Green Valley, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Green Valley
city = Sydney
state = nsw


caption =
lga = City of Liverpool
postcode = 2168
pop = 12,000 (2006)
est = 1882
area =
propval =
stategov = Liverpool
fedgov = Fowler
near-nw = Cecil Hills
near-n = Bonnyrigg Heights
near-ne = Bonnyrigg
near-w = Cecil Park
near-e = Heckenberg
near-sw = Middleton Grange
near-s = Hinchinbrook
near-se = Busby
dist1 = 39
dir1 = west
location1= Sydney

Green Valley is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Green Valley is located 39 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

History

Green Valley was originally home to the Cabrogal people who spoke the Darug language. It was covered in eucalypt forests and home to native animals such as wallabies and possums that were hunted by the Cabrogal for meat, hides and bones. When Governor Lachlan Macquarie established a town at nearby Liverpool in 1810, the surrounding areas were soon granted to British settlers who began clearing the forests for farmlands. [cite web | url= http://www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/aquickhistoryofliverpool.htm | title= A quick history of Liverpool | publisher=Liverpool City Council | accessdate=2008-04-12 ]

A large area to the northwest of Liverpool was dubbed Green Valley. As well as the present-day suburb of Green Valley, it included what is now known as Ashcroft, Busby, Cartwright, Heckenberg, Miller, Sadleir and parts of Hinchinbrook and Mount Pritchard. [cite web | url= http://www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/adetailedhistoryofliverpool.htm#suburbs | title=History of our suburbs: Green Valley | publisher=Liverpool City Council | accessdate=2008-04-12 ]

One of the first settlers in the area was Peter Miller who gave his name to the nearby suburb of Miller. Another was Charles Scrivener who served as mayor of Liverpool and who oversaw the establishment of Green Valley School in 1882. When the first children began their classes, the school was nothing more than a large tent although a wooden building with an iron roof was constructed not long after.

By the 1960s, Sydney's suburban sprawl had reached Liverpool and building began on the Green Valley Housing Estate. The suburb of Green Valley shrank to an area a bit larger than its modern boundaries and it began to develop a new character as a residential area in contrast to its former farming life. The last change to Green Valley's boundaries occurred in 1986 when an undeveloped area at the southern edge of the suburb became part of the new suburb of Hinchinbrook. [cite web | url= http://www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/adetailedhistoryofliverpool.htm#suburbs | title=History of our suburbs: Green Valley | publisher=Liverpool City Council | accessdate=2008-04-12 ]

Education

* Busby West Public School [ cite web | url = http://www.busbywest-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/ | title = Busby West Public School | publisher = NSW Department of Education | accessdate = 2008-07-07 ]
* Green Valley Public School [ cite web | url = http://www.greenvally-p.schools.nsw.edu.au/ | title = Green Valley Public School | publisher = NSW Department of Education | accessdate = 2008-07-07 ]
* James Busby High School [ cite web | url = http://www.jamesbusby-h.schools.nsw.edu.au/ | title = James Busby High School | publisher = NSW Department of Education | accessdate = 2008-07-07 ]

Population

According to the 2006 census, Green Valley had 11,959 people living within its perimeters. Unlike some of its neighbours, the median household income of $1130 per week was on par with the national average ($1027). Most houses in the suburb were standalone (82%) with the remaining 18% semis or townhouses. A higher than average number of homes were being purchased (48%) with the average loan repayment of $1700 per month also higher than the national average ($1300). Most residents were Australian citizens (84%) but almost half were born overseas (48%) with the most common countries of birth being Vietnam (7.5%), Fiji (4.3%), Iraq (3.3%), Laos (2.8%) and the Philippines (2.0%).Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC11425 | name = Green Valley (State Suburb) | quick = on | accessdate = 2008-07-07]

Notable residents

Former Australian Labor Party leader, Mark Latham, grew up in Green Valley, and referred to it wistfully in a pre-election speech, clearly aping Bill Clinton's 1997 references to his hometown, Hope, Arkansas, Latham saying he still remembered "a place called Green Valley," where Clinton had said, rather more appositely, "I believe in a place called Hope." [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/04/22/1082530268221.html]

References

External links