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Townsville (Postcodes: 4810-4819) is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, located in the state of Queensland. It is adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef in the dry tropics. The city enjoys over 300 days of sunshine each year, which lends itself to tourism activities all year round and an abundance of outdoor activities.
Townsville is divided by two local government areas, the City of Townsville and the City of Thuringowa which are administrated by Townsville City Council and the Thuringowa City Council respectively. The urban area is collectively referred to as Townsville, while locally, the two local government areas are referred to as the "twin cities" or Townsville/Thuringowa. The most recent population statistics of the Townsville Statistical District (urban Townsville and Thuringowa) is 148,767 (June 2005).[1] The combined population of the two local government areas which encompass Reid River in the South-East to Paluma in the North-West is estimated at 164,000 (102,936[2] and 61,072[3] respectively). Townsville is Australia's the largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast (South-East Queensland). Townsville is seen as the unofficial capital of North Queensland as it hosts a significant governmental and non-governmental administrative concentration for the northern half of the State.
HistoryImage:Australien--Qld--Townsville+Thuringowa--UreinwohnerStämme--RS03a.jpg Aboriginal tribal districts in the 'Warungowa' area around Townsville (red-filled circle) and Thuringowa prior to European settlement. The city started life inauspiciously when a sea captain by the name of Robert Towns commissioned John Melton Black to build a wharf on Cleveland Bay to service the new cattle industry inland. The location for the town was dictated by its location between the Burdekin and Herbert rivers, which, when in flood, could isolate access to the area by land for months at a time. The town was gazetted in 1865 and was declared a city in 1903. On Christmas Eve 1971, Tropical Cyclone Althea, a category 4 storm battered the city and Magnetic Island, causing considerable damage. Other tropical storms have threatened the area in the intervening years, but with less effect. In October 2000 a Solomon Islands Peace Agreement was negotiated in Townsville. Townsville/ThuringowaIn 1818, Townsville was a very small area of land around Castle Hill, however in 1882 the (then) Thuringowa Shire had land ceded to the growing city of Townsville by the State, and by 1916 Townsville had progressively expanded into a large amount of previously Shire land. Between the two world wars Townsville continued to expand into many areas of Thuringowa Shire. Many of the settlements of Thuringowa became part of the City of Townsville[1].
Thuringowa was declared a City by the Bjelke-Petersen Government in 1986. Although historically the two City Councils and Mayors work very well together and share major infrastructure, there is an issue of unnecessary duplication of services. Since its transformation into a City, Thuringowa has become more densely populated as the urban sprawl spreads further over the now static border between the two Local Government Areas. Friendly rivalry between the two cities councils can have positive benefits to Townsville resulting in such projects as Thuringowa's Riverway as an alternative to The Strand. History during World War 2At one time during World War II, Townsville was the USA's largest overseas air base. It was common for B-26 Marauders, B-17 Flying Fortress's or B-25 Mitchell bombers to take off on long range bombing raids from Garbutt air base. The first bombing raid on Rabaul on 23 February 1942 was carried out by six B-17's based near Townsville. During World War II, the city played host to over 50,000 troops as it became a major staging point for battle in the South West Pacific. A large United States Armed Forces contingent supported the war effort from various bases around the city. Townsville became the target of Japanese bombing raids in 1942 with a few bombs making landfall but none reaching intended targets. The only damage was to a lone coconut palm. Townsville played a major role in WW2 and a great deal of construction occurred in secret. For example there are numerous hidden air raid bunkers, reports of secret tunnels and similar secret units.
