Lane Cove, New South Wales

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Lane Cove is a suburb in the Municipality of Lane Cove, on the North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

1 Characteristics
2 History
3 Population
4 Transportation
5 Local landmarks
- 5.1 Lane Cove Library
- 5.2 Lane Cove Aquatic Centre
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Characteristics

Lane Cove has a large community feel that centres on the "plaza" and the shopping and restaurant centre that stretches across Longueville Road and down Burns Bay Road. There are a number of small specialty stores in this area, as well as a large number of restaurants and cafes. At the end of Longueville Road is the Longueville Hotel. This is the only pub in the local area.

Pedestrian Plaza in Lane Cove, taken 5 April 2005 facing East.

Although there are some historical properties in the area, the general atmosphere is one of modernity. From the Lane Cove Swimming Pool to the townhouse complexes along the main road to Longueville, Lane Cove has a very suburban feel that is unusual so close to the city.

Around 16% of the area is devoted to public recreational areas including Burns Bay Park, Tambourine Bay Park and Tantallon Oval. As well as this there is a large amount of bushland surrounding the river's edge especially near Riverview. Lane Cove also has many small creeks and rivers that flow through it and therefore has many expanses of bushland. The Lane Cove River is the largest river in the area.

Although Lane Cove is primarily a residential area, it contains several large businesses, including poker machine manufcturing company Aristocrat Leisure Limited, the Australian headquarters of statistical software company SAS, and the headquarters of hearing implant developer and manufacturer Cochlear Limited.

[edit] History

Prior to the arrival of the First Fleet, the area was inhabited by the Cam-mer-ray-gal Group of the Ku-ring-gai Aboriginal Tribe. However once the white settlers had arrived, it was Lieutenant Ralph Clark who first landed not too far from the entrance to the Lane Cove River on 14 February 1790.

There are a number of possibilities of the origin of the name "Lane Cove". The first written use of the name was by Lieutenant William Bradley after he had just sailed along the river in 1788. Some have argued that the it was named after Lieutenant Michael Lane, a respected cartographer, who had once worked with Captain Cook. Others say that it was in honour of John Lane, who was the son of the London Lord Mayor at the time as well as a good friend of the first Governor, Arthur Phillip. In any case, the name stuck, and by the 1800s was being used to refer to all the land north of the river.

There were land grants in 1794 to some privates and non-commissioned officers in the New South Wales Corp, however not many of these grants were actually settled as the steep, timbered land was not particularly habitable. However Lane Cove was an excellent source for timber and other commodities that the settlers required. During the 19th century, farms and dairies were also established. There were also many industrial and manufacturing factories constructed around Greenwich.

Most of the residential growth in the area however occurred after Second World War when returning soldiers were granted blocks of land around Lane Cove. The land value, which was cheap during this time, surged during the 1980s and 1990s when the water views, large suburban blocks, ease of transport and quiet streets became hugely popular. Longueville with its beautiful views of the city is one of the richest suburbs in Sydney.

Robert Dessaix's autobiography, A Mother's Disgrace, contains a memoir of growing up in Lane Cove in the 1950s.

[edit] Population

According to the 2001 Census, there were 30756 people living in Lane Cove including 14870 males (48.35%) and 15886 females (51.65%). The majority (64.6%) were born in Australia, with the other main countries of birth being the United Kingdom (5.9%), New Zealand (2.7%) and China (1.9%). The most popular type of dwelling was a separate house (48.9%).

[edit] Transportation

The suburb is notable for many Sydney car-commuters as it is the meeting point of the Gore Hill Freeway, which brings cars from the city, the airport and the south with two major roads - the Pacific Highway which travels north and Epping Road which goes north-west. The huge amount of traffic that converges at these intersections during peak hours of the day has made some of the sections of road (in particular the Epping Road-Longueville Road intersection) considered some of the worst in Sydney. The community outcry led to the construction of the Lane Cove Tunnel which opened on Sunday March 25 2007 and takes vehicles straight from the Gore Hill Expressway to the M2, which means that a car can travel all the way from Baulkham Hills to the airport without having to go through a single set of traffic lights (although there are tolls to pay in each direction).

The closest train stations are Chatswood and Artarmon, and with this distance it is not surprising that according to the 2001 census, only 4.1% of the population travelled to work by train alone. Other ways to travel include the train and bus (1.7%), walking or cycling (5.9%), the bus only (14.3%) and car (71.0%).

There is also a ferry that travels someway down the Lane Cove River, stopping at Longueville Wharf and Greenwich Wharf.

[edit] Local landmarks

[edit] Lane Cove Library

Lane Cove Library, taken 5 April 2005

Lane Cove Library is operated by the council and is a member of the Shorelink Library Network, allowing residents to borrow books from libraries throughout the Lower North Shore. Council passed a vote in late 2004 for a major shopping retailer to redevelop parts of Lane Cove, which would also require the construction of a new library.

[edit] Lane Cove Aquatic Centre

Lane Cove Aquatic centre was operated by Lane Cove Council and was developed recently in 2003. It contains a 50 metre swimming pool which was incidentally, there before the new renovations. In the new block, there is a 25 metre swimming pool along with a shallow pool for toddlers and young children. There is also an aquatic section where there are water springs and many other facilities including a sauna and spa. For your own needs, there is also a kiosk.