Baulkham Hills, New South Wales

For the state electoral district, seeElectoral district of Baulkham Hills.

Baulkham Hills New South Wales
The Bull and Bush Hotel
Population	37,415 (SAL2021)
Established	1794
Postcode(s)	2153
Elevation	103 m (338 ft)
Location	30 km (19 mi) north-west ofSydney CBD
LGA(s)	The Hills City of Parramatta
State electorate(s)	Castle Hill Kellyville Winston Hills
Federal division(s)	Mitchell
Suburbs around Baulkham Hills: Bella Vista Norwest Castle Hill Kings Langley Baulkham Hills West Pennant Hills Winston Hills Northmead North Rocks

Baulkham Hills(/bɔːˈkʌm/;colloquially known asBaulko) is asuburbin theHills DistrictofGreater Sydney,in the state ofNew South Wales,Australia.It is located within 30 kilometres north-west of theSydney central business districtmostly within thelocal government areaofThe Hills Shire,of which Baulkham Hills was formerly the administrative seat and namesake of The Hills Shire. A small section of the suburb which is located south of theHills Motorway-Windsor Roadintersection is part of theCity of Parramatta.

Geography

Baulkham Hills is predominately a residential suburb of theHills District.Baulkham Hills Junction is the intersection of three major roads;Windsor Road,Old Northern Road, and Seven Hills Road. The suburb is bounded byOld Windsor Roadand theNorth-West T-wayin the west; Junction Road in the south which is parallel to theHills Motorway,forming part of theNational Highway.

History

The land that is now called Baulkham Hills was originally home to theBidjigalpeople, who are believed to be a clan of theDarug people,who occupied all the land to the immediate west of Sydney. The best-knownAboriginalperson from that time isPemulwuy,a Bidjigal leader who led the Indigenous resistance movement against the British forces, including sacking farms inCastle Hill,before his eventual capture and execution by the British militia.

The Bidjigal people are today commemorated byBidjigal Reservewhich straddles the suburbs ofCastle Hill,Baulkham Hills,North Rocks,andWest Pennant Hills.

The first European settler in the Baulkham Hills Shire was William Joyce, who arrived in Australia in October, 1791. In December, 1794, he was given a grant of 30 acres (121,000 m²) in what became Baulkham Hills.He built a farmhouse on this land, but it was damaged by a fire in 1804, so he rebuilt it.The house still stands; however, it is now on a 2,055 m²property which backs onto Old Windsor Road.The suburb was largely made up of land grants until the mid 19th century, when many of these started to be subdivided into farms. This was accelerated by the construction of theRogans Hill Railway Line.Urban developments were expedited from the 1960s. The name Baulkham Hills was given to the area by Andrew McDougall, a settler fromBuckholm Hills,County of Roxburgh,Scotland.The name, which reminded McDougall of his homeland, was officially recognised in 1802.Baulkham Hills Post Office opened on 1 April 1856.

On 29 June 2018, northern portions of the suburb of Baulkham Hills were proclaimed as parts of the new suburbs ofNorwestandBella Vista.This area contained the commercial district ofNorwest Business Park,which is no longer within Baulkham Hills.

Heritage listings

Baulkham Hills has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Seven Hills Road, Bella Vista:Pearce Family Cemetery

Demographics

According to the2021 census,there were 37,415 residents in Baulkham Hills. 56.8% of residents were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were China 8.2%, India 7.5%, England 2.3%, South Korea 2.1% and Sri Lanka 1.7%. 55.6% of residents spoke only English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 10.2%, Cantonese 4.2%, Hindi 3.2%, Korean 2.8% and Tamil 2.1%. The most common responses for religious affiliation wereNo Religion, so described29.7%,Catholic23.4%,Anglican10.8% andHinduism8.9%.

Transport

Express bus services and the newSydney Metro North Westline services the suburb.

At the intersection known as Baulkham Hills Junction several major roads meet including: Seven Hills Road, Old Northern Road andWindsor Road.The fastest route from theSydney CBDis via theM2 Hills Motorway,exiting at Windsor Road.