GeographyImage:Tville1.jpg Townsville in 2005. Townsville lies approximately 1,300 km north of Brisbane, and 350 km south of Cairns. The city and immediate region is comprised of two local authorities, the cities of Townsville (central and southern area) and Thuringowa (inland and northern beaches). Townsville continues to expand west and south into the once rural shire of Thuringowa, and inner city high-density development has also seen population growth and further gentrification of the CBD. One significant contributor to CBD development is the construction of a new rail passenger terminal, releasing prime realestate which formerly belonged to Queensland Rail for the development of residential units, retail projects and a new performing arts centre. The skyline of Townsville's central business district is set for dramatic changes over the next few years, with a number of new highrises under construction or in planning. The Ross River flows through the city. Three weirs, fish stocking and dredging of the river in these reaches has resulted in a deep, stable and clean waterway for the recreation of residents and visitors alike. 30km from the mouth (at the junction of Five Head Creek) in Thuringowa city is the Ross River Dam, allowing the river to serve as the population's major water supply. This is supplemented by a smaller dam in the Paluma range to the city's north, and in times of drought further water may be sourced from the Burdekin Dam via pipeline. Ross River is navigable only by small vessels, where speed and wash limits apply in most sections. Image:Townsville-Strand.jpg The Strand The historic waterfront on Ross Creek, leading into Cleveland Bay, has some excellent old buildings mixed with the later modern skyline though nothing dominates this more than the mass of red granite called Castle Hill which is 292 metres high (just 8 metres short of being a mountain) . There is a lookout at the summit giving panoramic views of the city and its suburbs including Cleveland Bay and Magnetic Island. The significant renewal of the CBD with further high-density residential and retail developments is likely to continue its resurgence as the heart of the city. ClimateImage:UA--KDG--Aus-Qld--Townsville(Aero)--2006AD.gif The climate of Townsville as measured and recorded at the Aero. The Townsville Region is characterised by its dry tropical climate, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The wet, coinciding with the Tropical Cyclone season runs from November to March. The area receives a lower annual rainfall than the wet tropics due to its northern coastal orientation, which means south east trade winds move parallel to the coast rather than perpendicular to it. Townsville has an average daily temperature of 19.7°C to 28.8°C. December is the warmest month of the year with daily temperatures averaging 24.0°C to 31.4°C. July is the coolest month with daily temperatures averaging 13.5°C to 25.0°C. The average rainfall ranges from 2571 millimetres at Paluma (north west of the city) to 1136 millimetres at Townsville City to 853 millimetres at Woodstock (inland south of the city). Townsville experiences an annual average of 8.4 hours of sunshine per day. Like most of North and Far North Queensland, Townsville is prone to Tropical Cyclones, they usually form "officially" between November and May, during this time, which is called Cyclone Season. Notable Cyclones to affect the Townsville Region are; Cyclone Tessi (2000), Cyclone Joy (1990), Cyclone Althea (1971), Cyclone Leonta (1903) and Cyclone Sigma (1896). Urban layoutMedium term expansion of Townsville/Thuringowa will be in two major urban developments which will be starting shortly. Rocky Springs, a planned satellite city to the south of Townsville, is expected to eventually be home to 50,000 people. Additionally, expansion to the North includes a new $1 billion 5,000-lot housing estate, it will be located close to the Bruce Highway in Thuringowa. It will be the largest planned housing estate in North Queensland to this point.[4] GovernanceTownsville is the Northern Queensland administrative centre of State and Federal Government, housing the area offices of many departments and governmental bodies such as Centrelink and the Australian Taxation Office. LocalTownsville and Thuringowa are each governed by City Councils, both comprising of a Mayor and ten Councillors. In the Townsville City Council there are ten Divisions which elect one Councillor each. In the Thuringowa City Council there are two Divisions, one which elects three Councillors and one which elects seven. The Mayor of Townsville is Tony Mooney (Australian Labor Party), while the Mayor of Thuringowa is Les Tyrell (Independent). StateIn the Unicameral Queensland Parliament four electorates represent Townsville:
