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Lane Cove is a suburb and Local Government Area (LGA) located about 10km from the central business district. It is the south-west corner of the North Shore of Sydney, Australia, with the Lane Cove River bordering its south. It extends northward to Willoughby, Ryde in the west and towards North Sydney in the east. The LGA includes the suburbs of Lane Cove, Lane Cove West, Linley Point, Longueville, Greenwich, Northwood, Riverview and part of St Leonards.
Characteristics
Lane Cove has a large community feel that centres in the "mall" which is the shopping and restaurant centre that stretches across Longueville Road and down Burns Bay Road. There are a number of small speciality stores along this area, as well as a large number of restaurants and cafes. At the end of Longueville Road is the Longueville Hotel, the only pub in the local area.
Although there is some historical properties in the area, the general atmosphere is one of flash modernity. From the newly-renovated Lane Cove Swimming Pool to the townhouse complexes along the main roads to Longueville, that has some of the richest houses in Sydney, Lane Cove has a very suburbian feel that is refreshing so (relatively) close to the city.
Around 16% of the area is devoted to public recreational areas including Burns Bay Park, Tambourine Bay Park and Tantallion Oval. As well as this there is a large amount of bushland surrounding the rivers edge especially near Riverview.
History
Prior to the arival 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 possibilites 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 particulary 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 manufactoring factories constructed around Greenwich.
Most of the residental 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 surburbian 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.
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 here 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%).
Transportation
The suburb is notable for many Sydney car-commuters as it is the meeting point of the Gore Hill Expressway, 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 as 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 has led to the commencement of work on the Lane Cove Tunnel which will take 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 going through one set of traffic lights (although it would cost approximately $10 in tolls).
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 (51.0%).
There is also a ferry that travels someway down the Lane Cove River, stopping at Longueville Wharf and Greenwich Wharf.
External links
Operahouse-cropped.jpg
Sydney Opera House
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