Shepparton (
/ˈʃɛpərtən/)[2] is a city located on the floodplain of the Goulburn River in the north east of Victoria, Australia, approximately 181 kilometres (112 mi) north-east of Melbourne. The City of Greater Shepparton is the fifth largest within Victoria with an estimated population of 50,373.[1]
It began as a sheep station and river crossing before undergoing a major transformation as a railway town. Today it is an agricultural and manufacturing centre and the centre of the Goulburn Valley irrigation system, one of the largest centres of irrigation in Australia. It is a major regional service city and is the civic administration centre for the City of Greater Shepparton. The Greater Shepparton area includes surrounding centres of Tatura, Merrigum, Mooroopna, Murchison, Dookie, and Grahamvale.
Shepparton is the tenth most populated inland city of Australia, after Canberra, Toowoomba, Launceston, Albury-Wodonga, Ballarat, Bendigo, the Latrobe Valley, Wagga Wagga and Mildura.
The name of Shepparton is derived from the surname of the town's first settler Sherbourne Sheppard.
It is sometimes imagined the name is from Shepperton in England, but this is not the case.[3]
Prior to the European settlement of Australia, it was thought to be inhabited by the Yorta Yorta Nation people Indigenous Australian tribe.[4]
The Yorta Yorta people are the Indigenous Australians who traditionally lived around the junction of the Goulburn and Murray Rivers in present-day northeast Victoria.
Yorta Yorta Family Groups include the Bangerang, Kailtheban, Wollithiga, Moira, Ulupna, Kwat Kwat, Yalaba Yalaba and Nguaria-iiliam-wurrung clans. The Yorta Yorta Nation is the Nation and the local tribe is Kailtheban for the Shepparton area.[citation needed]
The language is referred to generally as the Yorta Yorta language.
Major Thomas Mitchell was the first European to travel through the area in 1835. Mitchell recommended it as a site for Joseph Hawdon and Charles Bonney to camp at the Goulburn River on route from Albury, New South Wales to Adelaide, South Australia.
The first permanent settlement in the area was by squatter Edward Khull at Tallygaroopna which a man named Sherbourne Sheppard was to take over two years later. Sheppards holding developed into a village adjacent to the Goulburn River known as "Sheppardton". During the 1850s, the nearby village was a popular river crossing point for miners travelling from the Bendigo goldfields to the new finds in the Beechworth area. As there was no bridge to link either sides of the Goulburn River, entrepreneur Patrick Macguire set up a punt service in 1850 and the settlement became known as "Sheppardton or Macguire's Punt". A Post Office opened on 1 February 1854 and closed in July of that year.[5]
In 1855, it was first surveyed on the site just east of the river and carried the official present shortened spelling. At that point it consisted. The post office reopened on 1 May 1858.[5] Shepparton was declared a town in September 1860.[6] It remained a small settlement of rudimentary huts through the 1870s despite adding a police station and in 1873, the first general store, Rowe's, blacksmith, foundry and a public hall which remains the city's oldest building. The first bridge over the Goulburn at Shepparton (since demolished) was completed at the Fryers Street entrance in 1878 and the first church, St Patrick's, opened in 1879.[7]
The railway from Seymour reached the town in 1880.[8] A mechanics institute opened between 1880 and 1888 as a Shepparton rapidly developed into a major manufacturing and service centre.
During the Victorian railway boom, the railways expanded and by the turn of the century Shepparton was central to a large network of regional branch lines including the Toolamba-Echuca, lines to Cobram, Nathalia, Dookie, Picola and Katamatite[9] Rail served industries helped the Shepparton grow into a city. While these lines experienced a brief boom, almost all of them were later closed. The Goulburn River also developed as a secondary transport hub, with paddlesteamers and ferries operating at The Barges.
File:Shepparton 1951.jpg
Wyndham Street in 1951. The Shepparton Post Office and tower (built 1882) was the city's major landmark. Urban renewal from 1966 onwards has resulted in the replacement of all buildings pictured.
Shepparton was proclaimed a city in March 1949 and in the post war era the city's population virtually tripled with immigration to the city being a major factor of growth,[10] particularly migrants from Italy. During the post war boom of the 1960s and 1970s successive local councils began a progress campaign to modernise the city and many older buildings were replaced with newer buildings.
Shepparton has a semi-arid (Köppen climate classification BSfk)[11] climate, with hot summers and cold winters. The hottest summer month is January, when the average temperature reaches 31.7 degrees Celsius. In winter, the weather becomes coldest in July when the minimum averages 3.2 and the maximum gets to 13.2 degrees.
The rainfall in Shepparton is fairly sparse. The rain doesn't get too heavy throughout the year. Even with the wettest month being in November, the rainfall still averages at 53.2mm. The weather is driest at the beginning of Autumn with the rainfall averaging at 17.2mm.