Buses are run byCDC NSW,providing services to the nearby commercial centres and railway stations of Castle Hill,Parramattaand frequent services to the Sydney CBD. Routes 610X (formerlyroute M61), 614X and 615X are express buses to the City which run via bus lanes on the M2 motorway. Route 612X services toNorth Sydneyand route 619 services toMacquarie Parkalso use the M2 motorway. Route 613X is a Hillsbus express route from Chanel Lane in Baulkham Hills to the Queen Victoria Building near Town Hall Station.

Route 600 (formerlyroute M60) provides a high-frequency service to the areas around Parramatta,Pennant HillsandHornsby.

In the past, theRogans Hill railway lineconnected the suburb to Parramatta. Railway Street near Baulkham Hills Junction is a reminder of this. It was closed down in 1930 due to traffic problems on Windsor Road and large financial losses. Land owned by the rail authority was sold to the Hills Bowling Club in the mid-1970s to build their two front bowling greens.

Commercial area

Grove Square

Grove Square is ashopping centrelocated between Windsor Road and Old Northern Road, and covers the entire northern expanse of Olive Street. It features supermarkets operated byColes,Woolworths,andAldiplus 70 specialty shops. A redevelopment was completed in 2008 to significantly expand the floor space of the centre.

Hospital

The Hills Private Hospitalon Windsor Road (near the corner of Merindah Road) was redeveloped into a rehabilitation and mental health hospital, after the hospital's owners,Healthscope,moved its operations to the nearby Norwest Business Park. After the acute Hospital was reopened in the Norwest Business Park (Norwest Private Hospital), The Hills Private Hospital was then converted into a rehabilitation and mental health hospital. The hospital includes a 86-bed rehabilitation unit and a 25-bed mental health unit, providing both inpatient and day program services.

Parks and reserves

Baulkham Hills features a number of parks and reserves, such as theBidjigal Reserve(previously known as Excelsior Reserve), with native fauna such as koalas, swamp wallabies, echidnas, and eastern water dragons. Smaller reserves include the Sophia Doyle reserve and the Crestwood Reserve, which are habitat to brushtail and ringtail possums and a wide range of birds and lizards.

The Baulkham Hills Shire Bushland Conservation Committee is a voluntary committee of Council that assists with the management of the Shire's bushland.

Schools

• Matthew Pearce Public School
• Crestwood High School
• Crestwood Public School
• Baulkham Hills High School
• Model Farms High School
• Baulkham Hills North Public School
• Jasper Road Public School
• St. Michael's Primary School
• Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School

Baulkham Hills High School also has anArmy CadetUnit, which is open only to students at Baulkham Hills High School.

Places of worship

Baulkham Hills has some 15 places of worship belonging to variousChristiandenominations including:

• St. Michaels Catholic Church
• Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church
• Holy Trinity Anglican Church
• Crossway Anglican Church
• St Matthews Uniting Church
• The headquarters ofHillsong
• Norwest Anglican Church(Chapel Lane is the evening congregation)
• Africa Inland Mission International

A Baha'i Spiritual Assembly is also located in the suburb.

Culture

Baulkham Hills has a public library. It does not have a theatre or a cinema; although these are found in the adjacent suburb ofCastle Hillwhere many residents make use of them. The regionscommunity radiostation,Alive 90.5,broadcasts from studios and a transmission tower in the suburb.

• 
  Old Northern Road at Baulkham Hills
• 
  Old Northern Road at Baulkham Hills
• 
  Windsor Road at Baulkham Hills
• 
  Norwest Lake

Events

The annual Orange Blossom Festival is held in Baulkham Hills Shire each September. The HYPE Festival is held every April during National Youth Week and again in September during the Orange Blossom festival and attracts large crowds of youths each year. It has featured high-profile Australian music acts such asGerling,Something With Numbers,Parkway Drive,andThe Getaway Plan.

Notable residents

• Doug Bollinger,cricketer
• Tom Burton,Sailor and Olympic Gold Medalist
• Delta Goodrem,pop singer and actress.
• Denise Hofman, co-author of "Forever Nine,a study ofMichael Guider
• Nick Phipps,rugby union player
• Jana Pittman,Olympic athlete
• Mitchell Starc,Australian cricketer
• Ray Warren,TV personality and football commentator

External links

• Baulkham Hills Shire Council