The Ponds

The Ponds is a new suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Ponds is located 40 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Blacktown. The Ponds is part of northwest Sydney and located in the Hills District.

The Ponds is situated in the North West growth corridor, where the first stage of a major shopping centre and commercial space have opened. A new suburb was designed to make the estate a new community. It is Sydney's fastest growing suburb. Land values in the suburb have jumped up approximately 100% since the first release with people still camping overnight to secure land blocks of their choice. In 2012, The Ponds scooped two industry awards by taking out first place in the Residential Development and Sustainable Development categories at the UDIA NSW Austral Bricks Awards for Excellence.

John Palmer Public School opened in 2008. Nearby high schools include St Marks Catholic College, Glenwood High School, Terra Sancta College, Rouse Hill High School and Rouse Hill Anglican College. A new high school will be built in The Ponds and is due to open in 2015. The school will be built at the intersection of Hambledon Rd and an extended Riverbank Drive.

There are a number of churches nearby, including Blessed John XXIII Catholic Church, Our Lady of the Rosary, Rouse Hill Anglican Church, Hillsong Church, New Hope Baptist Church.

The Westlink M7 and M2 Hills Motorway service the area. The suburb is serviced by Busways which provides services to Blacktown, Stanhope Gardens, Schofields and Riverstone. Residents can commute to either Kellyville Ridge, Stanhope Gardens or Rouse Hill Town Centre to use Hillsbus services to Parramatta and the City, or Busways services to Castle Hill. Bus services travel to Sydney CBD effectively every 5 minutes from Kellyville Ridge. The nearest CityRail station is located at Schofields, providing services to Blacktown, Parramatta, Richmond and Sydney CBD.

Rouse Hill Town Centre is located about 1 km away, and features over 250 stores in addition to Coles, Woolworths, Target, Big W and Reading Cinemas. Stanhope Village is located 3 km from The Ponds, with Coles, Kmart and several speciality stores. Additional shopping can be found nearby at Castle Towers and Westpoint Blacktown, located about 12 km away. A community centre and shopping village is expected to open within the vicinity of The Ponds with construction expected to begin in early 2013 for a 2014 completion. It will house a major retail supermarket, with coffee shops, small restaurants, newsagenices, bakeries, drycleaners, between 15 and 20 specialty shops, commercial offices and a car park.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Ponds