Lagoon. The remains of a stone weir from the former Wheeler Estate can be seen protruding from the shoreline of Narrabeen Lagoon near James Wheeler Place. The Wheeler Estate was broken up after the Second World War. * The Wheeler family name has been used in James Wheeler Place and the suburb name Wheeler Heights, while other street names of Wheeler Heights reflect the towns and villages of The Lakes District, Cumbria, England, as well as many of the geographical features of the landscape. The names of some of the lakes are the names of Derwent St, Coniston St and Windermere Place. Ambleside St and Penrith Ave are names of larger towns in the lakes district. The dales are a particular feature of the lakes district and have given their names to Ennerdale Crescent and Langdale Place.


The naming of Wheeler Heights

In 1961 Collaroy Plateau West
Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
was built. The school has access from Rose Ave, Berith St and Veterans Pde.
Over the next six years buses used for taking Collaroy Plateau West Primary school sports teams to interschool sports on Friday afternoons frequently went to the wrong school - Collaroy Plateau Primary School due to the similarity of the name of the two schools. In 1969 there was an opportunity to change the name of the school and avoid the problem of two schools with very similar names. The name was changed to Wheeler Heights Public School. This was at the suggestion of Stan Walters, a teacher at the school who was interested in the local history.
Wheeler Heights became the commonly used name by locals for the streets surrounding the school, including the name for the shopping strip in South Creek Road, Wheeler Heights.
In 1977 Wheeler Heights was registered as a suburb by the Geographical Names Board. In 2002 both Wheeler Heights and Collaroy Plateau were stripped of their suburb status by the Geographical Names Board and were downgraded to 'urban places'.
In 2010 a community campaign 'Save our Suburbs' was successful in regaining Wheeler Heights and Collaroy Plateau their status as suburbs.


The Superb View Estate

Sir Arthur Rickard (1868-1948), real estate developer advertised the Superb View Estate in 1917. This estate developed allotments on Lantana Avenue, Rose Avenue, Ettalong Street, Heather Street, Plateau Road (now Veterans Parade) and Berith Street (Wheeler Heights).


Landmarks


Jamison Park

Jamieson Park is a reserve located along the southern foreshores of Narrabeen Lagoon. It is bounded by the suburbs of Narrabeen, Wheeler Heights, and Cromer. From Wheeler Heights, it can be accessed from James Wheeler Place and South Creek Rd, Wheeler Heights.


Narrabeen Lagoon Trail

On 25 February 2015, Warringah Council opened the last link in the Narrabeen Lagoon Bush trail from South Creek, Middle Creek and to Deep Creek. The complete trail around the Lagoon crosses two steel bridges and runs adjacent to the Sydney Sports Academy. The path and bridges allow bushwalkers, cyclists, and joggers to travel in safety while being close to nature and enjoying the breathtaking beauty of Narrabeen Lagoon.


Open public spaces


Native plants and trees

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 ...
is home to over 90
native plant species
subspecies, varieties, and forms that can be found from the coastal sand dunes and estuaries to sandstone ridgetops and plateaux. Wheeler Heights has dry
sclerophyll Sclerophyll is a type of vegetation that is adapted to long periods of dryness and heat. The plants feature hard leaves, short Internode (botany), internodes (the distance between leaves along the stem) and leaf orientation which is parallel or ...
forests (Shrubby sub formation) 'Shrubby dry sclerophyll forest has typically Australian species such as waratahs, banksias, wattles, pea-flowers, and tea-trees. There is a sparse ground cover of sedges and grasses growing on sandy soils that are among the world's least fertile.'


Infrastructure and development


Transport

The main form of transport after private cars is by public transport buses.
Wheeler Heights is served by the 179 bus route, operated by
Keolis Downer Northern Beaches Keolis Downer Northern Beaches is a bus operator in Sydney, Australia. A subsidiary of Keolis Downer, it operates services in Sydney Metropolitan Bus Service Contracts, Sydney Bus Region 8 on the North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore and Nort ...
. It runs between
Warringah Mall Westfield Warringah Mall, previously known as Warringah Mall, is a large indoor/outdoor shopping centre in the suburb of Brookvale, New South Wales, Brookvale in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney. History 20th Century 1960s: opening ...
and the War Veterans retirement village. There is no rail transport, the nearest railway station is in Chastwood.


Schools and churches

Wheeler Heights has one place of worship, St Rose
Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. There are two schools in Wheeler Heights * Wheeler Heights Public School * St Rose Catholic Primary School There is one Long Day Care Centre


Commercial

Wheeler Heights has a shopping centre located along South Creek Road. This includes Wheeler Heights Post Office. In late 2017, the shopping centre was sold and plans to redevelop the shopping centre surfaced. As of November 2020, the shopping centre has nearly completed construction, having stores and restaurants on the ground, while apartments above with underground private parking for residents.


References

{{Sydney Northern Beaches suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Northern Beaches Council