FederalTownsville is represented in the Australian House of Representatives by Peter Lindsay MP (Liberal Party of Australia), the Member for the Division of Herbert. Since the 1970s Townsville has always elected a representative of the Government of the day, whether it be the Liberal or Labor Party, this has been to the city's benefit when it comes to Federal investment and influence.[citation needed] Although historically a swinging seat, it is currently held safely by the Liberal Party, as is Government. Senator Ian Macdonald, one of twelve Australian Senators elected by Queensland, is based in Townsville. EconomyImage:Img 6572 2.jpg A Crane stands tall in Townsville's Skyline, an Icon to the City's economy. The Townsville Regional Economy is widely credited as being the most broad based economy in Australia outside of a capital city. Recent economic performance has been very strong, with 2004-05 economic growth estimated at 12.0%. Over the last 15 years the local economy has outperformed the rest of the Queensland and Australian economy.[citation needed] Tourism has of late helped in the city's expansion, though its traditional role is as an industrial port (via Port of Townsville) for exporting minerals from Mount Isa and Cloncurry, also beef and wool from the western plains and sugar and timber from the coastal regions, and this continues to be of importance. Residents in Townsville have average household incomes about 10 per cent above the state average, in 2003/04 it was closer to the New South Wales average than the Queensland average.[5] In 2004 there were 11,762 businesses in Townsville and 4,610 businesses in Thuringowa[6] The city also has its own manufacturing and processing industries. Townsville is the only city globally to refine three different base metals - Zinc, Copper and Nickel - and it is currently in strong contention for an aluminium refinery.[citation needed] Nickel ore is imported from Indonesia, the Philippines and New Caledonia and processed at the Yabulu Nickel refinery, 30 kilometres north of the port. Zinc ore is transported by rail from the Cannington Mine, south of Cloncurry, for smelting at the Sun Metals refinery south of Townsville. Copper concentrate from the smelter at Mt Isa is also railed to Townsville for further refining at the copper refinery at Stuart. Townsville has several large public assets due to its relative position and population. These include the largest campus of the only university in northern Queensland, James Cook University, the CSIRO Davies Laboratory, the Australian Institute of Marine Science headquarters, the large Army base at Lavarack Barracks and RAAF Base Townsville. This places Townsville in a unique position in Australia as the only non-capital city with significant State and Federal government department administration and infrastructure resources[citation needed]. The city remains popular with tourists, backpackers are particularly drawn to Magnetic Island and the Great Barrier Reef. The city has excellent diving and snorkeling facilities, with a variety of vessels using the port as a home base for their reef tourism activities. Conference tourism has become lucrative with national and international organisations choosing the area for many business forums.
Demographics
Townsville has a younger population than the Australian and Queensland averages. The city has traditionally experienced a high turnover of people, with the army base and government services bringing in many short to medium term workers. Major improvements to the lifestyle infrastructure over the past 10 years has lead to a higher living standard, and consequently the population boom.[citation needed] In 2005-06, the Townsville Statistical District grew at just over 3 per cent and was the fifth fastest growing district or division in Australia.[7] The annual average rate of change in population in the Townsville and Thuringowa LGAs between 30 June 2000 and 30 June 2005 was 2.5%, compared with 2.2% for Queensland.[6] Population statistics
Medium range population projections
Yearly population statistics[10]
EducationThere are over 60 private and State schools of primary and secondary education within the Townsville, Thuringowa and Palm Island LGAs. With high population growth in the region there are many proposals for new schools. Tertiary Education The largest of James Cook University's campuses is located in Douglas. The University is planning a billion dollar expansion, including extra student accommodation, a Student Village (i.e shopping mall, cafes, restaurants, etc.), and extra faculties. The Veterinary Sciences faculty is due to open soon while the Physical and Sports Rec Science faculty was recently opened to students. James Cook University also has a Medical School which is linked to Townsville's Tertiary Hospital. Vocational Education The city is home to the Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE[2] - a Technical and Further Education College, a campus of the Australian Agricultural College Corporation and a new Australian Technical College – North Queensland [3] campus which will open in 2007 in Douglas. CultureTownsville is also home to the Annual Australian Festival of Chamber Music, which runs over ten days each year in July. The festival has been running since 1991, and attracts many acclaimed international and Australian musicians. The city also boasts its very own orchestra, the Barrier Reef Orchestra, which presents concerts throughout North Queensland to much critical acclaim. The region has many renowned festivals, celebrating some of the various international cultures that call the region home. The Annual Greek and Italian Festivals (Italian based in Ingham, north of Townsville and Greek based at Thuringowa's Riverway) are popular with the locals and tourists alike The annual Great Tropical Jazz Party on Magnetic Island [4] presents a quality musical experience. Another quality jazz experience is that of the Townsville Brass Showband which presents a quartlery concert series entitled "Brass on the Grass". At these concerts you would generally find families bringing their old folks out and eating fish and chips by the seaside while staring aimleslly at the seagulls to the sounds of "Big Band Jive" and other jazz standards. The city has a large and diverse range of restaurants