Wentworth Point

Wentworth Point is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

Wentworth Point is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 13 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, on the eastern edge of the local government area of City of Parramatta. It is on the western shore of Homebush Bay on the southern side of the Parramatta River. Wentworth Point is usually regarded as part of the Greater Western Sydney region, including in administrative contexts, but it is also regarded as part of the Inner West region of Sydney in some contexts, especially commercial contexts.

This suburb was once part of the suburb of Homebush Bay, named after the bay with a natural and artificial shoreline on the southern side of the Parramatta River. Homebush Bay is itself named after the nearby estate of "Home Bush", established in the 1800s by the colonies assistant surgeon D'Arcy Wentworth. According to local government historian Michael Jones, "Wentworth is popularly credited with having called the area after his 'home in the bush', although Homebush is also a place in Kent." Wentworth Point, the point on the western extremity of the bay, and Wentworth Bay, the nearby inlet on the western shore of Homebush Bay, are named after the Wentworth family - the bay has now disappeared due to land reclamation. Part of the present location of Wentworth Point was Mud Island, which became connected with the mainland due to land reclamation.In the 1860s and 1870s, the arrival of the railway led to residential development to the south of Parramatta Road, in the present-day suburbs of Homebush and Strathfield. Inspired by the successes of these nearby subdivisions, the owners of the Home Bush Estate also attempted to develop the estate by subdivision. Subdivisions in the Homebush Bay area began in 1881, when parts of the former Home Bush Estate north of Parramatta Road, extending to the tip of the peninsula which later became Wentworth Point, were subdivided as the "Homebush Park Estate". In 1883, Fitzwilliam Wentworth attempted another subdivision, to be called the 'Wentworth Estate'. However, this and subsequent subdivision proposals were not successful, and other than the lots adjacent to Parramatta Road, most of the land remained unsold and was sparsely populated. InParts of the area turned to industrial use, such as a new government abattoir built in 1907.Present-day Wentworth Point was part of the Borough of Rookwood proclaimed on 8 December 1891, which was renamed the "Municipality of Lidcombe" in 1913. The Municipality of Lidcombe merged into Auburn Council in 1948. Present-day Wentworth Point was part of suburb of Lidcombe, and part the area known as "North Lidcombe".

Much of the modern suburb is reclaimed land, created by draining and filling in the northwestern shore of Homebush Bay which began in 1949. The northern part of the peninsula was named Wentworth Point and gazetted in 1976. After it was reclaimed from the bay, Wentworth Point was used for a variety of industrial uses.

Notable businesses include Ralph Symonds, a plywood manufacturer, which used the river as a transport route for large logs, which were then moored in Homebush Bay while awaiting processing. Other activities have included McPhee Transport depot, the former Head Office and warehouse space for Hyundai Australia and a transmission tower for Sydney radio station 2GB.

de Havilland Marine (Large Craft) was located on the waters edge at Homebush Bay. Due to a lack of new business it closed its doors in 1982. In the years prior it manufactured various large aluminium craft for both the local and international market. These included Carpentaria Class Patrol Boats for Burma & the Solomon Islands, Titan Work Boats for the New South Wales government, and the hulls of the Nepean Bell which still operates on the Nepean River in NSW.

North Lidcombe was renamed "Homebush Bay" in 1989 and nearby parts of the peninsula began to be redeveloped in the 1990s. Prior to the move of the Royal Agricultural Society showgrounds from Moore Park to Homebush Bay (as the area of Sydney Olympic Park was then known) in 1998, much of Wentworth Point was bought by Payce Consolidated Limited. Sydney Olympic Park ferry wharf opened in 1997 at the tip of the peninsula.

Auburn Council renamed the future waterfront residential area as the suburb of Wentworth Point on 2 October 2009 after the council sought public comment on a proposal to rename the suburb of Homebush Bay, to remove confusion with its namesake (but separate) suburb of Homebush. The area encompassing Sydney Olympic Park was given autonomy as a suburb. The Carter Street industrial precinct was absorbed by the neighbouring suburb of Lidcombe, and therefore the suburb of Homebush Bay ceased to exist.

Wentworth Point was rezoned from industrial use to residential use in 2013. As well as residential development, the plan called for cultural and commercial development in the new suburb.

Auburn Council was suspended in 2016 due to dysfunction, and later in 2016 it was abolished, with different parts of the former council area merged into different councils. Wentworth Point became part of the City of Parramatta. Media reports prior to the final merger decision suggested that some residents wanted Wentworth Point to instead be allocated to the City of Canada Bay.Most of Wentworth Point is now zoned for medium to high density residential development. The new Wentworth Point Public School opened in 2018 and already has around 300 students.