Homebush Bay

Homebush Bay Sydney, New South Wales
Sydney Olympic Park fountain
Postcode:	2144
Location:	16 km (10 mi) west of Sydney CBD
LGA:	Auburn Council
State District:	Auburn
Federal Division:	Reid
Suburbs around Homebush Bay: Melrose Park Meadowbank Rhodes Newington Homebush Bay Liberty Grove Lidcombe Homebush North Strathfield

Olympic Park railway station

Former quarry, Sydney Olympic Park

Bicentennial Park

Homebush Bay was the former name of a suburb of western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia that took in the suburbs of Sydney Olympic Park, Wentworth Point and part of the neighbouring suburb of Lidcombe. Homebush Bay is located 16 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Auburn Council. Homebush and Homebush West are separate suburbs.

Homebush Bay took its name from the bay with natural and artificial shoreline on the southern side of the Parramatta River between the suburbs of Homebush Bay and Rhodes. Rhodes Railway station is situated about 500 metres to the east. The bay was contaminated with dioxin and other chemicals by Union Carbide group which led to commercial fishing bans in most of Sydney Harbour and health advisories about limiting the quantity of fish eaten from the Parramattta River. Fishing is prohibited in Homebush Bay for health reasons. Other contamination includes phthalates, lead, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, DDT and heavy metals. The eastern shore of the bay was remediated starting in 2008 to remove about 75% of the dioxin from the bay. Remediation was completed in mid-2010.

History

Homebush was established in the 1800s by the colony's then assistant surgeon D'arcy Wentworth. 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."

The Olympic Park/Homebush Bay area once contained toxic dumping zones. Union Carbide had manufactured chemicals, including Agent Orange, on the site and dioxins produced as a by product were buried in landfill or left in drums.

Name change

Auburn Council sought public comment on a proposal to rename the Homebush Bay area, as well as removing connotations and confusion with its namesake suburb Homebush. 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 area encompassing Sydney Olympic Park was given autonomy as a suburb and the Carter Street industrial precinct was absorbed by the neighbouring suburb of Lidcombe. This effectively brought the suburb of Homebush Bay to an end.

Landmarks

Sydney Olympic Park is a 640-hectare area in Homebush Bay which was notable as the site of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. 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 (now ANZ Stadium), Sydney Superdome (now Acer Arena), Athletics Centre, Aquatic Centre, Tennis Centre, Hockey Stadium and multiple sports halls.

The Novotel Hotel features cafes, restaurants and bars with outdoor facilities that cater for special events held at Sydney Olympic Park.

Transport

Olympic Park railway station was built to cater for large crowds to the stadium, and is accessible from the Strathfield and Lidcombe on the Western line of the CityRail network.

Parramatta River ferry services run a service to a ferry wharf at Sydney Olympic Park. Sydney Buses run special services for sporting events, concerts and other major events such as the Sydney Royal Easter Show.

Culture

Events

• Sydney Royal Easter Show is an annual agricultural show held at the Sydney Showground at Homebush Bay.

Sport

For more information see ANZ Stadium

• National Rugby League games including the Grand Final are played at ANZ Stadium.
• AFL several Sydney Swans games are held at ANZ Stadium each season. The stadium is also home to several NRL teams such as (Wests Tigers, Canterbury Bulldogs, South Sydney Rabbitohs, NSW Blues).
• Cricket NSW Blues play 2 domestic ING Cup matches at ANZ Stadium each season
• Football (soccer) the Socceroos have played a number of matches including matches against
  - Uruguay for qualification into the 2006 FIFA World Cup
  - Friendly against Paraguay.
  - A-league team Sydney FC also played a friendly game at ANZ Stadium in November 2007 against David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy which drew a crowd of 80,000.
• V8 Supercars have raced on a track located within the precinct in the Sydney Telstra 500 in 2009 and 2010 as a round of the V8 Supercar Championship.

Pop culture

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

Gallery

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  Sydney Olympic Park hotels

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  Hill Road

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  Olympic Boulevard

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  The New South Wales Rural Fire Service headquarters on Carter Street.

External links

• Sydney Olympic Park website