Townsville, Queensland
Townsville redirects here. For other uses, see Townsville (disambiguation).
| Townsville Queensland | |
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| Population: • Density: | 160,003 (2006) (13th) 87.58/km² |
| Established: | 1865 |
| Area: | 1,826.9 km² |
| Time zone: | AEST (UTC+10) |
| Location: | 1,300 km from Brisbane |
| LGA: | Townsville City Council Thuringowa City Council |
| State District: | Townsville, Thuringowa, Mundingburra & Burdekin |
| Federal Division: | Herbert |
Townsville (Postcodes: 4810-4819) is a city on the north-eastern coast of Australia, located in the state of Queensland at latitude 19.15 South and longitude 146.46 East.
It is adjacent to the centre 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.
The city consists of two local government areas, the Townsville City Council and the Thuringowa City Council. The urban area is collectively referred to as Townsville, locally the two local government areas are sometimes referred to as "the Twin Cities". The population of the greater urban area of Townsville is approximately 164,000 (as of 2006, including Thuringowa), making Townsville Australia's largest city above the tropic of Capricorn, and the largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast (South-East Queensland). Indeed Townsville is Australia's largest independent non-capital city, this is, not within several hours drive of a capital city. Townsville is seen as the unofficial capital of North Queensland, servicing a vast area of the interior.
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Location and Setting
Townsville lies approximately 1300 km north of Brisbane, and 350 km south of Cairns. The city and immediate region is comprised of two separate local authorities, the cities of Townsville (central and southern area) and Thuringowa (inland and northern beaches). Most other large Australian cities are composed of multiple local authorities (in Melbourne there are 30), and thus it is in keeping with other urban areas somewhat of a misnomer to label Townsville a twin city on this basis.
Popular attractions include 'The Strand', a long tropical beach and garden strip; Reef HQ, a large tropical aquarium holding many of the Great Barrier Reef's native flora and fauna; the Museum of Tropical Queensland, built around a display of relics from the sunken British warship HMS Pandora; and Magnetic Island, a large neighbouring island, the vast majority of which is national park.
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 here is the construction of a new rail passenger terminal, releasing space where development of residential units, retail projects and a new performing arts centre is underway. The skyline of Townsville is set for dramatic changes over the next few years, with a number of new highrises under construction or in planning that will challenge the 'sugar shaker' for CBD dominance.
The Ross River flows through the city. Three weirs, fish stocking and dredging of the river in these reaches has resulted in a deep, clean waterway for the recreation of residents and visitors alike, and 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 in the Thuringowa local authority, and in times of drought further water may be sourced from the acclaimed Burdekin Dam. The river is navigable only by small vessels, where speed and wash limits apply in most sections.
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 292 metre (just 8 metres short of being a mountain) mass of red granite called Castle Hill. 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.
Rocky Springs, a planned satellite city to the south of Townsville, will eventually be expected to be home to 50,000 people. The plans will add to the changing demographic of the greater Townsville area, and help with planning the city's future sprawl. The City of Townsville is currently running low on greenfield land releases, while the twin City of Thuringowa has vast plains suitable for development to the North and North West of the City.
Climate
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 maximum temperature of 28.8°C and daily minimum temperature of 19.7°C. December is the warmest month of the year with daily maximum temperatures averaging 31.4°C and daily minimum temperatures averaging 24.0°C. July is the coolest month with daily maximum temperatures averaging 25.0°C and minimum temperatures averaging 13.5°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.
Tropical Cyclones
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.
Here's a list of Notable Cyclones to Affect the Townsville Region:
- Cyclone Tessi, 2000
- Cyclone Joy, 1990
- Cyclone Althea, 1971
- Cyclone Leonta, 1903
- Cyclone Sigma, 1896
History
The city started life very 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 is now the largest tropical city in Australia.
Townsville/Thuringowa
In 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.
Thuringowa Shire Council often received the raw end of this deal, continually building infrastructure for new suburbs it was then forced to cede to Townsville City Council, additionally it then lost the ratepayers who would have paid for that infrastructure over the long term.
