Bexley North and Bardwell Park are located 13 km south of the Sydney’s CBD. Bexley North is bounded by the Wolli Creek in the north, generally by a line running continuous of Benjamin Street in the east, the Bardwell Creek, Preddys Road and generally by Stoney Creek Road in the south and a line running between Staples Street and Laycock Street in the west.
Bardwell Park is bounded by the Wolli Creek in the north, the Bardwell Creek in the east and south and generally by Benjamin Street, Barnsbury Grove, Stotts Avenue and Slades Road in the west.
Bexley North is named after James Chandler’s birthplace in Kent, England whilst Bardwell Park is named after free settler Thomas Hill Bardwell who both owned land in the area.
Bardwell Park is a predominantly residential area but features a small shopping centre around Hartill-Law Avenue and Slade Road, beside the Bardwell Park railway station.
Bexley North is mostly a residential suburb with a small shopping centre located around the intersection of Bexley Road with Slade Road and Shaw Street, close to Bexley North railway station. It features a supermarket, a pub, specialty shops, cafes and restaurants.
Major features of the areas include a school, Salvation Army College of Further Education, Kingsgrove Bexley Community Centre, Kingsgrove Avenue Reserve and Bardwell Valley Golf Club.
Thomas Hill Bardwell’s grant was originally heavily timbered and bounded by Wolli Creek, Dowling Street and Wollongong Road. In 1881, the land was auctioned and 1600 acres were subdivided. The railway station opened on the 21st September 1931 which opened up the area for home sites. The school opened in September 1943 and the post office opened in May 1946.
James Chandler was also granted 1200 acres of land which stretched from what is now Bexley North to most of Rockdale and Kogarah. Development in the area began in 1884 with the railway line to Hurstville.
The following statistics are provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006 Census for Bardwell Park.
Population
There were 2386 persons usually resident in Bardwell Park: 51.1% were males and 48.9% were females. Of the total population in Bardwell Park 0.5% were Indigenous persons.
Age
The majority of residents are aged between 25 – 54 years with a total of 41.4%. 19.9% of the population usually resident in Bardwell Park were children aged between 0-14 years, and 26.6% were persons aged 55 years and over. The median age of persons in Bardwell Park was 37 years, compared with 37 years for persons in Australia.
Country of birth
Australian born residents totalled 60.8%. Other common responses within Bardwell Park (Suburb) were: China 6.6%, Greece 5.8%, New Zealand 2.0%, Italy 1.5% and Lebanon 1.4%.
Languages
English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 49.6% of persons usually resident in Bardwell Park. The most common languages other than English spoken at home were: Greek 18.1%, Mandarin 5.5%, Arabic 4.7%, Cantonese 4.3% and Italian 2.4%.
Religion
The most common responses for religious affiliation for persons usually resident in Bardwell Park were Catholic 25.6%, Eastern Orthodox 24.7%, No Religion 12.5%, Anglican 11.2% and Uniting Church 4.2%.
Occupation
1192 people aged 15 years and over who were usually resident in Bardwell Park were in the labour force. There were 648 usual residents aged 15 years and over not in the labour force.
The most common responses for occupation for employed persons usually resident in Bardwell Park were Professionals 25.9%, Clerical and Administrative Workers 18.7%, Technicians and Trades Workers 12.9%, Managers 12.7% and Sales Workers 9.9%.
The median weekly family income was $1359, compared with $1171 in Australia.
Families
There were 658 families in Bardwell Park: 54.6% were couple families with children, 33.0% were couple families without children, 10.3% were one parent families and 2.1% were other families.
Housing
There were 847 occupied private dwellings counted in Bardwell Park: 83.9% were separate houses, 6.3% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc, 9.8% were flats, units or apartments and 0.0% were other dwellings.
The median weekly rent was $300, compared to $190 in Australia. The median monthly housing loan repayment was $2000, compared to $1300 in Australia. The average household size was 2.8 and the average number of persons per bedroom was 1.1.
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