Miranda, New South Wales

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Westfield Shopping centre, Miranda

Miranda is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 24km south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire. The postcode is 2228.

Miranda has a mixture of low, medium and high density residential and is known as a commercial centre for the southern suburbs. Miranda is a popular place to shop and attracts many shoppers from the Sutherland Shire, the St George area and as far away as Wollongong.

Sydney suburbs near Miranda (Sutherland Shire)
Sylvania	Sylvania	Sylvania Waters
Gymea	Miranda	Caringbah
Gymea Bay	Yowie Bay	Caringbah

1 Commercial Area
2 Transport
3 History
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Commercial Area

Miranda is most noted for its large shopping centre (mall), adjacent to Miranda railway station. The shopping centre runs parallel to The Kingsway, and is built on three blocks, crossing over Kiora Road and Wandella Road. This shopping centre was once notable, for being the largest shopping centre in Australia. Originally known as ‘Miranda Fair’, the last extension and renovation was completed in 1994, providing 107,000 square metres of retail space. Westfield Miranda was soon eclipsed in size by Parramatta's Westfield extension. Miranda Fair is currently the 8th largest in Australia. The current largest in Australia is the Westfield in Chadstone, Victoria.

Miranda also has a shopping strip, running along The Kingsway and Kiora Road. Numerous commercial developments are also located on these roads and surrounding streets. A smaller shopping centre containing a supermarket and various grocery shops is located nearby in Wandella Road. The railway station is a blessing for residents, making Cronulla beach easily accessible.

[edit] Transport

Miranda railway station is on the Cronulla branch of the Illawarra line of the CityRail network.

Miranda is served by the following bus routes (in order):

Route	Destination	Bus Operator
474	Ramsgate	Sydney Buses
477	Rockdale	Sydney Buses
478	Rockdale	Sydney Buses
961	Barden Ridge	Veolia
962	Bankstown	Veolia
968	Bonnet Bay	Veolia
969	Sutherland	Veolia
970	Hurstville	Veolia
971	Hurstville	Veolia
972	Kangaroo Point	Veolia
973	Yowie Bay	Veolia
974	Gymea Bay	Veolia
975	Grays Point	Veolia
977	Lilli Pilli via Caringbah Station	Caringbah Bus Service
978	Port Hacking via Caringbah Station	Caringbah Bus Service
984	Cronulla Station via North Caringbah	BusLink
985	South Cronulla via Cronulla Station	BusLink
987	Kurnell via Cronulla Station	BusLink
992	Engadine	Veolia

[edit] History

Miranda War Memorial, Seymour Shaw Park, Miranda

Thomas Holt (1811-88) owned the land that stretched from Sutherland to Cronulla. James Murphy, the manager of the Holt estate named the area after Miranda, a character in the William Shakespeare play The Tempest. In an extract from a letter from James Murphy in 1921 he said: 'The name Miranda was given to the locality by me as manager of the Holt Sutherland Company which I formed in 1881. I thought it a soft, euphonious, musical and appropriate name for a beautiful place.' It is believed that the character in the play was named after Miranda de Ebro, a town in Spain.

Originally, land was promised to Gregory Blaxland for discovering the Blue Mountains in 1813. He sold the promise to merchant John Connell for 250 pounds in 1816. Blaxland did choose the site of his land until 1831 and when he chose this area Connell claimed it. After the dispute was settled in the courts, Connell was recognised as the owner. The land was sold in the 1860s to Thomas Holt (1811-88), who planned a sheep and cattle farm. The plan failed but the fertile ground was leased by market gardeners instead.

By the 1920s, steam trams operated between Cronulla and Sutherland, via Miranda. The trip from Miranda to Sutherland took fifteen minutes and cost three pence. In 1923 there were five shops in Miranda, including a post office and butcher, at the intersection of the main road from Sutherland and Port Hacking Road. Settlements of returned soldiers from World War I were well established in Miranda at this time and the area was considered to be one of the best fruit-growing and poultry farming areas.