Bardwell Park, New South Wales

Bardwell Park is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bardwell Park is located 12 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the St George area. Bardwell Park is in the local government area of the City of Rockdale. The postcode is 2207. Bardwell Valley is a separate suburb, to the east.

History
Bardwell Park was named after free settler Thomas Hill Bardwell who owned land in the area. His grant was originally heavily timbered and bounded by Wolli Creek, Dowling Street and Wollongong Road. In 1881, the land was auctioned and 1600 acre were subdivided. The railway station opened on 21 September 1931 which opened up the area for home sites. The school opened in September 1943 and the post office opened in May 1946.

Bardwell Park and Wolli Creek Valley
Bardwell Park borders an extremely important piece of remnant bushland, the Wolli Creek Valley, beside Wolli Creek. There have been very active movements fighting for its preservation in the face of demands for land. The most successful of these prevented the building of the M5 South Western Motorway through the valley, resulting in the road being built as a tunnel under the valley. Nevertheless, community concern remains over what is seen as the release of unfiltered particle pollution from exhaust emissions into the atmosphere in the Bardwell Valley.

The Wolli Creek Valley contains the only bushland of any size left in inner south-west Sydney. It is also the only large, high-quality open space that remains in a heavily developed residential and industrial region. The valley is unique in offering easy public transport access, beautiful family picnic areas, extensive views, extensive bushland, rugged sandstone escarpments, walking tracks, parkland, heathland & woodland forest, great birdwatching and a 60ha regional park under development.

See also Wolli Creek Preservation Society

Commercial area
Bardwell Park is a leafy, predominantly residential area but features a small shopping centre around Hartill-Law Avenue and Slade Road, beside the Bardwell Park railway station. Local shops include the famous chicken shop, a new cafe, a cake shop, bottle shop, chemist, doctors surgery, a florist, two hairdressers and a barber shop. The Bardwell Park - Earlwood RSL is also located beside the railway station and includes a new gym and the club has undergone a funky renovation in October 2011. The station is only 500 m from the centre of Earlwood shopping centre with its buzzing cafe and restaurant strip and a Coles supermarket.

Transport
Bardwell Park railway station is on the East Hills line of the CityRail network. Bardwell Park is also serviced by bus services, including State Transit Authority route 473 from Campsie to Rockdale and route 491 from Five Dock to Hurstville.

The M5 South Western Motorway runs beneath parts of Bardwell Park in a 4 km tunnel. The nearest entrances to travel south-west towards Beverly Hills and Liverpool are located at Arncliffe and Bexley North. The nearest entrances to travel north-east towards Botany and the city are located at Kingsgrove and Arncliffe.

Bardwell Park is the only suburb in Sydney without traffic lights.

Demographics
According to the 2011 Census of Population, there were 2,266 residents in Bardwell Park. 62.9% of residents were born in Australia. The most common other countries of birth were China 6.5%, Greece 5.6% and England 2.1%. 50.0% of residents spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Greek 19.3%, Mandarin 5.6% and Arabic 4.0%. The most common responses for religious affiliation were Catholic 25.5%, Eastern Orthodox 25.4% and No Religion 17.2%.