Sylvania Waters is a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

southern Sydney Southern Sydney, also commonly referred to as the Southern suburbs, is the southern metropolitan area of Greater Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Southern Sydney is a title for the regions and neighbourhoods which fall dire ...

located in the state of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

, Australia, south of the

Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...

in the

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

Sutherland Shire Sutherland Shire is a local government area (LGA) in the southern region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Sutherland Shire is located approximately south-southwest of the Sydney CBD, and comprises an area of . As at the ...

History

Politician Thomas Holt (1811–1888) owned the land that stretched from

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

Cronulla Cronulla is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Boasting numerous surf beaches and swimming spots, the suburb attracts both tourists and Greater Sydney residents. Cronulla is 26 kilometres south of the Sydney central ...

. Holt had built Sutherland House on the foreshore of Gwawley Bay in 1818, on the eastern side of Sylvania, which took its name from the original wooded vegetation. The word "Sylvania" comes from the Latin word ''

sylvan Sylvan or Sylvans (from the Latin ''silva'': "forest, woods") can have one of the following meanings: A countryside scene The term "A Sylvan Scene" is used to describe a beautiful and idealised scene in the countryside. Historical reference: J ...

'' or '' sylva ''which means "forest land". He established the Sutherland Estate Company in 1881 and a village grew there, with a post office opening in 1883. The school opened in 1884 but closed in 1891 and was not reopened until 1925. Sylvania Heights Public School opened in 1955. Sylvania Waters Estate was developed by

LJ Hooker LJ Hooker is one of Australia's largest real estate groups, with 600 franchise offices and 6,000 people engaged in residential and commercial property sales and property management. The company was founded in 1928 by Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker a ...

in the 1960s, with much of the land

reclaimed Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ...

from the bay, effectively destroying the mangrove ecosystem to provide water frontages with boating facilities. James Goyen won the tender to design the estate, construct the houses, and promote the new suburb. Streets of the development were named after Australian rivers – such as Shoalhaven, Tweed, Murrumbidgee, Hawkesbury and Barwon – to emphasize the association with water.

Commercial area

Sylvania Waters is mostly residential, with three small shopping strips located on Belgrave Esplanade: Sylvania Shopping Village near Box Road, Sylvania Shopping Centre near Murrumbidgee Avenue, and the Richmond Centre near Richmond Avenue. Doltone House is a function centre close to Sylvania Shopping Village. Image:SylvaniaWaters3.jpg, Sylvania Waters shopping village Image:SylvaniaWaters5.jpg, Sylvania Waters shopping centre Image:SylvaniaWaters4.JPG, Doltone House, Sylvania Waters

Sport

Sylvania Waters is home to the Sylvania Waters Athletics Track, a state-of-the-art facility which holds many local and state events. Next to this is the Sylvania Waters Tennis Court Complex and the home ground of the Southern Districts Rugby Club.

Culture

'' Sylvania Waters'' was a 1992 reality television program which followed the lives of the Donaher family living at Macintyre Crescent. The suburb became infamous when the series screened across Australia and then internationally. One of the artificial islands in Sylvania Waters (James Cook Island) was used in the filming of the movie ''

Superman Returns ''Superman Returns'' is a 2006 American superhero film directed by Bryan Singer, and written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a story by Singer, Dougherty and Harris, based on the DC Comics character Superman. It serves as a homage ...

'' (2006) as the location of Lois Lane's house.

Demographics

In the , Sylvania Waters had a population of 3,200 people. The median age of residents was 43 years, older than the national median of 38. Children aged under 15 years made up 16.6% of the population, and people aged 65 years and over made up 19.9% of the population. More than one-third (35.0%) were born overseas, similar to the national average of 33.1%. The top countries of overseas birth were China 6.2%, Hong Kong 2.1%, Greece 1.9%, England 1.8% and Egypt 1.7%. 58.8% of people spoke only English at home; the next-most-common languages spoken at home were Greek 8.8%, Mandarin 5.8%, Cantonese 5.0%, Arabic 3.4%, and Macedonian 2.4%. The most-common responses regarding religious affiliation were

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

25.2%, No Religion 22.7%,

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

18.3%,

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

11.3% and Not stated 5.0%. The great majority (79.8%) of occupied households in Sylvania Waters are separate houses, 10.4% were semi-detached, row or terrace houses, townhouses etc., and 9.2% were flats, units, or apartments. The average household size was 2.9 people.

References

External links

a local community based website. of Sylvania Waters – run by Sylvania Waters Ltd.
{{Sydney Sutherland suburbs Suburbs of Sydney Sutherland Shire