Badgerys Creek | |||||||||||||
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 Aerial view of Badgerys Creek | |||||||||||||
  Badgerys Creek Location in metropolitanSydney | |||||||||||||
 Interactive map of Badgerys Creek | |||||||||||||
| Coordinates:33°52′47″S150°45′08″E / 33.87972°S 150.75222°E /-33.87972; 150.75222 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | New South Wales | ||||||||||||
| City | Sydney | ||||||||||||
| LGA | |||||||||||||
| Location |
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| Government | |||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal divisions | |||||||||||||
| Elevation | 81 m (266 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 168 (SAL2021)[2] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode | 2555[3] | ||||||||||||
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Badgerys Creek, also known asBadgery's Creek orAerotropolis, is asuburb ofSydney, in the state ofNew South Wales,Australia, located approximately 41 kilometres (25 mi) west of theSydney central business district, in thelocal government areas of theCity of Liverpool. It is part of theGreater Western Sydney region and is adjacent toKemps Creek,Austral and theBlue Mountains.
The suburb is best known as being the most favoured site for asecond Sydney Airport.[4] In April 2014, theAbbott government confirmed the construction of theWestern Sydney Airport, initially scheduling construction in 2016,[5] but construction actually began in September 2018 and is currently scheduled for completion in 2026.[6]
James Badgery was a British-born farmer andmiller who, in 1806, was granted 840 acres (3.4 km2) in the suburb that bears his name today. His original land grant was on the north side of Elizabeth Drive; land which today is used for farming research by theCSIRO andUniversity of Sydney. Badgery named his propertyExeter Farm but the creek running through the property became known as Badgery's Creek and that name was eventually applied to the local area.[7]
Badgery bought other land to the south of his grant and after he died, the area was subdivided in the 1880s, vastly increasing the local population. Badgerys Creek Post Office opened on 10 July 1894 and closed in 1989.[8] A school was established in 1895 and the area gradually developed as a rural suburb which by 1981 had a population of 1,560.[citation needed]
From 1954 until 1991, theFleurs field station at Badgerys Creek was an important site for Australianradio astronomy, hosting severalradio telescope arrays.[9][10] The station was initially operated byCSIRO, and then later by theUniversity of Sydney.[11]
In 1986, thefederal government announced that theSecond Sydney Airport would be sited at Badgerys Creek. The government bought a number of properties for that purpose, and as a result of that, as well as concerns about living near an airport, many people moved away, meaning that by 1996 there were fewer than 500 residents. By the2021 census the population had further shrunk to 168.[12] Construction of the airport had not started, but in 2012 anA$8 million report into Sydney's aviation needs found that Badgerys Creek remained the best site,[13] with construction subsequently scheduled to start in 2016.[14]
In March 2023, a south-eastern portion of Badgerys Creek became part of the newly-gazetted suburb ofBradfield.[15]
Badgerys Creek flows north into a reservoir in the suburb's north, as doesSouth Creek, the suburb's eastern boundary. West of the reservoir lies Mills Hill, and south-west of that, by just over a kilometre, is Raymond Hill, 125 metres (410 ft)AHD. The western boundary is Oaky Creek, and then Cosgrove Creek after the two merge 500 metres (1,600 ft) north of Elizabeth Drive, and to the south-west the hill known as Anchau (118 metres (387 ft) AHD).[16]
Badgerys Creek has ahumid subtropical climate (Cfa) with hot summers, which vary from dry to humid, and cool winters. Due to its open grassy location, nighttime temperatures are slightly lower than the nearby suburban areas in western Sydney. There is the occasional frost in some winter mornings, where the months from April to September have recorded severe frost. Most of the rain falls in late summer and early autumn, which is usually accompanied by athunderstorm. Due to thefoehn effect, the driest months are in late winter and early spring, which havethe most sunniest[clarify] days.
