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Menai Sydney, New South Wales
Population:	10,592 (2001 census)
Established:	1973
Postcode:	2234
Property Value:	AUD $585,000 (2006)
Location:	28 km from Sydney CBD
LGA:	Sutherland Shire
State District:	Menai
Federal Division:	Hughes
Suburbs around Menai Holsworthy Alfords Point Illawong Holsworthy Menai Bangor Lucas Heights Barden Ridge Barden Ridge

Menai is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Menai is located 29km south of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the Sutherland Shire.

Contents 1 History 2 Location 3 Commercial Area and Amenities 4 Education 5 References 6 External links

Menai is not, as many people first guess, an Aboriginal name, but is named after Menai Bridge, a town on the Menai Straits in Wales, Great Britain.

The area now known as Menai was originally called Bangor in 1895 by the land's owner, a farmer named Owen Jones, after his birthplace Bangor in Wales. To avoid confusion with Bangor in Tasmania, the Postmaster General's Office changed the suburb name to Menai in 1910. Menai Bridge in Wales, lies opposite Bangor on the Menai Straits. When Menai expanded, the eastern section became Bangor again.

Menai is a newer suburb, having been developed only since the early 1980s, and as such, nearly all the homes are new 4-bedders with dual bathrooms and double-garages and mostly owner occupied. In fact, the region has the highest rate of home ownership in Australia, at over 70% (according to the last census).

More affluent resident throughout Sutherland Shire tend to disparage those from Menai because of the prevelance and density of its housing estates.

Overdevelopment of housing and a lack of existing through-roads in this bushland suburb led to traffic congestion. The completion of the first stage of Bangor Bypass project in 2005 has reduced the problem.

Menai contains a bustling shopping centre, with many fine restaurants, retail stores, supermarkets and recently an EB. The restaurants include Caesars Gourmet Pizza Restaurant, Rocksalt, Timeout Cafè, Palace Garden Chinese restaurant and Bua Thai.

Current community projects include a new indoor sporting complex adjacent to the Menai shopping centre. Menai is home to the Menai Junior Rugby League Football Club who are known by the rhyming couplet "menai, head high", in a reference to their tough playing style by other rugby league juniors throughout the Sutherland Shire. A large outdoor series of playing fields, including a new championship golf course and a new state of the art athletics field, are found in the nearby suburb of Barden Ridge, just a few minutes away these will be accompanied by hockey fields and a world class BMX facility.

Menai's schools include Menai Primary [K-6], Aquinas College [Catholic, 7-12][1] and Holy Family [Catholic, K-6], residents also use schools in neighbouring suburbs such as Alfords Point Primary [Public, K-6] in Alfords Point, Menai High [Public, 7-12], Tharawal [Public, K-6] and Illawong Primary [Public, K-6] in Illawong and Bangor Primary School [K-6] and Inaburra High School [K-12] in Bangor.

• The Book of Sydney Suburbs, Compiled by Frances Pollen, Angus & Robertson Publishers, 1990, Published in Australia ISBN 0-207-14495-8

Coordinates: -34.01185° 151.00892°

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.

Suburbs and localities within the Sutherland Shire | Southern Sydney | Sydney
Alfords Point | Audley | Bangor | Barden Ridge | Bonnet Bay | Bundeena | Burraneer | Caravan Head | Caringbah | Como | Como West | Cronulla | Dolans Bay | Engadine | Grays Point | Gundamaian | Gymea | Gymea Bay | Heathcote | Illawong | Jannali | Kangaroo Point | Kareela | Kirrawee | Kurnell | Lilli Pilli | Loftus | Lucas Heights | Maianbar | Menai | Miranda | North Engadine | Oyster Bay | Port Hacking | Sandy Point | Sutherland | Sylvania | Sylvania Heights | Sylvania Waters | Taren Point | Warumbul | Waterfall | Woolooware | Woronora | Woronora Heights | Yarrawarrah | Yowie Bay
List of Sydney suburbs