Airds is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Airds is located 56 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Campbelltown and is part of the Macarthur region.
Airds is a predominantly residential area and the majority of houses within the suburb are owned by Housing NSW.
History
Governor Lachlan Macquarie named the region Airds, after the Scottish family estate of his wife Elizabeth Campbell.
Airds appeared in land grant lists, and referred to almost the entire area between Glenfield and Gilead. The name fell into disuse as Campbelltown and other settlements along the valley floor came to be known by their individual names after the 1820s.
In January 1975, tenders for the first homes in the Housing Commission's 'Kentlyn' subdivision were called but the name Airds was not approved until May 1976. Like many public housing estates in Sydney, Airds was constructed on American Radburn principles designed to separate traffic from pedestrians. As a result, houses in the suburb did not face roads, which was later found to create enormous problems relating to crime and passive surveillance in the suburb. It is one of the most socially disadvantaged suburbs of Sydney.
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