Population 1,883 (2006 census) LGA(s) City of Wollongong Coniston Wollongong Federal division Division of Cunningham | Postcode(s) 2500 State electorate(s) Wollongong Postal code 2500 | |
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Coniston is a suburb of Wollongong in New South Wales.
Map of Coniston NSW 2500, Australia
Coniston has one public primary school, east of the railway, and its main street is Gladstone Avenue which is the business center of the suburb. The suburb has a beach, Coniston Beach, to the east of Wollongong Golf Course, and Coniston railway station is in the suburb's business centre. Coniston has a pub, The Coniston Hotel, formally Gilmore's Hotel Coniston which is a drinking establishment. Coniston is also home to the Coniston Juniors Football Club who play at McKinnon Park, north of the commercial district. The commercial area also has several specialty stores, including a tattoo parlour, pet hair salon, computer store, aforementioned pub, and grocery store. Coniston is bordered to the west by the hill suburbs of Mangerton and Mount Saint Thomas, and from these good views of the suburb can be had. To the north is Wollongong City and the south Port Kembla.
Coniston was formerly called Mount Drummond, or South Wollongong. It is still known by some residents of Wollongong as South Wollongong, though generally South Wollongong is all the residential area below MacCabe Park.
A local landmark is the concrete office building on Bridge Street that for many years was Coniston's only one. This large building rises above the surrounding suburb and is well known locally. It formerly housed the head offices of the Illawarra County Council.
Coniston is just north of the Port Kembla Steelworks and includes the Greenhouse Park, a one time waste pile converted into a natural park area with a weather station. The hill, known locally as "The Overseer" has a lookout over the city and Port Kembla.
Coniston has been known as a low class area in the past, but since the early 2000s work has been in progress to revitalise it, including a new office block. Coniston is undergoing a demographic change as the children of the baby-boomers are moving out thus leaving empty nests. The original houses are being knocked down in favour of units as developers slowly encroach into the suburb.
Coniston also has a large population of Australians of Macedonian background—approximately 20 percent of the total population.