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Revision as of 04:34, 21 December 2010 by 110.33.165.15 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) City in Victoria, Australia| Wangaratta Victoria | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view from the south-east, Hume Freeway bypass at bottom, rivers to the right | |
| Population | 16,845 (2006) |
| Time zone | AEST (UTC+10) |
| • Summer (DST) | AEST (UTC+11) |
| Location | 230 km (143 mi) from Melbourne |
| LGA(s) | Rural City of Wangaratta |
| County | Moira, Delatite, Bogong |
| State electorate(s) | Murray Valley |
| Federal division(s) | Indi |
Wangaratta (Template:Pron-en) is a cathedral city of almost 24,000 people in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, about 230 km (140 mi) from Melbourne along the Hume Highway, with Benalla 45 km (28 mi) to the southwest, and Albury-Wodonga 72 km (45 mi) to the northeast. It is located at the junction of the Ovens and King rivers which flow from the Victorian Alps. It the administrative centre and most populous city in the Rural City of Wangaratta local government area.
Nomenclature
Historically, there was disagreement about whether the first syllable should be pronounced 'Wong' or 'Wang'. The 'Wong' pronunciation was never used by a majority of the population, and never received any wide currency outside the district. It was officially disavowed by the Wangaratta City Council's declaration in favour of the 'Wang' pronunciation in the 1980s. Some locals, particularly the elderly, continue to use the 'Wong' pronunciation.
The city's name may be informally abbreviated to "Wang", analogously to "Shep" (Shepparton), "Yack" (Yackandandah) and "Yarra" (Yarrawonga).
History
Gold was found in the surrounding area during the 1850s and this is reflected in the name of a nearby town of Eldorado where the remains of an old dredge can still be seen today. The Post Office in the area opened on 1 February 1843 as Ovens, and moved to the township and was renamed Wangaratta in 1854. The Ovens office, and the Kilmore office which opened the same day, were the fifth and sixth to open in the Port Phillip District and the first two inland offices.
The nearby small town of Glenrowan located some 10 km away is known as the site of the final shootout that led to the capture of Australia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly.
Geography and landmarks
The geographical layout of the city is unusual in that the business district is located at the north-eastern extremity of the urban area, with outlying suburbs extending only to the south and west. The reason for this arrangement is that the area beyond the rivers, to the north and east of the business district, was until the 1990s prone to flooding and so unsuitable for building. Levees were constructed in the 1990s to alleviate the flooding, however development in this area has been slow.
Wangaratta is the closest city or town of any size to Falls Creek and Mount Hotham, two of Victoria's three major snowfields.
Notable buildings include the Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral and its Cathedral Close, St. Patrick's Catholic Church and the eccentric art déco courthouse.
Governance
In local government, the Wangaratta region is covered by the Rural City of Wangaratta. The council was created in 1994 as an amalgamation of a number of other municipalities in the region with the council chambers located at the Government Centre in central Wangaratta. The City is represented by seven councillors elected once every four years by postal voting. The mayor is elected from these councillors by their colleagues for a one year term.
In state politics, Ballarat is located in the Legislative Assembly districts of Murray Valley currently held by the National Party of Australia.
In federal politics, Wangaratta is located in a single House of Representatives division – the Division of Indi. The Division of Indi has been a safe Liberal Party of Australia seat since 1977.
Industry
There is a considerable wine and gourmet food industry in the nearby Milawa and King Valley region.
Culture and sport
Sport
Australian rules football and cricket are the most popular sports.
There are three Australian rules football clubs in Wangaratta, the Wangaratta Football Club, the Wangaratta Rovers Football Club (both competing in the Ovens and Murray Football League), and the North Wangaratta Football Club, which competes in the Ovens and King Football League. The close proximity of the Rovers and Wangaratta grounds reflects the historical sectarian split in membership of the clubs; Rovers membership being predominantly Catholic and Wangaratta being predominantly Protestant/Anglican.
