Minto, New South Wales

Minto is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Minto is located 48 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.

History
Minto was named to honour the Earl of Minto, Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, who was Viceroy of India from 1807-1814. The name was originally given to the entire district stretching from just north of Appin up to what is now Denham Court.

The area that constitutes the current suburb of Minto was originally home to the Tharawal people until the arrival of British settlers from the First Fleet. In 1811, Governor Lachlan Macquarie granted 800 acre in the area to William Redfern, the colony's first surgeon. He in turn named it Campbellfield after Macquarie's wife Elizabeth whose maiden name was Campbell. Redfern used the property as a vineyard and sheep station.

In 1810, Dr Robert Towson built his sandstock home, Varroville, in St Andrews Road, on land granted by Governor Macquarie. The house was subsequently owned by Charles Sturt and James Raymond, the first Postmaster General. In the 1820s, Colonel Parker built a Georgian bungalow called Epping Forest in Raby Road. A farm called Robin Hood Farm was built in Campbelltown Road circa 1830. These three properties are now listed on the Register of the National Estate.

In 1874, a railway station was built in the area and named Campbellfield after the property but this led to confusion with nearby Campbelltown so in 1882, it was renamed Minto. Development of the area followed shortly after and by the 1950s it was a village of around 500 people.

A large slice of land on the east side of Minto was sold to Housing Commission in 1969 to provide cheap housing. Shortly after a large industrial estate was also established in the area and Minto's transition from village to Sydney suburb was complete.

Transport
Minto railway station is serviced by the South, Cumberland and East Hills lines of the City Rail network. Minto also has a small inland port connected by rail to Port Botany. The inland port consists of a single rail siding with an adjacent hard stand surface for the containers, and the siding is operated by Top and Tail trains with engines at both ends.

Schools
Minto is home to one high school, Sarah Redfern High; four primary schools, Campbellfield Public, Minto Public, Sarah Redfern Public and The Grange Public; and a special school, Passfield Park, which services disabled students from pre-school through to high school.

Housing
Public housing belonging to Housing NSW has recently been demolished in the suburb to make way for a new housing estate called One Minto. The new estate will consist of both public and private housing.

Demographics
With a population of almost 11,000, Minto is one of the larger suburbs in the Campbelltown area. The residents tend to be young families on slightly lower incomes than the rest of Australia. The four most common areas of work are: clerical and administrative (17%), machinery operators and drivers (15% - more than double the national average), labourers (14%) and technicians and tradespeople (14%). There are a few substantial ethnic minorities with 5% speaking Bengali at home, 4% speaking Samoan and 3% speaking Hindi

Notable residents

 * Rugby league players Israel Folau, Jarryd Hayne and Krisnan Inu all grew up within a few blocks of each other in Minto and played park football together.
 * Member of the Parliament of New South Wales and former Housing Minister Cherie Burton grew up in Minto.

Sport and recreation
The Minto Indoor Sports Centre is home to local basketball and netball teams. The Macarthur Heat plays in the New South Wales State Basketball League and uses the Centre as its home court. The Campbelltown District Netball Association, which is also based at the Centre, plays in the third division of the Netball NSW State League.

Minto has a rugby league team, the Minto Cobras playing in the Western Suburbs District Junior Rugby League. The Cobras home ground is Townson Oval and they have produced a number of NRL players including Israel Folau, Justin Brooker, John Skandalis, Ken McGuinness, Kevin McGuinness, Jarryd Hayne and Krisnan Inu.

Controversy
Minto has received negative publicity on two occasions because of a local shopping centre, Minto Mall, which has been investigated twice on A Current Affair. Although it began as a boost to local business, it has more recently become dilapadated and untidy, and the management has taken no action to combat these problems. After being placed under pressure by the news program A Current Affair and members of the community due to the rundown state of the mall, Minto Mall has been put up for sale.