| Five Dock Sydney, New South Wales | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Old bank building on Great North Road, Five Dock | |||||||||||||||
  Five Dock | |||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 33°51′54″S151°07′43″E / 33.86512°S 151.12856°E /-33.86512; 151.12856 | ||||||||||||||
| Population | 9,823 (SAL2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1794[citation needed] | ||||||||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2046 | ||||||||||||||
| Elevation | 22 m (72 ft) | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 2.45 km2 (0.9 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Location | 10 km (6 mi) west ofSydney CBD | ||||||||||||||
| LGA(s) | City of Canada Bay | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Drummoyne | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Reid | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Five Dock is asuburb in theInner West[2] ofSydney, in the state ofNew South Wales,Australia. Five Dock is located 10 kilometres west of theSydney central business district, in thelocal government area of theCity of Canada Bay.
Five Dock lies roughly at the foot, or southern end, of theDrummoyne peninsula. More precisely, Five Dock lies betweenParramatta Road and theCity West Link to the south andHen & Chicken Bay, on theParramatta River, along with the suburbs ofWareemba andRussell Lea, to the north. Its total area is 2.45 km2 (0.95 sq mi).[3]
Rodd Point lies to the east.Haberfield adjoins Five Dock to the south-east.Iron Cove forms a small section of the suburb's eastern boundary.Ashfield andCroydon lie on the other side ofParramatta Road, to the south. The suburbs ofCanada Bay andConcord adjoin Five Dock's western boundary.Burwood lies just beyond Croydon, to the south-west.
From the heart of the shopping centre, it is approximately 7.5 kilometres (4.7 mi) to theSydney central business district, measured in a straight line from theGeneral Post Office inMartin Place. By road, this same distance is about 9–10 kilometres (5.6–6.2 mi), depending on the route taken.[4]
The earliest written reference toFive Dock is inThe Sydney Gazette of 3 February 1805, which mentions Five Dock Bay.[citation needed] All of the sources referenced are in agreement that it was derived from the shape of the bay along theParramatta River.
According to a publication from theMaritime Services Board, Port of Sydney, (Volume 9, No 3, September 1965), "At the NE point of the bay there were five water worn indentations that were likened to docks, hence the name Five Dock."[5] There is widely contradictory information, however, about how many of these natural formations still exist. The Maritime Services Board publication concludes that there "are two of the five remaining". However, Eric Russell'sDrummoyne: a western suburbs' history from 1794 states that one was lost with the construction of the 1881Gladesville Bridge, but "the others remain in 1982". Other sources give different numbers again.
Many Five Dock streets are named after mayors, aldermen and other associated with local government, including Charles Street, Corden Avenue, Henley Marine Drive, Hill Street, Howley Street, Ingham Avenue, Kerin Avenue, McGrath Avenue, McKinnon Avenue, Myler Street, Preston Avenue, Sutton Street, Timbrell Drive, Udall Avenue, West Street and William Street.
Another series of streets is named after early landowners, subdividers and prominent local businessmen, including Ramsay Road, Taylor Street, Mitchell Street, Betts Avenue, Friend Avenue, Harris Road, Gildea Avenue and Bennett Avenue. Rickard Street, Noble Street, Heath Street and Augusta Street were named after Sir Arthur Rickard and members of his family. Rodd Road, Trevanion Streetand Barnstaple Road are named after Brent Clements Rodd and members of his family. A few streets take their name from local residents, including Mackaness Close and Langsworth Way.
TheGreat White Fleet visited Sydney in August 1908 and several localstreet names recall ships in the fleet. Connecticut Avenue is named afterUSS Connecticut. Illinois Road is named afterUSS Illinois. Minnesota Avenue takes its name fromUSS Minnesota. New Jersey Road takes its name fromUSS New Jersey.