The city hosted several games for the 2005 Australian Football International Cup event, with several countries competing in the sport of Australian rules football. The event was played at the City Oval and Showgrounds and set the attendance records for the tournament to date.
Cricket in Wangaratta is organised by the Wangaratta and District Cricket Association. Clubs include Wangaratta Magpies, Rovers United, City Colts and Bruck Cricket Clubs.
There is one soccer team in Wangaratta, the Wangaratta City Football Club. Founded in 1951, they compete in the Albury Wodonga Football Association.
Wangaratta has a horse racing club, the Wangaratta Turf Club, which schedules around eleven race meetings a year including the Wangaratta Cup meeting in April.
The Wangaratta Greyhound Racing Club which held regular meetings at the same venue,has been discontinued. Avian Park is no longer used.
Golfers play at the course of the Wangaratta Golf Club on Yarrawonga Road, or at the course of the Jubilee Golf Club at Wangandary nearby. A nine hole course is at Boorhaman to the north of Wangaratta.
Events
The main annual event is the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, which has been attended by thousands each year since 1990.
Education
Wangaratta has three secondary schools: Galen Catholic College (private), Cathedral College (private) which has two campuses and Wangaratta High School which has three campuses.
The Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE has two Wangaratta campuses. The Docker street campus offers a broad range of courses from business studies to music with a central area containing a cafeteria, library and student services. The Christensen Lane campus on the outskirts of Wangaratta is the home for the National Centre for Equine Education as well as providing courses in horticulture.
Transport
The train station is on the main railway line between Sydney and Melbourne and is usually served by V/Line services between Melbourne and Albury thrice-daily as well as a twice daily Countrylink XPT service in both directions between Melbourne and Sydney. Two railway gauges ran in parallel to Melbourne and Albury; the Victorian broad gauge of 1600 mm (5' 3") and the standard gauge of 1435 mm (4' 8½"). The broad gauge line closed in 2008 and will be converted to standard gauge as part of a the North East Rail Revitalisation project. Buses are replacing V/Line services for the duration of the project, while XPT services continue to operate.
There was a branch line commenced in 1873, running east to Beechworth, reaching the town in September 1876, but this was closed in January 1977. (Larsen, MayDay Hills Railway). Another branch line ran to Bright until its closure. This has since been converted into a cycling and walking track, known as the Murray to the Mountains Rail Trail. Another short branch line ran west to a wheat silo located on the north side of the Ovens River at Boorhaman.
A second rail branch was a narrow gauge (762 mm, 2' 6") line from Wangaratta to Whitfield constructed during the late 1890s and opened in 1899. The line operated until 1953 and was famous for its special engines imported from Baldwin Locomotive Works in the USA. Some of these 2-6-2T locomotives now operate on the Puffing Billy Railway outside Melbourne. A book, Focus on Victoria's Narrow Gauge, with photos, maps along the line and of Wangaratta station with its dual track gauges was published in 2002
Wangaratta is also serviced by a small regional airport, Wangaratta Airport. A city bus service runs every half an hour during the day on weekdays and on Saturday mornings on a route covering Wangaratta's West End, the business district, Yarrunga and more recently, Yarrawonga Road.
Media
Radio Stations
Radio services that are available in Wangaratta include:
- ABC Classic FM 104.1 FM/96.1 FM
- OAK FM 101.3
- The Edge 102.1 FM (commercial)
- Triple J 103.3 FM/94.5 FM
- ABC Goulburn Murray 106.5 FM/97.7 FM
- ABC Radio National 990 AM/756 AM
- 3NE 1566 AM (commercial)
- Star FM 104.9, 96.9 (Commercial)
Some stations from nearby centres such as Albury-Wodonga and Shepparton also broadcast into the region.
- See also: List of Australian radio stations
Television
Wangaratta and the surrounding region receives five free-to-air television stations (analogue and digital) including two government funded networks:
The ABC (ABC1) , the SBS (SBS ONE) and three commercial networks:
SBS offer digital high-definition simulcasts of their main channel, SBS ONE on SBS HD.