representing many different cuisines of the world. The Palmer Street restaurant strip in South Townsville is home to many of these, and also plays home to an annual Jazz Festival, bringing together food, wine and music from all parts of the world. A cosmopolitan atmosphere has been developed around many of these restaurants and cafes, with sidewalk dining taking advantage of the suitable climate for outdoor living. The city also has a vibrant pub and night-club scene, with many of them located in Flinders Street East. Local and national music groups can often be found performing live in these venues. The streetscape was renewed in 2003 with mixed reviews, and now caters for sidewalk dining at many new cafes also located in the street. The Townsville Entertainment Centre plays host to many national and international music shows, as well as sporting and trade shows, it seats 4500 people. The Townsville Civic Theatre is North Queensland's premier cultural facility. Since its opening in 1978, the Theatre has been a dynamic centre of entertainment and performing arts, providing an environment to further develop the performing arts in Townsville and the North. The Theatre offers performances in dance, music, opera, comedy and drama from major Australian companies with international and national artists that complement the work of local performing arts groups. Media and CommunicationsTownsville is the media centre for North Queensland, with 5 commercial radio stations, North Queensland ABC radio station, 3 commercial television stations, one regional daily newspaper and one community weekly newspaper (both owned by News Ltd). There are no local Sunday papers although The Sunday Mail (Qld) - based in Brisbane - does have a North Queensland edition. Sport and RecreationImage:Dairyfarmers2.jpg Dairy Farmers Stadium in full capacity during a 2003 Rugby Union World Cup match. Townsville and Thuringowa play host to a National Rugby League team, the North Queensland Cowboys, a National Basketball League team, the Townsville Crocodiles, a Women's National Basketball League team, the Townsville Fire. The Cowboys were Semi and Preliminary Finalists in the 2004 NRL season, and were Finalists in 2005. The Cowboys play at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Kirwan, a venue which has hosted three 2003 Rugby Union World Cup matches, and has a maximum capacity crowd of 27,000 people. The stadium was first built in 1995 after it was announced that Townsville would be home to a new NRL Rugby League Team. It was originally known as Stockland Stadium and then Malanda Stadium before becoming Dairy Farmers Stadium. A new 3,000 seat upgrade will begin soon to cater for the larger crowds that are expected to attend the Stadium following the Cowboys history making performance in 2005, finishing second in the NRL. The twin cities also played host to the enormously popular Japanese team during the 2003 Rugby World Cup, with the team playing the majority of the preliminary round games at Dairy Farmers Stadium. In 2006, the Super 14 rugby union team Queensland Reds played their final home fixture of the season at Dairy Farmers Stadium, after playing all of their previous home fixtures in their regular home of Brisbane. Depending on the attendance of this match, Townsville may host Super 14 matches in future seasons (most likely one annually). The Riverway Project, a major urban and recreational development in Thuringowa city will have a new international standard Cricket and Australian rules football stadium. The project is currently underway in several stages.[citation needed] Townsville operates a reasonable between two large clubs, namely Wests and Dalrymple. The leagues are published here [[[5]]] AFL Townsville operate an Australian rules football league in the region. The twin cities are also the stronghold of Zone 6 of the Queensland Darts Association. Current and past players include Tony David, winner of the 2002 Embassy World Championships, David Nogar Jnr, the first Queensland player to throw a nine dart game in a sanctioned match, Wiggy Solomon and Jeremy Fagg, both currently in the top 10 Queensland players (as rated by the Darts Federation of Australia). The possibility of the city having a soccer team as part of an expanded A-League has been raised.[citation needed] The nearby Mount Stuart is a popular rock-climbing area, but permits must be obtained from Council before climbing as the area has a very sensitive history. Various guidebooks have been published by local climbers and new routes continue to be established at all grades. The relationship between climbers and land owners has always been shaky, so local advice is always recommended. InfrastructureHealthImage:TownsvilleHospital.jpg Townsville Hospital from the Douglas Arterial Road Townsville is within Queensland Health's Townsville Health Service District which also includes Ingham and Palm Island.[11] The primary health facility for the region is The Townsville Hospital, it is a teaching hospital located less than 500 meters from the James Cook University School of Medicine in Douglas. It is the largest hospital in Australia outside of a capital city and services communities all the way up to Papua New Guinea. Townsville Hospital has 460 beds with services including surgical, cardio-thoracic surgery, neurosurgery, hyperbaric medicine as well as obstetrics, high risk pregnancy, general gynaecology, oncology services including gynaecological oncology, radiation oncology, medical oncology, haematology and bone marrow transplant, palliative care urogynaecology, level III intensive care services, rehabilitation, allied health and paediatric services. The Hospital employs approximately 72 full-time specialist staff and 48 visiting specialists.[12] Townsville's acute mental health unit [6] is also located at the Douglas Hospital complex, between the Hospital car park and the Douglas Arterial Road with two separate facilities one of which is a secure facility. There are three health campus's in Townsville and Thuringowa; Kirwan Health Campus[7], Magnetic Island Health Service Centre[8] and the North Ward Health Campus[9]. Townsville Hospital Dentist is the public dental health facility for the Townsville region, it is located in North Ward. Private Hospitals:
