Bella Vista, New South Wales

Bella Vista^[a] is located 33 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district and is part of The Hills Shire. It is a suburb in the Hills District of Greater Western Sydney and is in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bella Vista's Norwest Business Park is home to several Fortune 500 companies, a number of shopping centres, high-rise buildings, and industrial and recreational spaces.

History

In 1799

Although claims are made by some that the Seven Hills Farm was used exclusively by the Macarthurs for the breeding of their merino flocks, this is clearly not the case as the documentary evidence of the Macarthur papers shows that their Merino rams were paddocked at Elizabeth Farm at Parramatta.^{[citation needed]} The Seven Hills farm was isolated and stock there were always in danger from theft and aboriginal attack. Two of Macarthur's stockmen were killed on the farm by Indigenous Australians in 1805. In fact the sheep at the Macarthur's Seven Hills farm had their genesis in the 600 sheep which were purchased from Foveaux at the same time as the property. What can justifiably be claimed about the site is that it was one of the first major Australian sheep breeding farms and that the results later achieved at Camden with fine merino sheep only followed Elizabeth's efforts at Seven Hills. Part of this land was later acquired by the Pearce family and became known as Bella Vista.^{[citation needed]}

All the buildings on the site today date from this period of its history with no extant buildings from the Macarthur period. In the 1890s, Edward Henry Pearce (1839–1912) of Bella Vista was declared the "largest and most successful orange grower in the colony." Bella Vista was sold by the Pearce family in 1950.^[2][3]

Until the mid-1990s, the area was primarily used for

• Elizabeth Macarthur Drive: Bella Vista (homestead)^[3]
• Seven Hills Road: Pearce Family Cemetery^[4]

Demographics

According to the

The suburb has 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.

Health services

Bella Vista has numerous established medical centres and dental surgeries, including Norwest Private Hospital on Norbrik Drive, and Hospital for Specialist Surgery located on Solent Circuit.

Shopping centres

Circa Retail is a shopping centre located near Old Windsor Road, featuring a

Corporate hub

In 2006, Woolworths, a public Australian retail company, joined all of its sub-management offices into a $200 million complex in Norwest Business Park in Bella Vista, where their headquarters are now located. Homeart, another Australian retail chain, is also headquartered in Bella Vista.

• 
  Norwest Boulevard

Transport

A major factor in the recent growth of Bella Vista has been its prime location near the end of the Sydney

Until the completion of the Sydney Metro Northwest buses were the only form of public transport available to Bella Vista residents. The suburb is serviced by private bus companies Busways and CDC NSW. Relatively frequent buses connect Bella Vista with the nearby hubs of Parramatta (bus numbers 660, 662, 663, 664 and 665), Castle Hill (bus numbers 730 and 662), Blacktown (bus number 730) and Seven Hills (bus numbers 714 and 715). There are also peak services available directly to St Marys (745), North Sydney (602X) and the CBD (bus numbers 607X, 613X, and 614X). Many routes use the North-West T-way.

Two railway stations now service the area.

Education

Bella Vista is close to many educational institutions including:

• Bella Vista Public School^[6]
• Baulkham Hills High School
• Crestwood High School
• Crestwood Public School^[7]
• Gilroy Catholic College
• Glenwood High School
• Hillsong Church operates the Hillsong International Leadership College
• Matthew Pearce Public School^[8]
• Model Farms High School
• St Michael's Primary School^[9]

Churches

Nearby churches include:

• Hillsong Church, located in Norwest Business Park
• Norwest Anglican Church^[10][11]
• St Michael's Catholic Church in Baulkham Hills

Notes

References