The other networks broadcast nine additional digital-only channels: 7Two on Prime, 7mate on Prime, GO!, GEM, ABC2, ABC3, ABC News 24, SBS Two and One HD.
Famous residents and former residents
- Sir John Bowser, premier of Victoria 1917-1918.
- William Ah Ket, Chinese Australian barrister, 1876–1936
- Nick Cave, popular musician.
- Sir Edward "Weary" Dunlop 1907 - 1993
- Steve Johnson, Australian rules footballer with Geelong.
- Ben Reid, Australian rules footballer with Collingwood.
- Alipate Carlile, Australian rules footballer with Port Adelaide.
- Dean Woods, former Olympic Cyclist.
- Isobelle Carmody, award winning author, born 1958
- Sophie Mirabella, member for Indi 2001-
- Nick Morris, Men's wheelchair basketball player for Australia
Bibliography
- Larsen, Wal. The Mayday Hills Railway, Wal Larsen, Bright, 1976.
- O'Callaghan, Bill and Bill Findlay (1984). "Wangaratta, 1959–1984: A Silver City", City of Wangaratta.
- O'Brien, Antony. Shenanigans on the Ovens Goldfields: the 1859 Election, Artillery Publishing, 2005.
- Oberg, Leon. Railways of Australia, Reed, Sydney, 1975.
- Thompson, John E. Focus on Victoria's Narrow Gauge Whitfield Line, Puffing Billy Society, Belgrave, 2002.
- "Wangaratta: Capital of North Eastern Victoria", (1927) Committee of the Back to Wangaratta Celebrations.
- Whittaker, D. M. (1963). "Wangaratta: Being the History of the Township that sprang up at Ovens Crossing and grew into a modern City", Wangaratta City Council.
- Why Wangaratta, and Moments in Jazz (books on the Wangaratta Festival of Jazz and Blues).
References
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Wangaratta (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 23 December 2009.
- Macquarie ABC Dictionary, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2003, p. 1111, ISBN 0 876429 37 2
{{citation}}: Check|isbn=value: checksum (help) - Premier Postal History, Post Office List, retrieved 2008-04-11
- "State Election 2006 Results: Electorate swings". Victorian Electoral Commission website. Archived from the original on 30 November 2007. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- "Seats won in the 2007 Federal Election". Australian Electoral Commission website. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- Strevens, Steve (2004), Bob Rose: a Dignified Life, Allen & Unwin, p. 111, ISBN 1741144655, retrieved 2009-04-01
- Daffey, Paul (2006-12-22), The History of the Wangaratta Rovers FNC, retrieved 2009-04-01
- Wangaratta and District Cricket Association, retrieved 2009-05-11
- Country Racing Victoria, Wangaratta Turf Club, retrieved 2009-05-07
- Greyhound Racing Victoria, Wangaratta, retrieved 2009-04-15
- Golf Select, Wangaratta, retrieved 2009-05-11
- Golf Select, Jubilee, retrieved 2009-05-11
- Golf Select, Boorhaman, retrieved 2009-05-11
- Department of Transport: North East Rail Revitalisation Project, retrieved 2009-06-18
- ABC: Buses replace trains for rail standardisation project, retrieved 2009-06-18
- (Oberg, pp.90-91)
- John E. Thompson,Focus on Victoria's Narrow Gauge Whitfield Line, Puffing Billy Society, Belgrave, 2002.
Maps
- Dept of Minerals and Energy, Wangaratta, 8125, 1:100,000 (1971)(shows the district as it was in the 1960s with railways and before major sub-division redevelopments)
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External links
| Cities of Victoria, Australia | |
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| Greater Melbourne | |
| Regional Victoria | |
| Localities in the Rural City of Wangaratta | ||
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| City |  | |
| Town | ||
| Locality |
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| ^ - Territory divided with another LGA | ||
36°22′S 146°19′E / 36.36°S 146.32°E / -36.36; 146.32
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