City of Rockdale

The City of Rockdale is a Local Government Area in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The city centre is located 12 kilometres south-south-west of the Sydney central business district, on the western shores of Botany Bay. The city is part of the St George area which contains the three local government areas of the City of Rockdale, City of Hurstville and Municipality of Kogarah. It is also part of the Southern Sydney region.

The City of Rockdale has been previously known as the Municipality of West Botany and the Municipality of Rockdale. The City of Rockdale was declared in 1995.

Suburbs in the local government area

Suburbs in the City of Rockdale are:

• Arncliffe
• Banksia
• Bardwell Park
• Bardwell Valley
• Bexley
• Bexley North
• Brighton-Le-Sands
• Dolls Point
• Kingsgrove
• Kogarah
• Kyeemagh
• Monterey
• Ramsgate
• Ramsgate Beach
• Rockdale
• Sandringham
• Sans Souci
• Sydney Airport
• Turrella
• Wolli Creek

The City of Rockdale also manages and maintains the following localities:

• Bardwell Creek
• Cooks Cove
• Lady Robinson Beach
• Muddy Creek
• Rocky Point
• Sandringham Bay
• St Kilda Point

History

The City of Rockdale was originally known as the West Botany Municipality. The Municipality of West Botany was declared on the 13th January 1871 and covered nine square miles in 1884. It included much of the land which was later used to build Sydney Airport. The West Botany name was officially changed to Rockdale in 1887, when land was being sub-divided for residential development. Among the main developers during this period was Frederick Jamison Gibbes, a Member of Parliament whose name is perpetuated by Gibbes Street in Banksia.

The area of the municipality was reduced when the mouth of Cooks River was moved further south of its original position in the mid 1940s, to allow for the extension of Sydney Airport. Only a small part of the airport remains in the local government area today. As the city's population increased, more suburbs were created within its boundaries. The Municipality of Rockdale was declared a city in 1995, and is now known as the City of Rockdale.

Demographics

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the City of Rockdale had a population of 87,864 in 2001. Indigenous peoples accounted for .5% of this or 402 peoples. 45,832 people were born in Australia while 35,264 were born overseas.

There was a mixture of ancestries recorded in the City of Rockdale. The most numerous were:

Ancestry	Number	%
Australian	15,311	17.4%
English	14,886	16.9%
Greek	9,998	11.3%
Chinese	8,103	7.1%
Lebanese	5,829	6.6%

39,255 people spoke English only while 42,483 spoke a language other than English.

Language	Number of Speakers	Percentage
English	39,255	44.8%
Greek	8,533	9.7%
Arabic	7,319	8.3%
Macedonian	5,498	6.3%

References

• Geeves, Phillip and Jervis, J (1986) Rockdale: its beginning and development Revised Edition
• Sands Post Office Directories (1880-1932/33)(POD)

External links

• Rockdale City Council website
• 2001 Census Information
• Rockdale Chamber of Commerce