Modbury Heights is a medium-sized suburb in the City of Tea Tree Gully, Adelaide, with a census area population of 5,601 people. The suburb is located in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges around 16 kilometres north east of the Central business district. Much of the suburb is residential but there is a small shopping area along Ladywood Road. The area was first settled by Europeans in 1857, however major development did not begin until the 1970s, beginning as a northerly residential extension to central Modbury. The suburb is bounded by Grenfell Road to the north, Milne Road to the south, Mcintyre Road to the west, Golden Grove Road to the east and is literally cut in half by Ladywood Road. Modbury Heights is also bounded to the north and north west by the suburb of Wynn Vale, to the north east by Surrey Downs, to the east by Fairview Park, to the south by Modbury North, to the west by Para Hills and to the south east by Redwood Park.
Residents
According to the 2006 Census the population of the Modbury Heights census area was 5,601 people. Approximately 50.7% of the population were female, 74.7% are Australian born, over 90.5% of residents are Australian citizens and only 0.6% were native born indigenous people. Modbury Heights has an educated population with over 30% of the population holding a degree, diploma or vocational qualification. This level of education attainment is reflected in the suburb's employment patterns: the most popular industries for employment were Retail Trade, manufacturing and Health Care, while the unemployment rate is approx. 4.2%. The median weekly household income is A$1,114 or more per week, compared with $924 in Adelaide overall. 20.1% of the population identify themselves as Catholic, while a slightly higher 28% identify with no religion at all.
School
The Heights School is located on Brunel Drive, Modbury Heights and has the Ignite Program.
Transport
Cars are the preferred mode of transport in the suburb. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 71.1% of residents are drivers or passengers of cars for their commute to work. Modbury Heights is connected to the major Adelaide thoroughfare North East Road via Mcintyre and Ladywood Roads. Adelaide's city centre can typically be reached by car in 25–30 minutes. Because of the area's distance from major business districts, only an extremely small proportion walk to work and even a smaller number use a bike, which is in contrast to the Adelaide Metropolitan Area. High frequencybus services as well as connections to the O-Bahn Busway mean 10% of Modbury Heights residents travel to work by bus. The main bus route for Modbury Heights is the M44 bus, provided by the multi-service Adelaide Metro. This bus travels from Marion and the City, via the O-Bahn Busway and Tea Tree Plaza Interchange to Golden Grove. The route through Modbury Heights is on Ladywood Road. Other bus services include the 545, 203 and 209. Even though none of Adelaide's train routes service the area, 0.2% of residents use trains to get to their place of employment.
Politics
Modbury Heights is part of the state electoral district of Florey, which has been held since 1997 by Labor MP Frances Bedford. In federal politics, the suburb is part of the division of Makin, and has been represented by new Labor MP Tony Zappiasince 2007. The results shown are from the largest polling station in Modbury Heights — which is located at The Heights School, on Brunel Drive. Until the 2007 Federal Election, Makin was one of the most marginal seats in the country. But with the retirement of Liberal MP Trish Draper, and a general swing toward Labor of around 7%, the seat fell and although still marginal, is no longer under threat. Florey has been a safe Labor seat since the 2002 State Election.
