St Leonards is one of the major industrial precincts of Sydney’s Lower North Shore, lying across the local government areas of Municipality of Lane Cove, North Sydney Council and the City of Willoughby. Located five kilometres north-west of the Sydney CBD, the suburb occupies approximately 80 hectares, surrounded by the suburbs of Artarmon and Naremburn in the north, Gore Hill and Osborne Park in the west, Greenwich and Wollstonecraft in the south and Crows Nest in the east.
ABOUT ST LEONARDS
History
Sydney’s North Shore was originally inhabited by the Birrabirragal, Boregal, Ku-ring-gai, Wallumedegal, Gorualgal and Cammeraygal Aboriginal people.
Between 1794 and 1814, the first European settlement was recorded across the land now known as the local government areas of Municipality of Lane Cove, City of Willoughby and North Sydney Council. From 1792 to 1894, this area was known as the Parish of Willoughby, based on the Cumberland County mapping. Originally, St Leonards applied to the area now occupied by North Sydney to Gore Hill.
The LGAs were named after notable European settlers, including John Lane, Sir James Willoughby Gordon and 1st Viscount Sydney of St Leonards Thomas Townshend.
From 1820s up to the 1890s, significant growth spread across the North Shore region following the improvement of access brought by the establishment of roads, railway lines and regular ferry services. Some of the early industries include citrus and stone fruit farming, salt production, flour mills and poultry and egg production. The establishment of the Newcastle and North Shore railway lines and the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, meanwhile, spurred residential and industrial development, beginning the urban transformation across the region. The oldest railway station on the North Shore line opened in 1890 in St Leonards and originally only ran to Hornsby.
During the post-war years, North Shore saw the most significant development, with population and medium- to high-density housing growing rapidly. Several suburbs stood out as growth centres, including Castle Hill, Cherrybrook, Dural, Gordon, Killara, St Ives, Turramurra, Wahroonga, Chatswood, Artarmon, St Leonards and North Sydney.
The 21st century saw urban consolidation across the region, with multiple infrastructure, transport systems and different types of dwellings built to support the needs of the growing population.
Demographics
As of 2016, St Leonards is home to 5,495 people. Apart from Australia-born citizens, which represents about 34.7 per cent of the local population, other residents list their countries of birth as China, India, Japan, Hong Kong and England. Some of the common languages spoken in the suburb apart from English are Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Hindi and Korean.
The suburb, like most of the land in the North Shore region, is predominantly residential, with significant rural, commercial and industrial use as well as parklands, reserves, waterways, foreshores, beaches and bushlands.
LIFESTYLE
Like Chatswood, Lane Cove and North Sydney, St Leonards’ commercial centre acts as one of the centres of business in Sydney’s North Shore region.
St Leonards boasts one of Sydney’s suburban skyscraper clusters, with major offices for large companies including Toyota Financial Services, Lenovo, Forum Group, Macquarie Radio Network and IBM. The NSW Department of Education and Training also hosts their Information Technology Directorate at Herbert Street, while Fox Sports television studios currently resides at the Gore Hill Technology Park.
The suburb is also the site of The Forum, a property built over the railway station, with three commercial office buildings housing companies like Cisco Systems, Verizon Business and Getty Images, two residential towers containing over 700 apartments, an independent mini-supermarket and more than 30 food and retail shops. The Forum Tower, with 38 stories, has 483 apartments, many of which boasts a panoramic view of the city skyline, while the Forum Plaza, with 25 stories, has 290 apartments.
Public transport
St Leonards railway station joins the North Shore & Western Line of the Sydney Trains network, giving residents access to the city and other surrounding suburbs.
Similarly, the Pacific Highway serves as the major road through the suburb.
Schools and universities
- University of Technology, Sydney
- Northern Sydney TAFE
Hospitals
- Royal North Shore Hospital
- North Shore Private Hospital
Landmarks
- Northside Community Church
- Royal North Shore Hospital Chapel
Shopping centers
- The Forum
- Westfield Shopping
- Coles Supermarkets
Sports and recreation
- Gore Hill Oval
- Northern Suburbs Rugby Club clubhouse
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