Cardiff, New South Wales


 * For other uses, see Cardiff (disambiguation).

Cardiff is a suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, located 13 km west-southwest of Newcastle's central business district. It is part of the City of Lake Macquarie local government area.

Cardiff is an irregularly shaped suburb. In the 2001 Census Cardiff had 5,039 inhabitants. Including the associated suburbs of Cardiff South and Cardiff Heights, the population was 9,500 persons. Cardiff contains 3 government primary schools, a Catholic primary school, an Independent school and a government high school. Like most major suburbs in Lake Macquarie, it has its own commercial centre with a post office, pub (hotel), real estate agencies, take-away shops, a video store, tattoo studio, four opportunity stores, hairdressers and a supermarket. Cardiff has sporting clubs for the following sports: Cricket (Warners Bay-Cardiff Junior Cricket Club, Cardiff-Boolaroo District Cricket Club), Rugby League (Cardiff Cougars, Cardiff Cobras), Football (soccer)(Cardiff JSFC), Lawn Bowls (Cardiff Bowling Club) and Netball (Cardiff Netball Club).

The local police station no longer provides counter services, having been converted into a centre for Highway Patrol officers in around 1998.

History
The first grant to a white settler in the Cardiff area was a parcel of 2560 acre to George Weller in 1833, stretching west of the current Macquarie Road to Argenton and Cockle Creek.

Other selections were taken up by individual settlers from 1862 to the east of the Weller grant. The locality became known as Winding Creek after the stream which wound its way from south-east to north-west across the central valley of the area.

In the latter part of the 19th Century two factors attracted people to the Winding Creek area.

One was coal mining, with the Lymington (1882) and South Wallsend (1884, later renamed Cardiff) collieries both starting production in the vicinity of the current Cardiff South.

The other was the decision to construct the Sydney to Newcastle railway, which led to a navvies camp being established at Winding Creek in 1883, and work continuing through most of the rest of the decade.

The line originally ran close to current Myall Rd, however the gradient from Cardiff up to Tickhole Tunnel proved too steep for the trains of the period, and the line was relocated to the present position a few years after it was opened.

For a short period in the 1880s Lymington became the popular name for the whole Cardiff area, supplanting Winding Creek, however it fell foul of the postal authorities, because of its similarity to another, established locality name. There were a number of Welsh settlers living in the area, and on the suggestion of one of them, James Edwards, the name Cardiff was chosen after the capital of Wales. It was officially adopted in 1889.

Population statistics
Australian Bureau of Statistics data from the 2001 census records the population of Cardiff as 5,039 residents, with a gender mix of 49% males and 51% females in line with the rest of the Australian population. (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2002)

Place of birth

 * Australia (84.8%)
 * England (2.4%)
 * New Zealand (0.9%)
 * Germany (0.9%)
 * Scotland (0.6%)
 * Italy (0.6%)

Main language spoken at home

 * English only (92.2%)
 * Italian (0.6%)
 * Polish (0.5%)
 * German (0.4%)
 * Tagalog (0.3%)
 * Greek (0.2%)

Religion

 * Anglican (28.1%)
 * Catholic (26.1%)
 * No Religion (11.0%)
 * Presbyterian & Reformed (4.1%)

Supermarkets
Cardiff has three supermarkets including a Bi-Lo Store located in Kelton Street. The parent company of Bi-Lo, Coles Group announced in mid 2006 that all Bi-Lo stores would be converted to Coles Supermarkets. However, this plan was dumped and the Cardiff store will remain a Bi-Lo supermarket until further notice. An ALDI store opened in November 2008. The ALDI store is located in a building on Harrison Street, which was renovated after being flooded during the June 2007 storms.

Cardiff previously had a Food For Less Woolworths supermarket, located just south of Main Road, but it burned down in late 2004. During demolition following the fire, the building was found to be contaminated with asbestos and the ground underneath it was found to be contaminated with heavy metals. The rubble was removed and the ground was covered with a concrete slab during remediation. In March 2007, that remediation was completed and the concrete cover was removed. Lake Macquarie City Council approved construction of a new shoping centre on the site, incorporating a Woolworths supermarket and specialist shops on one level, with a carpark underneath. Construction commenced in early 2009 and was surrounded by controversy due to the closure of public toilets and a former council carpark. The carpark was subsequently partially reopened as construction continued. The centre opened in May 2010 after weather related delays.

Car Sales
The suburb is home to a large number of car dealerships, including a Ford dealership, a Holden dealership, a multi-brand dealership selling Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and Kia, an ex-fleet vehicle dealer and several used car dealers.

Industrial Estate
Cardiff is a major employment area thanks to the Cardiff Industrial Estate, which is the highest employing area in the Hunter region.

Around half of that industrial estate is accessible only via one section of Munibung Road, a 2-lane road between two T-intersections (Torrens Avenue and Mitchell Road) which experience frequent crashes. The intersection of Munibung Road with Macquarie Road and Myall Road is the main access point for the entire industrial estate and suffers from some of the most severe congestion in the Hunter Valley.

A proposal exists for the extension of Pennant Street over the railway line to a roundabout connecting to Main Road near Glendale Drive and to the end of Stockland Drive inside the Stockland Glendale shopping centre. The proposal also includes the construction of a new railway station (to be named Glendale) for access to the industrial estate and the Glendale shopping centre. The proposal is ready to proceed but has been awaiting state government funding for several years.

A further proposal exists for the extension of Munibung Road through the redeveloped former Pasminco Sulphide site, connecting through the new light industrial development there to end of Lake Road near Boolaroo. It is hoped that the developer will fund that road as part of that development.

Railway
The main northern railway line passes through Cardiff to the north of the industrial estate and commercial centre. Cardiff railway station is located on Main Road up a steep hill from the commercial centre.

The railway station has a single island platform, which is located between the two tracks. Access to the platform is only available via a staircase that is exposed to the weather and difficult for elderly residents to negotiate. There have been calls for the station to be upgraded to provide access for disabled and infirm people but government funding has not yet been allocated. Concern has been raised by local residents that Cardiff station may not be upgraded if the proposed Glendale station goes ahead.

Two carparks are provided on the southern side of the railway station. A small carpark is located directly alongside the southbound track, while a larger carpark is located down another steep staircase.