Minto is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Minto is located 48 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.
History
Minto was named in honour of the Earl of Minto, Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, who was Viceroy of India from 1807–1814. The name was originally given to the entire district stretching from just north of Appin up to what is now Denham Court.
The area that constitutes the current suburb of Minto was originally home to the Tharawal people until the arrival of British settlers from the First Fleet. In 1811, Governor Lachlan Macquarie granted 800 acres in the area to William Redfern, the colony's first surgeon. He in turn named it Campbellfield after Macquarie's wife Elizabeth whose maiden name was Campbell. Redfern used the property as a vineyard and sheep station.
In 1810, Dr Robert Towson built his sandstock home, Varroville, in St Andrews Road, on land granted by Governor Macquarie. The house was subsequently owned by Charles Sturt and James Raymond, the first Postmaster General. In the 1820s, Colonel Parker built a Georgian bungalow called Epping Forest in Raby Road. A farm called Robin Hood Farm was built in Campbelltown Road circa 1830. These three properties are now listed on the Register of the National Estate.
In 1874, a railway station was built in the area and named Campbellfield after the property but this led to confusion with nearby Campbelltown so in 1882, it was renamed Minto. Development of the area followed shortly after and by the 1950s it was a village of around 500 people.
A large slice of land on the east side of Minto was sold to Housing Commission in 1969 to provide cheap housing. Shortly after a large industrial estate was also established in the area and Minto's transition from village to Sydney suburb was complete.
Transport
Minto railway station is serviced by the Airport, Inner West & South Line and Cumberland Line on the Sydney Trains network. Minto also has a small inland port connected by rail to Port Botany. The inland port consists of a single rail siding with an adjacent hard stand surface for the containers, and the siding is operated by top and tail trains with engines at both ends.
Schools
Minto is home to two high schools, Sarah Redfern High and Alfaisal Collge; five primary schools, Campbellfield Public, Minto Public, Sarah Redfern Public,The Grange Public and Alfaisal collge; and a special school, Passfield Park, which services disabled students from pre-school through to high school. Past/present NRL Rugby League players, Michael Lett, Gray Vaine, Justin Brooker, John Skandalis, Ken McGuinness, Kevin McGuinness, Israel Folau, Mickey, Lopini and Lalea Paea, Tim Lafai, Byron Fruean and Dominique Peyroux all attended Sarah Redfern High School, a notable rugby league school.
Housing
Public housing belonging to Housing NSW has recently been demolished in the suburb to make way for a new housing estate called One Minto. The new estate will consist of both public and private housing. The majority of the houses will be private with around 850 privately owned houses compared to only 360 public housing homes.
People
With a population of almost 11,000, Minto is one of the larger suburbs in the Campbelltown area. The residents tend to be young families on slightly lower incomes than the rest of Australia. The four most common areas of work are: clerical and administrative (17%), machinery operators and drivers (15% – more than double the national average), labourers (14%) and technicians and tradespeople (14%). There are a few substantial ethnic minorities with 5% speaking Bengali at home, 4% speaking Samoan and 3% speaking Hindi.
Notable residents
The Minto Indoor Sports Centre is home to local basketball and netball teams. The Macarthur Heat plays in the New South Wales State Basketball League and uses the Centre as its home court. The Campbelltown District Netball Association, which is also based at the Centre, plays in the third division of the Netball NSW State League.
Minto has a rugby league team, the Minto Cobras playing in the Western Suburbs District Junior Rugby League. The Cobras home ground is Townson Oval. They have produced a number of NRL players including Israel Folau, Michael Lett, Gray Vaine, Justin Brooker, John Skandalis, Ken McGuinness, Kevin McGuinness, Jarryd Hayne, Mickey Lopini, Lalea Paea, Krisnan Inu and Tim Lafai. Mickey Paea, a current Bulldogs forward, always gives up his extra time and helps out Minto Cobras. The club is proud of him for doing that because not many NRL players would give up spare time to go visit the clubs where they played their junior footy.
Controversy
Minto has received negative publicity on two occasions because of a local shopping centre, Minto Mall, which has been investigated twice on A Current Affair. Although it began as a boost to local business, it has more recently become dilapadated and untidy, and the management has taken no action to combat these problems. After being placed under pressure by the news program A Current Affair and members of the community due to the rundown state of the mall, Minto Mall sold in late 2012.
Since 2014, the former Minto Mall has fully reopened and refurbished as Minto Marketplace. It is populated by major retailers and franchises such as Woolworths, Kmart, Priceline, Lowes Menswear, Gloria Jeans, Michel's Patisserie, Donut King, Ocean Master, Millers and many more.