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. 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 2
At 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.
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.
- 3 Fighter Sector Headquarters, Wulguru & North Ward (at that time in Thuringowa)
- 1 Wireless Unit, Pimlico & Stuart & Roseneath (at that time in Thuringowa)
- Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force (WAAAF)
- St Anne's School, Townsville -WAAAF Barracks
- Signals, 5th Australian Division Stuart, Wills St & Roseneath
- Buchanan's Hotel, Townsville Sturt St, former officer accommodation.
- North Eastern Area Command HQ, Townsville, Federation building, Sturt St
- Castle Hill, Townsville underground tunnels & bunkers
- Green St. Bunker, West End, Sidney St West End, Project 81 (SES building)
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% and economic outperformance of the Queensland and Australian economy over most of the previous 15 years. 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.
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. Nickel ore is imported from Indonesia, the Philippines and New Caledonia and processed at the Yabulu Nickel refinery in Thuringowa city, 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 the Air Force base at Garbutt. 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]. This has served to make the population and economy more stable than other areas of tropical Queensland. Business confidence in the region is currently at record high levels.
The city remains popular with tourists, especially backpackers 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 tradionally experienced a large flux of people, with the army base and government services bringing in many temporary workers (who soon left again). Major improvements to the lifestyle infrastructure over the past 10 years has seen fewer people leaving - and consequently - the population boom. In 2004-05, the Townsville - Thuringowa suburban area was the fifth fastest growing statistical division in Australia.
Culture
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) are popular with the locals and tourists alike and will be held at Thuringowa's new river way centre in 2006.
The annual Great Tropical Jazz Party on Magnetic Island [1]presents an international quality musical experience not otherwise available to the local (or regional) community and has a unique reputation for celebrating fine musicianship and performance in a relaxed tropical setting. The level of musicality and interchange, the intimacy of the venue and the receptiveness of our audience draws musicians from the US, Europe and New Zealand as well from across Australia who (almost uniquely) perform at no cost.
Townsville 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 musicians. The city also boasts its very own orchestra, the Barrier Reef Orchestra, which presents concerts throughout North Queensland to much critical acclaim.
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.
Part of the local shopping experience includes the markets, with a night market conducted on the first Friday of each month at The Strand Park on the foreshore. Weekly markets (Cotters Markets) are held on Sunday mornings in the Flinders Street Mall in the city centre, with a variety of offerings including fresh produce, foods, arts and craft and other antiquities.
Shopping
Shopping Centres in Townsville and Thuringowa
- Stockland Townsville
- Flinders Mall
- Castletown Shoppingworld
- Willows Shoppingtown
- Centro Townsville
- Sunland Plaza
- Vincent Village
- Hermit Park Shopping Centre
- Parkside Plaza
- Centro Woodlands
- Annandale Central
Transport
Road
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.
Rail
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.
Public Transport
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.
Sea
Townsville has a significant port at the mouth of Ross Creek.The Port of Townsville mainly handles cargoes of 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.
Air
The City is served by Townsville International Airport (which incidently 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.
Government
Townsville 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.
Local
Townsville 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 (Labor), while the Mayor of Thuringowa is Les Tyrell (National).
State
In the Unicameral Queensland Parliament four electorates represent Townsville:
- Electoral district of Burdekin (southern suburbs): Rosemary Menkens MP (National) -- Opposition Shadow Minister for Environment, Multiculturalism and Women
- Electoral district of Mundingburra (central/southern suburbs): Hon Lindy Nelson-Carr MP (Labor) -- Government Minister for the Environment and Multiculturalism
- Electoral district of Thuringowa (western/northern suburbs): Hon Craig Wallace MP (Labor) -- Government Minister for Natural Resources and Water and Minister Assisting the Premier in North Queensland
- Electoral district of Townsville (CBD + Magnetic & Palm Islands): Hon Mike Reynolds MP (Labor) -- Speaker of the Legislative Assembly in the Queensland Parliament
Federal
Townsville is represented in the Australian House of Representatives by Peter Lindsay MP (Liberal), 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. Although historically a swinging seat, it is currently held safely by the Liberal Party, as is Government.
