PENRITH, NEW SOUTH WALES

'Penrith' is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales Australia. Penrith is located 50 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Penrith.
Penrith is a commercial centre, designated a major centre under the NSW Metropolitan Plan [1]. The City of Penrith is the western-most part of Sydney lying on the Nepean River, at the foot of the Blue Mountains, which are part of the Great Dividing Range. Penrith is colloquially known as 'The Riff', though not always affectionately.

Contents

History

European Settlement

Commercial Area

Transport

Landmarks and tourist attractions

Culture

Sport and Recreation

Geography & climate

Population

Demographics

References

External links

History

Penrith was named after the town of Penrith, Cumbria, England.

European Settlement

Europeans discovered the area in 1789, when the Nepean River was explored and named after Lord Evan Nepean, under-secretary to the home department. The area was originally named Evan but Governor Lachlan Macquarie renamed Penrith in 1818. Macquarie ordered a road be built to the Hawkesbury River and this road opened in April 1811. A road from Parramatta to the Nepean River at Penrith was built in 1817, which linked to a road constructed by William Cox across the Blue Mountains.
Captain Daniel Woodriffe was the first settler in Penrith in 1804 when he received a grant of 1,000 acres along the Nepean River. Penrith became a municipality in 1879 and declared a city in 1959.

Commercial Area

Penrith is one of the major commercial centres in Greater Western Sydney. Penrith hosts a large shopping centre, originally known as Penrith Plaza and now Westfield Penrith. The expansion of this shopping centre is typical of the growth that the area has experienced in recent years.

Transport

Penrith Railway Station is a major railway station on the Western Line of the CityRail network. It has frequent services to and from the City and is also a major stop on the intercity network.
Penrith railway station has its own bus interchange (as do several major railway stations in Sydney). Penrith is also served by Nightride Bus route 70.
Penrith can easily be accessed from St. Marys and Mt. Druitt via the Great Western Highway. Access from further east is best obtained by the M4 Western Motorway using either The Northern Road or Mulgoa Road exits. If travelling east from the Blue Mountains, access is best obtained by the Great Western Highway.
Access from the south can be obtained by The Northern Road and Mulgoa Road, north from Castlereagh road or Richmond road, or from north and south via Westlink M7 and the M4 Western Motorway.

Landmarks and tourist attractions

★ Penrith Museum of Fire

★ Penrith has a campus of the University of Western Sydney

★ Sydney International Regatta Centre, which was the location for the rowing competitions for the 2000 Olympic Games

★ Panthers World of Entertainment

★ Penrith Sake Brewery

★ Nepean River

★ Head of the River (Australia)

Culture

Sport and Recreation

Penrith has a number of local sporting clubs, the most well known being the Penrith Panthers rugby league club, the winners of the 2003 National Rugby League Grand Final. Penrith has produced two home grown Test captains in Cambridge Park's Brad Fittler in 1995 and Colyton's Craig Gower in 2005. The club (one of the largest in Australia) has a massive entertainment complex and resort, Panthers World of Entertainment. Penrith's Junior Rugby League competition is the largest in the world, which also incorporates teams from the Blue Mountains, Blacktown and Windsor/Richmond areas. Visit the Penrith Junior League Website for more information.
Penrith is now also home to a soccer club, Penrith Nepean United [2]. The club has been quite successful, perhaps the team's most memorable result has been a 2-1 Win against Asian Champions League contenders Sydney FC in a home game friendly match in front of 5000 fans on August the 17th 2007.
The city is also home to the Penrith Lakes Scheme, a system of flooded quarries that are now recreational lakes. One of these lakes hosted the rowing events of the Sydney 2000 Olympics. This facility is rated as a Level One course which can be used for international events ^[1]. The course itself is fully buoyed and can be modified to accommodate swimming and kayaking events.
There are also many other sporting associations, including cricket clubs, AFL clubs and swimming clubs. Penrith is also home to the Penrith Panthers Triathlon club[3]. For a full list see the Penrith City Council's list of sporting groups.

Geography & climate

Penrith City covers 407 square kilometres, the majority of this being very flat, although to the west are the Blue Mountains. The Nepean River runs through the city area and there is a lakes region in the north. All rowing events in the Sydney 2000 Olympics were held at the lakes.
The climate is warm temperate, similar to Sydney (Observatory Hill) although usually a few degrees warmer on summer days and a few degrees cooler on winter nights. In extreme cases, there could be a temperature differential of 10 degrees Celsius in summer due to seabreezes, which do not usually penetrate inland to the Nepean. Average Temperatures: Summer 16 °C to 30°C, Winter 0°C to 17 °C. Median yearly rainfall is 821.6 millimetres, which is less than Sydney (Observatory Hill), as coastal showers do not penetrate inland.
During Sydney's heatwaves, the temperatures may reach as high as 47 degrees Celsius in the western suburbs, including Penrith, although such high temperatures are rare. It is common for the surrounding area to receive frosts on cold, clear winter's nights. There are also more fogs here than the Sydney CBD due to its inland location, and the fact that it lies in a valley.

Population

Demographics

The estimated population of the Penrith LGA in June 2003 was 178,233.
According to the 2001 Census, the population of the City of Penrith was 172,397 (10th largest City in Australia by population) with a median age of 14 years. 72% of people were born in Australia, with 81% of people having the English language as the only language spoken at home. The population was 49% male and 51% female.
There were 45661 households in the area, of which 55.1% were couples with children, 26.4% were couples without children, 17.3% were one parent families and 1.3% other families. 85.3% of families live in detached houses, the remainder in townhouses, semi detached, flats, etc.
The mean household size was 3 people with a median weekly household income of AUD$800-$999.

References

1. ''Rowing Australia''

External links

★ [4]

★ Penrith Local Suburb Profiles
There are a number of websites which contain information about Penrith:

★ future plan for Penrith CBD

★ Penith Valley

★ Penrith City Council website

★ Penrith Panthers Rugby League Club

★ Panthers World of Entertainment

★ Penrith on Visit NSW

★ Penrith Plaza

★ Museum of Fire

★ 2001 Census Information

★ The Train Shed

★ Penrith discussion forum

★ Penrith Nepean United

★ Panthers

★ Railway Street