Epping, New South Wales
Epping is a suburb of Sydney, in the Australian state of New South Wales, 18 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Parramatta. Epping is located in the Northern Sydney region, which is sometimes simply referred to as the “North-West” or North Shore. The suburb is the most north-eastern area of the City of Parramatta. North Epping is a separate suburb to the north and under a different council, Hornsby Shire. History. The Wallumettagal Aboriginal tribe lived in the area between the Lane  Cove River and Parramatta River. In 1792, Governor Arthur Phillip began the granting of parcels of lands to marines, and the area was referred to on Phillip's maps as the Field of Mars, Mars being the Roman god of war. It contained the area of what is now Epping, along with the surrounding suburbs of Ryde and Marsfield. Epping railway station was opened on 17 September 1886, originally named "Field of Mars", and quickly renamed to "Carlingford" on 5 April 1887. The Post Office was opened on 16 October 1889, originally named "East Carlingford". In 1899 the suburb name  of Epping was adopted following the suggestion by a local landowner William Midson (1849–1924), after a town near Epping Forest in Essex, where his father was born. At this time, the names of the post office and the railway station were both changed to Epping. The land from the Field of Mars was broken up into farms and orchards, and after World War II it started to convert to residential use. Areas which had previously been reserved as part of the green belt scheme became available in 1948. The Seven Network had its headquarters and television production studios in Epping  until 2009. The site is now occupied by residential apartments. Until 2016, parts of Epping were under three different councils: Hornsby Shire, City of Ryde and City of Parramatta. A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that all of Epping be amalgamated into the City of Parramatta, and this became effective on 12 May 2016. Commercial area. Lands around Epping Railway Station are zoned for commercial use. There are businesses including newsagencies, pharmacies, Asian grocers and restaurants. To the west of the station, there is a Coles supermarket, a RSL Club and a pub (the Epping Hotel) on Rawson  Street. Redevelopment as "Urban Renewal Area". A major re-development of the Epping Town Centre is planned as part of the NSW government's ""Urban Renewal Area"" programme (originally called the ""Urban Activation Precincts"" programme). The changes to zoning for this programme cover 54 hectares, including provision for building heights of 8 to 22 storeys for mixed commercial and residential use within a 400-metre radius of the railway station, and about 3,750 additional homes within 800 metres of it. These zoning changes were finalized and approved in March 2014, although residents have expressed concerns about issues including traffic management , lack of parking, storm water drainage and access to schools. The first major project under this programme was scheduled to be Grocon's amalgamation of four lots at 30-42 Oxford Street, acquired in September 2015 for a cost of $56 million. Plans for a 16-storey development of more than 250 apartments for a total value of more than $300 million were lodged with the council. However, in early 2016 they sold the blocks. In late 2019, the "Oxford Central" development of 251 or 252 apartments, car parking and retail was completed on the site by developer  Greaton and construction company Ceerose. Transport. Epping railway station is a junction station on the Northern Line of the Sydney Trains network, the Central Coast & Newcastle Line of the NSW TrainLink network, and the new rapid transit Sydney Metro Northwest since its opening on 26 May 2019. Bus services are operated by Busways and Hillsbus. The M2 Hills Motorway runs along the northern border to the Sydney CBD. Epping Road is a major arterial road in the area that runs east from the railway station to the Pacific Highway. In spite of the range of public transport options, the 2016  census found that only 37% of employed people travelled to work on public transport, compared to 51% who travelled by car (either as driver or as passenger). Community facilities. The council and other organisations provide a number of community facilities. These include: Some schools and churches also have halls and other facilities that can be made available for community uses. Schools. Formerly the American International School of Sydney was located here, until its closure in 2009. Demographics. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' 2016 Census, Epping had a population of 23,688, of whom 11,697 (49.4%) were male and 11,992  (50.6%) were female. Government. At a local government level, Epping lies solely within the City of Parramatta Local Government Area. At a state level, Epping is mostly represented by the electoral district of Epping, with a small area on the southern edge of Chesterfield Road that is within the Electoral district of Ryde. At a federal level, Epping falls in the Division of Bennelong.