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Five Dock, New South Wales

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Five Dock is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Five Dock is located 10 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the Local Government Area of the City of Canada Bay.

Five Dock lies roughly at the foot, or southern end, of the Drummoyne peninsula. More precisely, Five Dock lies between Parramatta Road and the City West Link Road to the south and Hen and Chicken Bay, on the Parramatta River, along with the suburbs of Wareemba and Russell Lea, to the north. Its total area is 2.45 km².

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 and Croydon lie on the other side of Parramatta Road, to the south. The suburbs of Canada Bay and Concord 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 to Sydney's central business district, measured in a straight line from the original Sydney General Post Office in Martin Place. By road, this same distance is about 9-10 kilometres, depending on the route taken.

Originally, the local post office was called the "Wareemba Locality store", but after the geographical location was changed it was the named to the "Wareemba Post Office"

All Hallows' Parish School, Domremy College, Five Dock Public School, Lucas Gardens School, Rosebank College.

Five Dock Public School was opened in 1861 in the grounds of St Albans church. Peter Dodds McCormick who composed the national anthem of Australia, Advance Australia Fair, was the headmaster of Five Dock Public School in 1865.[citation needed]

Domremy College Five Dock Named after Joan of Arc's birthplace, Domremy, Domremy College is a Catholic Secondary 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

Housing in Five Dock consists mainly of detached dwellings. Like many suburbs in the inner-west of Sydney, Five Dock has some well-preserved examples of Australian Federation architecture and California Bungalow style residences. Many of these homes have been renovated however, and have not retained all of their original features. In the 1920s, the area experienced a housing boom and many older houses date from around this period. In addition, there is a diverse range of other architectural styles to be found in Five Dock, including many with an Italian or Greek influence. These are typically large brick constructions with big gardens and often featuring ornamental decorations such as arches, columns and statuettes.

The majority of dwellings in Five Dock are detached houses, frequently with generously sized gardens. According to the 2001 census, of the 3,176 dwellings in the suburb, 1,718 consist of separate houses, 397 are other types of houses and 746 are apartments. Despite the preponderance of houses, Post-World War II development has involved a high proportion of apartment construction. Recently, several major residential 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 former EnergyAustralia site in Fairlight Street into 93 units.

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.

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 along Great North Road in a section between Lyons Road and Queens Road. It features a high proportion of small local businesses, which range from hairdressers, florists and dentists to hardware stores, accountants, delis and restaurants. During 2003 and 2004, Canada Bay Council finished enhancements to the shopping strip by burying overhead electrical cables and phone lines, widening, repaving and fencing off footpaths, planting new trees and installing new street furniture. This has reinforced the emergence of this section of Great North Road as a cafe and restaurant strip. The Five Dock telephone exchange is located at 190-192 Great North Road.

The major regional roads that run through or adjoin Five Dock include Parramatta Road, Lyons Road, Queens Road, Great North Road and the City West Link.

Five Dock is well-connected to the city centre and surrounding suburbs by public Sydney bus routes. These services include the following routes:

  • 409 Burwood Station - Five Dock Shops - Ashfield Station - Hurlstone Park
  • 436 Circular Quay - Railway Square - Rodd Point - Chiswick
  • 437 Circular Quay - Railway Square - Leichhardt - Rodd Point - Five Dock Shops
  • 438 Circular Quay - Railway Square - Leichhardt - Five Dock Shops - Abbotsford
  • L38 Circular Quay - Railway Square - Leichhardt - Five Dock Shops - Abbotsford (limited stops)
  • 460 Five Dock Shops - Canada Bay - Concord Hospital
  • 461 Queen Victoria Building - Ashfield - Burwood Station
  • 471 Rockdale Station - Arncliffe - Earlwood - Canterbury - Ashfield - Haberfield - Five Dock Shops
  • 472 Rockdale Station - Bexley North Station - Earlwood - Ashfield - Haberfield - Five Dock Shops
  • 492 Rockdale Station - Bexley - Kingsgrove - Campsie - Croydon Park - Burwood - Five Dock - Drummoyne
  • 499 Hurstville Station - Bexley North Station - Earlwood - Campsie - Croydon Park - Burwood - Five Dock - Rodd Point - Drummoyne
  • 502 Wynyard Station - Rozelle - Drummoyne - Russell Lea - Five Dock - Canada Bay - Bayview Park
  • L03 Circular Quay - Rozelle - Drummoyne - Russell Lea - Five Dock - Canada Bay - Mortlake (limited stops)

The closest CityRail railway stations to Five Dock are Ashfield and Croydon; both being just over 2.5 km from the main shopping centre. The major suburban station of Strathfield is also within fairly close driving distance. Croydon Station was originally named Five Dock Station when it opened in 1875. The name was changed to Croydon soon afterwards. There are ferry services to the city from the nearby suburbs of Drummoyne, Chiswick and Abbotsford.

Prior to being redeveloped as residential housing, the site at 11-27 Harris Road was the subject of a development application for a major shopping centre to be known as Five Dock Marketplace in 1993. This was submitted to the local council by Restifa & Partners and was to include a Woolworths supermarket, along with specialty stores. The proposal was rejected for several reasons. Aside from concern over increased local traffic, the most significant reason was probably that it was considered that such a major shopping centre would have a detrimental effect on the existing shopping precinct. A report prepared for Drummoyne Council considered that it would create a two-pole shopping centre as it was located too far from the existing shopping area along Great North Road.

Although most of Five Dock's streets are quiet residential areas, the suburb has several major roads that suffer from traffic congestion. This is the result of a combination of local traffic and the fact that the suburb lies along one of the major east-west road transport corridors between the city and the M4 connecting to the Western Suburbs and Greater Western Sydney. The worst areas for congestion are Parramatta Road, Queens Road and Great North Road (between Lyons Road and Parramatta Road). Traffic congestion has not been helped by the fact that Great North Road was significantly narrowed in 2003 and now only carries one lane in each direction through the main shopping centre.

One of the contributing factors to road congestion is that the M4 has no direct connection to the City West Link Road so all traffic making this journey must use local roads through Five Dock. Recent controversy began in July 2002, when the NSW State Government proposed major road construction to connect these two roads directly. The government's and the RTA's preferred option was a 3.6-kilometre tunnel, which was to emerge in Haberfield. Local residents campaigned strongly against this option, arguing that it would move the current bottlenecks into Haberfield. Other reasons put forward against the tunnel included the claim that drivers would simply avoid a new toll road and continue to use Parramatta Road.

All three plans for the M4 East were put on hold in April 2005, following criticism in 2004 from Sustainability Commissioner, Professor Peter Newman. Craig Knowles, then Minister for Infrastructure and Planning said the government is still committed to creating a link between the M4 and the city.

 

Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five Dock,_New_South_Wales