Badgerys Creek

The suburb of Badgerys Creek (also previously known as Badgery’s Creek) was officially gazetted on 10 July 1970 under the Geographical Names Act 1966. It is partly contained within the Liverpool LGA.

The suburb is named for James and Elizabeth Badgery who arrived in Australia in 1799 and were some of the colony’s first free settlers.

Colonial Settlement

James Badgery was granted land in 1803 along the Hawkesbury River and in 1809 he was granted another 840 acres on Wianamatta-South Creek. Badgery named his property Exeter Farm after his hometown in England but the creek that ran through his property became known as Badgerys Creek. Governor Macquarie visited Badgery in 1810. In his diary Macquarie wrote, “Today I visited James Badgery who has a fine farmhouse built, a good garden and considerable land cleared.” James died in 1827 and is buried in Liverpool Pioneers’ Memorial Park.

Other early landowners at Badgerys Creek were the explorer John Blaxland and Edward Powell.

The first school in the area was opened in 1885 and named Exeter Farm School after James’s property. In 1895, Badgerys Creek Public School was opened. It is believed that the foundation stone for St John's Church at Badgerys Creek was laid on 12 December 1911 by Bishop Wilton.

^{Badgerys Creek Public School, 1994}

Sydney’s Second Airport

Planning and investigations for a second Sydney airport first started in 1946. Badgerys Creek has been proposed as a suitable site for a second Sydney airport since 1986.

In May 1996, the Commonwealth Government put forward a proposal for “the construction and operation of a second major international/domestic airport for Sydney at either Badgerys Creek or Holsworthy on a site large enough for future expansion of the airport if required”. A ‘major airport’ was defined as one “capable of handling up to about 360,000 aircraft movements and 30 million passengers per year”.

At a meeting of the Gandangara Local Aboriginal Land Council on the 16th of July 1997, they resolved that they were strongly opposed the development of a second Sydney Airport in Badgerys Creek and Holsworthy. This was “due to the size and complexity of the development and the devastating impact [of the airport] on the cultural and natural environs of the Badgerys Creek and Holsworthy areas.”

Residents of Badgerys Creek interviewed by Bill Gulson and Beverley Donald in 1995 as part of their oral history project, Farewell to Badgerys Creek, also expressed discontent. Some residents at this time had reservations, stating that they would “believe it when [they saw] the bulldozers come.” Another resident stated that, “It makes me feel cranky. It was for me very very sad. When you think you have bought this place and you work very hard and then you think, ‘I don’t want to leave from here anymore’ and someone comes along and says, ‘Off you have to go’ how do you feel?.”

^{Demonstrators protesting a second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek, circa 1990.jpg}

Western Sydney Airport and Aerotropolis

2022 plans for the Aerotropolis include the areas surrounding the Western Sydney International Airport, or Nancy-Bird Walton Airport, the Aerotropolis Core, Badgerys Creek, Northern Gateway, Agribusiness and Wianamatta-South Creek precincts. The new airport and surrounding infrastructure will cover 6,500 hectares of land. There will be 11,400 new homes built. New roads and a new Metro are planned for the airport.