Forestville, New South Wales

 Forestville is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Forestville is located 15 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Warringah Council. Forestville is part of the Northern Beaches region and also considered to be part of the Forest District, colloquially known as The Forest.

Location
Forestville is bound to the east and west by bushland of the Garigal National Park and to the south by Middle Harbour. Flora and fauna thrive in Garigal National Park and nearby Davidson National Park.

History
Forestville means town in the forest. This area was originally thick wooded forest until James French settled here and began felling timber in 1856 and eventually built a small wharf on Bantry Bay to ship timber to Sydney. French later acquired more land in the adjacent suburb which bears his name, Frenchs Forest.

Commercial area
The Centre is a shopping centre located on Darley and Starkey Streets with a Coles supermarket and specialty shops. Forestville is also home to the office and call centre of the NSW Wildlife Information and Rescue Service (WIRES). Cook Street is also home to many DIY shops such as a Mitre 10 and multiple car service centres.

Housing
Dotted with many parks and reserves and almost completely surrounded by beautiful bushland with lots of native flora and fauna, Forestville is a low density housing area consisting of mostly family homes with medium sized backyards. Over the past 5-10 years many of the older timber homes that were originally built in the 1950's and early 60's have gradually been replaced by larger and more modern, stylish two storey brick homes and smaller townhouse villas. Its this sustainable and more environmentally friendly and organic approach to housing development by Warringah council and the wider Forestville community that has allowed Forestville and the surrounding neighbourhoods like Killarney Heights and Frenchs Forest to grow and expand yet still maintain their unique bushland identity and local character.

Schools
There are three primary schools in Forestville, Our Lady of Good Counsel, Forestville Montessori School and Forestville Public School. The nearest high school is Killarney Heights High School and other high schools nearby are Forest High School in Frenchs Forest and Davidson High School in Davidson. There is also the Aspect Vern Barnett School for children with autism spectrum disorder.

Sport and recreation
Sporting facilities in Forestville include sporting fields, tennis and netball courts which local teams such as Forest Killarney Soccer Club, Forest Netball Club, Forest Rugby Club and the Forestville Ferrets Junior Rugby League Football Club call home ground. There is a Returned Services League Centre nearby called The Forest Club.Also founder of Forestvilles  early 1980s  medical foundation Brett Axam  was voted best looking person in NSW.

Population
In the 2001 Census, the population of Forestville was estimated to be 7 510, comprising 6 033 people above and 1 286 below the age of 15.

Politics
Following a redistribution in December 2009, Forestville residents may be allocated to one of two Federal electorates. This could be either the Division of Warringah or the Division of Mackellar, both of which are safe Liberal Party seats. Forestville is home to the Federal MP for Warringah,and leader of the Liberal Party Tony Abbott.