Padstow, New South Wales

Padstow, a suburb of local government area City of Bankstown, is located 22 kilometres inner south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a part of the South-western Sydney region.

Padstow is a mostly residential suburb bounded on the north by Bankstown and on the east by Salt Pan Creek, which is a stream feeding into the Georges River. The M5 South Western Motorway traverses the northern end of the suburb, which is also the location of a number of light industrial facilities.

A number of the streets in the vicinity of Padstow railway station have Egyptian themes as names, including Arab Road, Cairo Avenue, Pyramid Avenue and Sphinx Avenue. To the east of Padstow, on the border with Revesby there is also a group of streets with outer space related names, such as Uranus Road, Mars Street, Neptune Street, Hydrae Street and Vega Street.

History
Padstow was first named Padstow Park Estate after a town called Padstow in Cornwall, England. It was named for being the "holy place of St Petrock" (not to be confused with St Patrick), an important Cornish saint. The estate included the grants of Simon McGuigan (130 acres), Joseph Cunningham (50 acres) and Michael Conroy (40 acres). Timber-getting and farming were the main activities here. The Padstow Park post office opened in 1927 and the first school opened in January 1929. The railway station opened on 21 December 1931, which encouraged development in the area, especially after World War II. The suburb’s name was changed to Padstow in 1939.

Commercial area
Padstow shopping centre is located around Padstow railway station. Most of the shops are located on the southern side, around the Howard Road and Padstow Parade intersection, but more shops are located on the northern side past Memorial Drive on Cahors Road.

Transport
Padstow railway station is on the Sydney Trains East Hills line, west of Riverwood and east of Revesby. There are several bus routes that pass through Padstow, all operated by Transdev NSW. These services developed from routes established by McVicar's Bus Services, which was dissolved in 1978. The 927 travels from One Tree Point (the southernmost tip of Padstow Heights) to Padstow. The 962 travels from Bankstown to Miranda through Padstow, Illawong, Menai and Sutherland. The S5 travels from Milperra to Padstow. Two Metrobus routes travel through Padstow: M91 and M92. M91 travels from Parramatta to Hurstville, via Granville, Chester Hill, Bankstown, Padstow and Peakhurst. M92 travels from Parramatta to Sutherland via Lidcombe, Bankstown, Padstow and Menai.

Churches

 * South West Christian Church
 * St Therese Catholic Church.
 * Padstow Baptist Community Church
 * Padstow Congregational Church
 * Padstow Chinese Congregational Church
 * Lifegate Community Church Padstow
 * Padstow Anglican Church
 * Padstow Uniting Church

Schools
Padstow has four schools - three public schools and one Catholic school. All are K-6, with students then moving to schools in the nearby suburbs of Revesby, Picnic Point, East Hills or Milperra. Padstow North Public School is located on Watson Road, with an access from Halcyon Avenue. Padstow Park Public School is located on Faraday Road but is bounded by Doyle Road and Segers Avenue. Padstow Park Public School gains its title from the original name of the suburb. It is the oldest school in the suburb, however its academic results have declined in recent years as highlighted by recent NAPLAN results. The other State owned school is on Chamberlain Road at Padstow Heights. Padstow Heights Public school down the road from St Therese Primary School. Is large but lacks facilities.

St Therese Primary School is on Chamberlain Road but also has an entrance from Harvey Avenue. St Therese Primary School is a single stream school which was opened in 1963. The presbytry for the church is also on Harvey Road.

Caroline Chisholm is a special needs school for students aged 4–18 years.

Sport
The suburb is home to two Junior Soccer Clubs: Padstow United whose home ground is Playford Park at the intersection of Gibson, Cahors, Watson and Sphinx Roads and the Padstow Hornets which play at Stuart Street Reserve on Stuart Street. In the 1960s the suburb also supported additional soccer clubs including the now defunct clubs of Padstow Pirates Soccer Club (later renamed South Bankstown Soccer Club) and the Padstow Hotspurs Soccer Club. The Padstow Pirates and South Bankstown Soccer clubs also used Playford Park as their home ground.

Padstow Park, which is on the corner of Davies Road and Banks Road, is the home ground of the Padstow Panthers Junior Rugby League Club. It was also the home ground of the now defunct St Lukes Junior Rugby League Club. Padstow is also home to Doug Frost Swim School, where Ian Thorpe first began swimming.

Notable residents
Australian Rugby League player Brad Woolford is a well known Padstow local. He was a member of the Illawarra Steelers from 1982–1987, and played for Australia in the English test of 1984 as a winger.

Politics
For federal elections, Padstow is located in both the marginal Labor federal electoral division of Banks which seat is currently held by Daryl Melham, of the Australian Labor Party, and the safe Liberal seat of Division of Hughes held by Craig Kelly.

For NSW state elections, Padstow is located in the marginal Liberal held state electoral district of East Hills. This seat is currently held by Glenn Brookes.