Ian Macdonald (Liberal) is one of twelve Australian Senators elected by Queensland and the only Senator who is based in Townsville.
Sister cities
 | Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea since 1983 |
 | Shunan, Japan since 1990 |
| Iwaki City, Japan since August, 1991 |
 | Changshu, The People's Republic of China since 1995 |
 | Suwon, South-Korea since 1996 |
Defence
The 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.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.
As with the Army, the Royal Australian Air Force also maintain a strong presence in Townsville. RAAF Base Townsville, which is located in the suburb of Garbutt, houses several fixed wing tactical transport aircraft Squadrons. These Squadrons provide 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.
Sport and Recreation
Townsville and Thuringowa play host to a NRL team, the North Queensland Cowboys, a National Basketball League (Australia) team, the Townsville Crocodiles, a Women's National Basketball League (Australia) team, the Townsville Fire.
The Cowboys were Semi and Preliminary Finalists in the 2004 NRL season, and were finally defeated by the Sydney Roosters in the Preliminary Finals. In the 2005 NRL Season, the Cowboys played the Wests Tigers in the Grand Final on 2 October 2005. They were defeated by the Tigers.
The Cowboys play at Dairy Farmers Stadium in Thuringowa, a venue which has hosted three 2003 Rugby Union World Cup matches, and has a maximum capacity crowd of 27,000 people. The stadium could hold up to 31,000 but a recent upgrade in seats, which was meant to increase capacity, dropped capacity instead. 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 as one of the centrepieces of the project. The project is currently underway in several stages.
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).
Townsville will also play host to the Queensland Secondary Schools Rugby League U/15 State Titles. Favourites for these titles are the Capricornia side. They are a team with a tough pack of forwards and backs that could match any side.
The possibility of the city having a football team as part of an expanded A-League has been raised.
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. Contact local climbers though one of the adventure equipment stores in town before climbing as the relationship between climbers and land owners has always been shaky, and local advice is recommended.
Education
See List of schools in Townsville.
There 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 and a new Australian Technical College – North Queensland [3] campus which will open in 2007 in Douglas.
Media and Communications
Townsville 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 Newsltd). There are no local sunday papers although the Sunday Times does a North Queensland edition.
Radio Stations
4TO FM 102.3 (commercial, retransmitted on 774 AM)
Sea FM 100.7 (commercial)
Mix FM 106.3 (commercial)
Hot FM 103.1 (commercial)
ABC Townsville 630 AM
Classic FM 101.5
Radio National 104.7 FM
JJJ 105.5 FM
4TCB 99.9 FM (community)
4TTT 103.9 FM (community)
4K1G 107.1 FM (Indigenous)
891 AM (narrowcast)
98.9 FM (narrowcast)
99.9 Live FM (community)
Suburbs of Townsville
Urban Townsville
Urban Thuringowa
| Islands (Magnetic Island is within the Townsville Local Government boundaries)
Northern Beaches (Thuringowa)
Rural Thuringowa
Rural Townsville
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External links
- Street map from Street Directory, MSN Maps and Multimap.
- Satellite image from Google Maps, WikiMapia and Terraserver.
LGAs
General Townsville websites
- Townsville Enterprise
- Extensive Community Directory
- Townsville Forums
- North Queensland Conservation Council
- Townsville Singles
- Townsville Road Runners
Public utilities
- Townsville Airport
- Port of Townsville
- NQ Water
- Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE
- James Cook University
- Museum of Tropical Queensland
- Reef HQ Aquarium
- Mount Stuart Weather Radar
Health
Media
Fact Sheets
- Department of Defence
- Energy Efficient Housing in North Qld
- Townsville City population stats
- Thuringowa City population stats
- Townsville Region Social Atlas (2001 Census)
Categories
1865 establishments | Cities in Queensland | Articles with unsourced statements | Local Government Areas of Queensland | Coastal cities in Australia | North Queensland | Townsville/Thuringowa, Queensland