A few streets are named after prominent people: Queens Road afterQueen Victoria; Garfield Avenue afterAmerican PresidentJames Garfield, Kingsford Avenue afterCharles Kingsford Smith, Bevin Avenue afterErnest Bevin and Henry Lawson Avenue afterHenry Lawson, who lived on Great North Road briefly in 1922.[citation needed] The name of Coronation Avenue commemorates thecoronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
St Alban's Anglican Church[6] is a 1924Gothic church, constructed of brick and stone. It is well-built church, using locally quarried stone, and remains very well preserved. It is a heritage item and is listed in the Department of the Environment and Heritage's Australian Heritage database.[7] Significant or attractive features of the church include its interior carpentry, thepipe organ (which dates from 1891 and was built by W. Davidson) and itsstained glass. St Alban's rectory is on the same large site as the church, and together they form an important group. The foundations of the rectory, like those of the church, are constructed of local stone. In 2008 the church was part of an amalgamation with the Parishes ofAshfield and Haberfield, forming Christ Church Inner West Anglican Community.[8]
All Hallows' Parish School, Domremy College, Five Dock Public School, Lucas Gardens School,Rosebank College.
The foundation stone of Five Dock Public School was laid in the grounds of St Albans church in 1858,[9] and it opened in 1861.
Named afterJoan of Arc's birthplace,Domremy, Domremy College is a CatholicSecondary School for girls. It is located on First Avenue, opposite Five Dock Park. The school was founded in 1911, initially having just 12 students. The school originally taught students from infants through to the end of senior school. This was later scaled back to just years 7 to 10. However, since 1985, the school has taught girls from year 7 through to year 12. The Domremy Convent group is listed on the NSW Heritage Office State Heritage Register.[10]
Housing in Five Dock consists mainly of detached dwellings. Like many suburbs in theinner-west ofSydney, Five Dock has some well-preserved examples of AustralianFederation architecture andCalifornia Bungalow style residences.[citation needed] Many of these homes have been renovated however, and have not retained all of their original features.
Many dwellings in Five Dock are detached houses, frequently with generously sized gardens. According to the 2011 census, of the 3,760 dwellings in the suburb, 1,676 consist of separate houses, 472 were other types of houses and 1,228 were flats or apartments.[11] Despite the preponderance of houses, post-World War II development has involved a high proportion of apartment construction. Recently[when?], several majorresidential developments have been completed. An example is the 'Pendium' development in Garfield Street, which includes 102 apartments, a refurbished supermarket and the local library. Another recent example is the redevelopment of the formerEnergyAustralia site in Fairlight Street into 93 units[1].
As of October 2005, there are a total of 51 items in the suburb that are heritage listed by the NSW Heritage Office. In addition, the skateboard track in Five Dock Park is being considered for listing as a heritage item under the State Heritage Items Project.[12]
The Five Dock retail and commercial centre is made up of a long line of shops, banks, restaurants and other services which run for about 500 metres (1,600 ft) alongGreat North Road in a section between Lyons Road and Queens Road. It features a high proportion of small local businesses. There are a number of shops selling Italian foods which reflects the number of residents ofItalian background. The Five Dock telephone exchange is located at 190-192 Great North Road. Previously home to independent supermarket retailer,Supabarn,Coles[13] purchased key locations[14] from Supabarn and is now the primary supermarket in Five Dock.
Five Dock has two separate stretches of publicly accessible foreshore on theParramatta River. One of these foreshore stretches constitutes a small section of the Bay Run, a popular 7 km walking and cycling track which passes through several other suburbs along its way aroundIron Cove. The other foreshore area lies onHen & Chicken Bay and Kings Bay, and features a pedestrian andbike path leading around the bay towardsAbbotsford.
In addition, there are several public parks located around Five Dock, the three largest being Timbrell Park, Five Dock Park and Halliday Park. A large section of Barnwell Park Golf Course, which is owned byCanada Bay Council, is located in Five Dock. A nine-holegolf course was constructed in 1963-4, and a second nine holes was completed in 1974 with much of the course lying onreclaimed land.[15]
Timbrell Park comprises a number of multi-use sports fields and an amenities block. This field is the home ground of the Five Dock Falcons[16] baseball team. Also located at Timbrell Park is an all abilities playground, Livvi's Place - an initiative of theCity of Canada Bay, Touched by Olivia Foundation and Leighton Contractors. Livvi's Place was developed to reduce the barriers experienced by those with special needs, and allow children of all abilities to play together, side by side. In 2010, Livvi's Place in Five Dock was named as the best play space in the country by Parks and Leisure Australia.[17] Located outside Livvi's Place is Livvi's Cafe which opened in 2014.
