The suburb of Matraville is located on the south-western boundary of Randwick City and is bounded by Heffron Park and the suburb of Maroubra to the north, Malabar to the east, Port Botany to the west and Chifley to the south. The Botany Cemetery and Eastern Suburbs Crematorium are located on a large land area in the south of the suburb, along with Chinese market garden, which is listed on the State Heritage Register. Industrial and port related activities are also located in the south east of the suburb.
The residential land is primarily low-density residential development with areas allowing villas and townhouses, located in the north east (around the soldiers settlement Department of Housing estate). Approximately 52 per cent of all private dwellings in Matraville are separate houses, significantly higher than the Randwick City average (28 per cent). Matraville has a high proportion of semi-detached housing, 26 per cent compared with the Randwick City average (15 per cent). The suburb provides a low density residential environment, and contains one of the lowest proportions of flats in Randwick City with approximately 14 per cent of dwellings (the majority of these being one to three storeys) compared to the 48 per cent average for Randwick City.
The Matraville shopping centre is located in Bunnerong Road (between Beauchamp Road and Franklin Street). Matraville also contains an industrial area which is a significant local employer. Bus services operate along Bunnerong Road, and are the only form of public transport available to the suburb.
The Bunnerong Power Station was situated west of Botany Cemetery from 1929 and demolished only in recent years. In 1934 a tramline was built to the power station which helped to encourage residential and industrial growth in the area.
History of Matraville
Matraville's beginnings were small farms and market gardens, many of them worked by the Chinese following the gold rush era. In 1917 a gift of 72.5 acres of Crown land, described as 'the waste sand hills beyond Daceyville, was made available for returned soldiers from World War I. A Voluntary Workers Association formed and between 1918 and 1925 some 93 homes were built, south west of Anzac Parade and Beauchamp Road, as the Matraville Soldiers' Garden Village... The houses eventually passed to the State Housing Board. In 1977 despite local protests, all but one of the cottages was demolished and the site redeveloped. The surrounding streets recall battlefields and sites of World War I.
Lawrence, J. Pictorial History of Randwick, Kingsclear Books, Alexandria, 2001, pp.88-89.