Chester Hill, New South Wales

Chester Hill, a suburb of local government area City of Bankstown is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is part of the Greater Western Sydney region. Chester Hill shares the postcode of 2162 with the neighbouring suburb of Sefton.

History
The name for Chester Hill is an inversion of Hillchester which some have thought to be an English locality but such does not seem to exist. 'Chester' is one of the English forms of the Latin word 'castra' meaning a fortified camp. The name for the suburb was conferred by Mrs H. A. McMillan, who first wished to call the place Hillcrest, after an estate near Regent's Park, and then Hillchester but neither of these names met with official approval.

Originally part of John Thomas Campbell's estate, known as Campbell Hill, it covered 1000 acre. Land was used for market gardens and orchards until the opening of the railway line in 1924 when the area developed into residential and light industrial.

A significant tract of land between Priam and Hector Streets had been occupied by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) from the 1960s. This area was used for accommodation and mess facilities for the nearby 2 Stores Depot (Regents Park) and the Ground Equipment Maintenance Squadron (Villawood). These properties were disposed of and subsequently acquired first by the Southern Cross Bible College and then by Salamah (Muslim) College.

Commercial area
Chester Square in Chester Hill is a newly developed shopping centre, catering for the catchment of Chester Hill, Sefton, Birrong and Bass Hill, and directly situated behind the main road of Waldron Road. Amenities in the suburb include the Chester Hill branch of the Bankstown City Library, Chester Hill Fire Station, a community centre, and an RSL Club.

Transport
Chester Hill railway station is on the Bankstown Line of the CityRail network.

Schools
There are four schools in Chester Hill, Chester Hill Public School and Chester Hill North Public School, which cater for years Kindergarten to Year 6, Chester Hill High School catering for Years 7 to 12, and Salamah (Muslim) College only established in 2012.

Parks and recreation
Parks in Chester Hill include the Terry Lamb Complex, which incorporates Frank Bamfield Oval, and Abbott Park which is home to the Chester Hill Youth Cricket Club and Chester Hill Hornets Junior Rugby League club. Recreational amenities also include an RSL club, bowling club and community garden.

Churches
St John Mark's Parish Church (Anglican), Proctor Parade (that replaced St Mark's Church, Campbell Hill Road), St Columba's Presbyterian Church, Baptist Church (both in Priam Street), and Gnadenfrei, German Lutheran Church.

Demographics
According to the 2011 Census, there were 11,752 residents in Chester Hill. 54.8% of people were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were Vietnam 10.1%, Lebanon 6.5% and China 3.0%. In Chester Hill 39.1% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 20.0%, Vietnamese 11.9% and Cantonese 5.5%. The median household weekly income in Chester Hill was $935, lower than the national median of $1,234.

Notable residents

 * Christian Heim - Composer and medical researcher who grew up in Chester Hill.
 * Terry Lamb - Former rugby league player with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Australian Test side&mdash;a long-term Chester Hill resident.
 * Rebecca Rippon - Australian women's water polo player and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games bronze medallist
 * Dr Michael Bialoguski - Part-time ASIO agent who arranged the 1954 defection of Soviet diplomat Vladimir Petrov

Politics
Chester Hill is part of the City of Bankstown. The area to the north of the pipeline is part of the City of Parramatta. For state elections, Chester Hill is split between the electorates of Bankstown, Fairfield and Auburn. Federally, it lies in the electorate of Blaxland.