On 4 January 2020, a heat logger registered a temperature of 50.1 °C (122.2 °F) in the suburb, which was on the same day whenPenrith recorded a temperature of 48.9 °C (120.0 °F).[17][18]
| Climate data for Badgerys Creek (1995–present) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 47.6 (117.7) | 46.5 (115.7) | 40.4 (104.7) | 36.0 (96.8) | 29.4 (84.9) | 25.2 (77.4) | 27.0 (80.6) | 29.9 (85.8) | 36.4 (97.5) | 37.4 (99.3) | 41.9 (107.4) | 44.6 (112.3) | 47.6 (117.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30.0 (86.0) | 28.8 (83.8) | 26.8 (80.2) | 24.1 (75.4) | 20.7 (69.3) | 17.8 (64.0) | 17.6 (63.7) | 19.3 (66.7) | 22.7 (72.9) | 24.9 (76.8) | 26.5 (79.7) | 28.5 (83.3) | 24.0 (75.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 17.2 (63.0) | 17.1 (62.8) | 15.4 (59.7) | 11.5 (52.7) | 7.6 (45.7) | 5.5 (41.9) | 4.2 (39.6) | 4.8 (40.6) | 7.8 (46.0) | 10.7 (51.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 15.4 (59.7) | 10.9 (51.6) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 8.2 (46.8) | 8.5 (47.3) | 6.4 (43.5) | −0.1 (31.8) | −1.1 (30.0) | −3.0 (26.6) | −4.5 (23.9) | −2.0 (28.4) | −0.5 (31.1) | 2.2 (36.0) | 5.3 (41.5) | 6.6 (43.9) | −4.5 (23.9) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 78.5 (3.09) | 107.9 (4.25) | 106.3 (4.19) | 47.9 (1.89) | 38.8 (1.53) | 55.1 (2.17) | 33.0 (1.30) | 36.8 (1.45) | 34.6 (1.36) | 57.7 (2.27) | 68.9 (2.71) | 56.3 (2.22) | 726.2 (28.59) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1 mm) | 7.1 | 7.7 | 8.3 | 5.8 | 3.7 | 5.6 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 6.8 | 6.4 | 69.0 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 49 | 55 | 55 | 52 | 53 | 56 | 50 | 44 | 44 | 45 | 50 | 48 | 50 |
| Source:[19] | |||||||||||||
North of Elizabeth Drive, a substantial amount of land is taken up by theCSIRO Research Station, theUniversity of Sydney MacGarvie Smith Veterinary Farm, and a landfill depot. Much of the research establishment is dotted with reservoirs. The southeast includes a brickworks, and land owned byTelstra, also featuring a number of reservoirs. The suburb is also home to the Hubertus Liverpool Rifle Club.[16]
South of Elizabeth Drive was also a settled area.
The suburb had one primary school, Badgerys Creek Public School, decommissioned in 2014 to make way forSydney's second airport. Nearby there were two churches with cemeteries, also moved.[citation needed]
In the2021 census, there were 168 people in Badgerys Creek. 51.2% of respondents were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth includedChina (excludingSARs andTaiwan) 13.1%,Italy 6.0%,Malta 4.8% andLebanon 3.0%. 39.9% of people only spokeEnglish at home; the next most common languages spoken at home includedCantonese 20.8%,Italian 7.7%,Arabic 5.4%,Khmer 5.4% andMaltese 4.2%.[12]
The suburb is home to Badgerys Creek Park.[citation needed]
The under-constructionWestern Sydney Airport is located within the suburb of Badgerys Creek. The suburb will also be serviced by theAirport Terminal andAirport Business Park stations of theWestern Sydney Airport metro line. Both stations are located within the airport complex.[20]
TheM12 Motorway is currently under construction and is parallel to Elizabeth Drive. Both roads run east-west through the suburb.[21]
The airport, metro stations and M12 Motorway will be completed in 2026.
Building Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport has come a long way since it first started in 2018. We're on-track to open international, domestic and cargo services in late 2026 - and you can keep up to date with the exciting work happening right here.
Designation Suburb, Gazettal Date 31-03-2023