disused rubbish dump and adjacent area is commonly locally referred to as the 'Waterboard'). Since it has been used for illegal rubbish dumping, public access is illegal and measures have been taken to block access to this area, including local rangers / volunteers patrolling the area. In 2015, Hornsby council purchased 34 hectares of this land to be used for recreational use, such as sporting fields. The local rural fire brigade have permission to use the area for training (including live fire drills), and are somewhat regularly seen carrying out various forms of training and drills. Transport Commuters have easy access to Thornleigh railway station. Transdev NSW provide bus services to nearby Normanhurst railway station and Hornsby railway station on the Sydney Trains Northern Line. Population At the , the suburb of Westleigh recorded a population of 4456 people. Of these: Age: 19.7% of Westleigh's population is aged under 15, marginally more than the national average of 18.7%. The age distribution is similar to that of the rest of Australia: the median age is 43 years (38 for the rest of Australia). People aged 65 years and over made up 18.8% of the population (national average is 15.8%). Ethnic diversity : 67.9% were born in Australia, which is higher than the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were England 5.9%, China 3.5%, India 2.1%, South Africa 1.8% and New Zealand 1.6%. At home, 78.9% of residents only spoke English; the next most common languages spoken at home were Mandarin 4%, Cantonese 2.3%, Arabic 1.6%, Korean 1.1% and Spanish 0.8%. Finances: The median household weekly income was $2,457, higher than the national median of $1,438. Religion: The most common religious affiliation was No Religion (28.0%), Catholic (23.8%), (Anglican 18.7%), and Uniting Church (4.7%). Pop culture The house in the iconic Australian political comedy drama film Don's Party was located in Westleigh. Notable residents Residents include actor Mel Gibson (former resident), David Speers from Sky News, Karl Bonnington, Graeme Dunn, Jason Morrison from 2UE and Anthony Leard (District Surveyor from Sydney Lands Dept). References Notes External links [CC-By-SA] Suburbs of Sydney Hornsby Shire