Five Dock Park was the first park in the borough with 28 acres of land being purchased from the government in 1883 for 5000 pounds.[18] It is listed on theNSW Heritage Office State Heritage Register and centres around The Five Dock War Memorial. The plaque at the memorial says that the foundation stone was laid in 1923.[citation needed] The memorial was renovated and rededicated in 1987. The park also contains a number of recreational facilities, including a large skate boarding area, a bowling club,tennis courts, an oval (used for junior rugby league matches and cricket), childcare facilities and an off-leash area for dogs. Originally constructed in 1979, the park's skate boarding andbmx area was extremely popular during the 1980s but gradually fell into disrepair. An article published in the Village Voice in 2002 said the National Skateboarders' Association had nominated Five Dockskate park as one of the three worst in NSW because it was in such a poor condition, with a subsequentarticle discussing calls for its upgrade. The new skatepark opened in 2007 was built next to the 'old bowl' and was designed by Mick Mulhall.[2].
The major roads that run through or adjoin Five Dock includeGreat North Road,Parramatta Road, Lyons Road, Queens Road, and Ramsay Road.
Five Dock is approximately a 40-minute commute to the CBD via public transport, on either routes 437, 438X or 502.
Five Dock is connected to the city and surrounding suburbs byTransit Systems-operated bus routes. As of 2020, bus routes that run through or begin/terminate include:
Five Dock is a future rapid transit station that will be built as part of theSydney Metro West project, connectingWestmead to the CBD.[19][20]
Five Dock is an established suburb with a population of 9,823 in the2021 census. The most common reported ancestries in Five Dock wereItalian 23.5%,Australian 20.9%,English 20.2%,Irish 10.4% andChinese 9.9%. 63.1% of people were born in Australia; the next most common countries of birth wereItaly 7.1%,China (excludingSpecial Administrative Regions andTaiwan) 3.7%,England 2.7%,New Zealand 1.8%, andIreland 1.0%. 64.1% of people only spokeEnglish at home; other languages spoken at home includedItalian 10.5%,Mandarin 4.0%,Cantonese 2.6%,Spanish 2.0%, andGreek 1.8%. The most common responses for religion were Catholic 41.0%, No Religion 29.7%, Anglican 6.4%, Eastern Orthodox 4.6%; a further 4.4% of respondents elected not to disclose their religion.[11]
Like the nearby suburbs ofHaberfield andLeichhardt, Five Dock has a large population ofItalian immigrants. This Italian influence is reflected in several ways, for instance in the style of the suburb's restaurants, cafes and delis. Five Dock Public School has had anItalian language teaching program since 1981 and there are local private language schools offering Italian classes. In addition, Five Dock has an annualstreet festival called Ferragosto, based on thetraditional Italian festival of the same name.[21]
In thefederal parliament, Five Dock is in theDivision of Reid, anelectoral division which includes the surrounding suburbs ofDrummoyne,Concord,Rhodes,Burwood andStrathfield. ALabor seat since its inception in 1922, it elected aLiberal member for the first time in the2013 federal election, which the Liberal Party held until the2022 federal election. Since 2022, the current member for Reid isSally Sitou of the Australian Labor Party.[24]
In thestate parliament, Five Dock is in theElectoral district of Drummoyne, which is similar to the federal division but excludes the areas of Burwood and Strathfield. This makes it nominally a Liberal seat, despite suffering a 12% swing in the2023 state election. Its current member since 2023 isStephanie Di Pasqua, who is also a councillor on theCity of Canada Bay Council.[25][26]
Reid covers an area from the Parramatta River in the north, Drummoyne and Rodd Point in the east, Silverwater, Auburn (part) and Lidcombe (part) in the west and Strathfield, Burwood and Croydon in the south. The main suburbs include Abbotsford, Auburn (part), Burwood, Cabarita, Chiswick, Concord, Croydon, Drummoyne, Five Dock, Homebush, Lidcombe (part), Mortlake, Newington, Rodd Point, Russell Lea, Silverwater, Strathfield, Sydney Olympic Park and Wareemba.
Abbotsford, Breakfast Point, Cabarita, Canada Bay, Chiswick, Concord, Concord West, Drummoyne, Five Dock, Homebush, Liberty Grove, Mortlake, North Strathfield, Rhodes, Rodd Island, Rodd Point, Russell Lea, Sydney, Wareemba.
