Villawood, New South Wales

Villawood, a suburb of local government areas City of Bankstown and City of Fairfield, is 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia is a part of the Greater Western Sydney region.

Villawood is a residential suburb with its name often associated with the notoriety of the detention centre located here.

History
The Aboriginal tribe of Gandangara once lived in the area. European settlement began in the early 1840s. During the 1860s, Villawood was used as pastoral land, but it was overrun with wild and rabid dogs. Woodville Road, which runs through Villawood, was once named Dog Trap Road because many farmers set dog traps for these wild dogs. A train station opened in 1922 to service the area was originally known as Woodville Road. Unfortunately, there was confusion with another place called Woodville in the Hunter Valley and thus the name was transposed into 'Villawood'.

Schools and churches
There are also day and community centres, two schools, and several Christian churches. Recently, new buildings have been built for the Sacred Heart Primary school.

Commercial area
Villawood Place was once a major shopping centre, serving the surrounding areas. After nearby Bass Hill Plaza opened, many Villawood businesses went into decline, leaving a legacy of abandoned shop fronts and buildings, including the abandoned Franklins supermarket and large Australia Post office. There has been rejuvenation and renovation of Woodville (Villawood) Place since with construction of the new Aldi supermarket, a bakery, chemists, grocers and other shops. It is located in proximity to Villawood railway station. A business park in Villawood holds enterprises concerning hardware products, furniture, auto parts and second-hand goods. Leightonfield railway station services an industrial area in the eastern part of Villawood.

Vilawood now houses a variety of youth recreational and entertainment venues including AMF Bowling, Wiggles World, M9 Laser Skirmish, Sydney Indoor Climbing Gym, and Kartatak go-karting, and further recreational and food attractions are planned. These are all part of a complex called The Woods Action Centre, which is located on the northern side of the railway line, directly across the road from the station on the Villawood station exit which is opposite the shopping centre. And for fast food, Villawood has KFC, McDonalds, Dominos, and Burger King.

Villawood Detention Centre
Villawood is home to Villawood Immigration Detention Centre, a detention facility used in the processing of asylum seekers and illegal immigrants.

Transport
Villawood railway station and Leightonfield railway station are on the Bankstown Line of the Sydney Trains network.

Sport and recreation
Apart from the Woods Action centre (see above) which includes Indoor Climbing, Ten-pin bowling, Go-karting and the Wiggles indoor play centre, Villawood is home to three other major sport and recreation areas: The Wran Leisure Centre, Thurina Park and Villawood Skatepark.

The Wran Leisure Centre (named after Neville Wran) houses a swimming pool, tennis courts, a gymnasium and squash courts. Thurina Park houses two multi purpose purpose sporting fields that cater for soccer, cricket and baseball. Thurina Park is also home to the Villawood United Soccer Club.

Population
Villawood is an ethnically diverse suburb, typical of south western Sydney. There is a predominantly Vietnamese, and increasing Lebanese community in Villawood. There are also Pacific Islanders, Eastern Europeans and some British in the suburb. Around 35.5% of the citizens come from non-English speaking backgrounds.

According to the 2001 census, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the population declined slightly from around 4,007 to 3,328. Villawood has a high proportion of young children aged 5–11 and seniors over 65.