Townsville has the highest reported rate of skin cancer in the world - 3% of the popultion of Townsville and Thuringowa. Transport
Image:Riverwaydriveoverpass1.jpg Riverway Drive Overpass. Townsville is serviced by two major National Highway routes, the A1 (Bruce Highway), and the A6 (Flinders Highway). The A1 connects Townsville to Cairns in the north, and Mackay, Rockhampton, and Brisbane in the south. The A6 however, connects Townsville to Mount Isa in the west. The city is also serviced by a number of State routes, namely suburban and Arterial roads that span to numerous parts of the city. Numerous road projects are also planned in the future, especially the Townsville Ring Road, which will eventually become the new A1 route through the city. The North Coast railway line operated by Queensland Rail passes through the city, and the Western line meets it in the city's south. Rail services from Brisbane pass through Townsville and continue through to Cairns. Townsville also has a regular Tilt Train service to and from Brisbane and Cairns. Townsville is a major destination and generator of rail freight services. Container operations are also common in the city. The local nickel and copper refineries as well as minerals from the western line (Mt Isa) are transported to the port for trans-shipment to other destinations. Townsville's public transport system consists of bus services operated by Sunbus. Sunbus provides regular services to and from many parts of the city, and also operates several express routes. Public transport is also available from the CBD to Bushland Beach, a route run by Townsville's Hermit Park Bus Service, also Townsville's biggest Charter Bus Service. In addition to the bus system, Taxis (or cabs) operate 24 hours a day and service all parts of the metropolitan area. Townsville has a significant port at the mouth of Ross Creek. The Port of Townsville mainly handles cement and nickel ore, for processing at the Yabulu Nickel Refinery, 30 km north of the port in the city of Thuringowa. The port also serves as an export point for sugar and for products from north Queensland's mines. The port has three sugar storage sheds, with the newest being the largest under-cover storage area in Australia. Regular ferry services operate to Magnetic Island and Palm Island. The service to Magnetic Island is operated by Sunferries. The City is served by Townsville International Airport (which incidentally hasn't handled international flights since 2002). The Airport handles numerous daily flights to Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne, as well as to numerous regional destinations such as Cairns, Mount Isa and Mackay. The airfield is also shared with RAAF Base Townsville, which also was the largest airbase in the southern hemisphere during World War II.
Defence facilitiesThe Australian Army maintains a very strong presence in the north of Australia and this is evident by the basing of the Army's 3rd Brigade in Townsville. The 3rd Brigade is a light infantry brigade with significant air-mobile assets. The brigade consists of two Light Infantry Battalions and a Parachute Infantry Battalion. It has integral Artillery, Engineer, Aviation Reconnaissance and Combat Service Support Units. It is a high readiness brigade that has been deployed frequently at very short notice on combat operations outside mainland Australia. These include Somalia, Rwanda, Namibia, East Timor, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to the 3rd Brigade, a number of other major units are based in Townsville. These include the 5th Aviation Regiment, equipped with Blackhawk and Chinook helicopters, collocated at the RAAF Base in Garbutt and the 10th Force Support Battalion based at Ross Island. 10 FSB is a force logistics unit that provides back up logistic support to deployed units. The battalion provides specialist transport and supply support. Along with this there is also 11 Combat Sevice Support Unit and 3Combat Engineer Regiment The Army also maintains an Army Reserve Brigade in Townsville designated the 11th Brigade. This formation is similar in structure to the 3rd brigade but comprises reserve soldiers only. There is also an active cadet unit, 130ACU located within Heatley Secondary College. As with the Army, the Royal Australian Air Force also maintain a presence in Townsville. RAAF Base Townsville, which is located in the suburb of Garbutt, houses a detachment of DHC-4 Caribou aircraft from No. 38 Squadron RAAF. This detachment provides support to the Army units in Townsville. The base is also a high readiness Defence asset and is prepared to accept the full range of RAAF aircraft types as well as other international aircraft including the huge US C-17 Globemaster and the Russian Antonov transport aircraft. References
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