Bella Vista, New South Wales
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Bella Vista is a suburb in the Hills District area of Sydney, Australia. It lies wholly within Baulkham Hills Shire, and is approximately 30 kilometres west of the CBD. Its postcode is 2153. Surrounding suburbs include Glenwood, Kellyville, Baulkham Hills and Kings Langley.
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[edit] History
Bella Vista has only recently been developed as a residential area. Until the mid-1990s, the area was primarily used for small-scale agriculture.
In 1799, Joseph Foveaux was granted 300 acres, which he sold to John Macarthur in 1801. John and Elizabeth Macarthur farmed sheep on this property before establishing them at Camden. Part of this land was later acquired by the Pearce family and became known as Bella Vista Farm. In the 1890s, Bella Vista Farm was declared the largest orchard in NSW. Since then, significant changes have become apparent, as it incorporates a residential area and a busy business district.
The suburb now sports several shopping complexes and a major hotel. It is rapidly becoming the main business centre within the Hills District. The biggest commercial area is the Norwest Business Park on Norwest Boulevard to the east. Norwest Business Park incorporates retail, commercial, industrial and hotel developments. The industrial areas in West Bella Vista are still heavily under development, with many new warehouses appearing recently.
[edit] Transport
A major factor in the recent growth of Bella Vista has been its prime location near the end of the Sydney M2 motorway. The motorway (opened in 1997) means that in very good traffic conditions takes just over half an hour to get from Bella Vista to the CBD. However, during peak hours, this drive is much longer. This also puts Bella Vista close to two major north-south transport routes through Sydney, the Cumberland Highway and the Westlink M7.
Buses are the only form of public transport available to Bella Vista residents. The suburb is serviced by Hillsbus, a private bus company. Relatively frequent buses connect Bella Vista with the nearby hubs of Parramatta, Castle Hill (bus number 715) and Seven Hills. There are also peak services available directly to the CBD.
The closest railway station is at Seven Hills. Several proposals have been released by the New South Wales state government to develop a train line with a stop at Norwest near Hillsong Church, but nothing concrete is currently planned. The proposed $360 million North West Rail Link would be the main public transport line linking residents of North West Sydney with Epping, Chatswood, North Sydney and Sydney CBD. It would also improve access to Castle Hill Norwest Business Park and Rouse Hill.
[edit] Local services
Bella Vista is close to many schools including Crestwood High and Primary, Matthew Pearce Primary and Baulkham Hills High. In Norwest, there is a shopping centre which include services such as food outlets (Subway, Gloria Jeans, Michelles Patesserie, Joeys'), movie rentals (Blockbuster), supermarket (Coles), small electronic and clothing stores and a day care center. Bella Vista is also the home of the Hillsong Church, located in Norwest Business Park.
[edit] Corporate hub
In 2006, Woolworths Limited, a public Australian retail company, joined all of its sub-management offices into a $200 million complex in Norwest Business Park in Bella Vista. The move meant Bella Vista was listed in Fortune's Global 500 list as one of the cities where Global 500 companies have their headquarters, ranked above Singapore, Miami and Baltimore and alongside Bangkok and Boston.
Other large scale corporations with corporate headquarters in the Norwest Busisness Park include ResMed, AAMI Insurance and the Reserve Bank of Australia.
[edit] External links
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- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
| Suburbs and localities within the Baulkham Hills Shire | Hills District | Western Sydney | Sydney |
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Annangrove | Baulkham Hills | Beaumont Hills | Bella Vista | Box Hill | Burnside | Carlingford | Castle Hill | Cattai | Crestwood | Glenhaven | Glenorie | Hillside | Kellyville | Kenthurst | Maroota | Maroota South | Middle Dural | Nelson | North Rocks | Oatlands | Rogans Hill | Rouse Hill | Sackville North | West Pennant Hills | |
| List of Sydney suburbs |
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