The average wind speed in Shepparton is 4.03 metres per second and the humidity of Shepparton averages 69.81 per cent.[12]
| Climate data for Shepparton |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
Jul |
Aug |
Sep |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
Year |
| Record high °C (°F) |
44.3
(111.7) |
46.1
(115.0) |
39.7
(103.5) |
34.4
(93.9) |
25.7
(78.3) |
21.5
(70.7) |
19.2
(66.6) |
24.1
(75.4) |
31.8
(89.2) |
36.8
(98.2) |
41.2
(106.2) |
42.8
(109.0) |
46.1
(115.0) |
| Average high °C (°F) |
31.9
(89.4) |
31.1
(88.0) |
27.6
(81.7) |
22.5
(72.5) |
17.8
(64.0) |
14.3
(57.7) |
13.2
(55.8) |
15.1
(59.2) |
18.3
(64.9) |
21.7
(71.1) |
26.1
(79.0) |
28.8
(83.8) |
22.4
(72.3) |
| Average low °C (°F) |
15.0
(59.0) |
14.7
(58.5) |
11.9
(53.4) |
8.1
(46.6) |
5.4
(41.7) |
3.9
(39.0) |
3.2
(37.8) |
3.6
(38.5) |
5.3
(41.5) |
7.1
(44.8) |
10.4
(50.7) |
12.3
(54.1) |
8.4
(47.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) |
5.6
(42.1) |
5.0
(41.0) |
3.4
(38.1) |
−0.6
(30.9) |
−3.1
(26.4) |
−5.9
(21.4) |
−4.7
(23.5) |
−6.3
(20.7) |
−2.2
(28.0) |
−0.4
(31.3) |
0.3
(32.5) |
4.3
(39.7) |
−6.3
(20.7) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) |
20.2
(0.795) |
30.9
(1.217) |
17.5
(0.689) |
32.0
(1.26) |
32.4
(1.276) |
36.2
(1.425) |
41.9
(1.65) |
44.9
(1.768) |
38.2
(1.504) |
32.0
(1.26) |
53.9
(2.122) |
27.5
(1.083) |
409.4
(16.118) |
| Source: [13] |
Maude Street Mall is the main shopping centre, while Wyndham Street is the main civic and commercial street of the city.
Located off the Maude Street Mall, there is a communication tower which is 76 m (249 ft) tall with an observation deck 35m high accessed by 160 steps. The observation deck offers views over the city and surrounding countryside. It was built 1967–68.
Shepparton has three nearby towns which could be considered as suburbs. They are Mooroopna to the west, Kialla (and Kialla Lakes house and land subdivision) to the south, and Shepparton East to the east. To the east on the way to the town of Dookie is the locality of Grahamvale.
Shepparton's main industries are agriculture and associated manufacturing. Australia's largest processor of canned fruits, SPC Ardmona, a wholly owned subsidiary of Coca-Cola Amatil, has production facilities in Shepparton and nearby Kyabram. Seasonal fruits, such as peaches, pears and apricots are preserved into a variety of packaging. The Manufacturing industry has evolved to cater for the needs of local primary producers.
Other major manufacturers in the city include Campbells Soup Company, United Dairy Power, and Pental Products.
Furphys Foundry is also a large employer, with around 130 staff, including 18 apprentices.
Shepparton is a major regional commercial and shopping centre and service economy for the Greater Shepparton area.
Shepparton is a major centre for infrastructure and civic services. The majority of the region's emergency response facilities are located there. The administrative headquarters for the Country Fire Authority (CFA) District 22 and one of only two Independent Rescue Agencies in Victoria are located in Shepparton. The Search and Rescue Squad originally started out as a "Dive and Recovery Unit" recovering lost property and persons from the rivers, lakes and water ways in the region.[citation needed]
The city hosts the Moooving Art project, which involves local artists painting fibreglass cows, which are then displayed in tourist locations throughout the city and surrounding townships.[citation needed] The project is an artistic representation of the strong dairy industry prevalent in the Shepparton area.
Kidstown is Located between Shepparton and Mooroopna, it has two giant slides, a 35-metre (115 ft) flying fox and a train that goes right around the playground.
The city is home to a large swimming centre called Aquamoves[14], two performing arts centres, one in Mooroopna named WestSide, due to its geographical location and Eastbank in Shepparton which houses the centres' box office. Collectively the centres are called Riverlinks, which also incorporates the Shepparton Art Gallery.
Shepparton is also home to the Shepparton Theatre Arts Group Inc. (STAG),[15] the city's premier theatrical group. STAG was formed in 1975 after an amalgamation between the Shepparton Dramatic Society and the Shepparton Light Music Company. The group presents one dramatic/comedic play, one musical and one rock revue each year.
Australian Rules Football is the most popular sport in Shepparton. The main league, called the Goulburn Valley Football League (GVFL), includes 3 teams from the city. There are also other smaller leagues, such as the Murray Football League, Kyabram & District Football League and the Picola & District Football League which have teams from in and around Greater Shepparton. There is also a junior league in the schools (SDJFA). The city plays a major role in a team where the Australian Football League (AFL) frequently scouts for new talents to AFL clubs, which is the Murray Bushrangers.
Association Football is also popular in Shepparton, with four senior clubs entering teams into competitions run by the North Eastern Soccer League; Shepparton (formerly Lemnos), Shepparton South, Shepparton United and Kialla United. Teams are entered in men's, women's, boys' and girls' divisions.[citation needed]
Basketball is another popular sport in Shepparton.[citation needed] The Shepparton Lady Gators represent the Shepparton and Mooroopna region in women's basketball playing in the Big V division two competition. The men's team has gone into an extended recess after being one of the most successful country-based basketball teams in Australia, winning the CVIBL title in 1994 and the 2000, 2001 and 2003 Big V Championship ABA titles under the tutelage of Russell Parker.In 2011 the mens team returned to the court in the Country basketball league.
Cycling is popular in Shepparton due to the flat terrain and extensive network of routes.[citation needed] The Goulburn Valley Hospice runs the annual Shepparton Fruit Loop Ride for cyclists. There is a velodrome facility located in the city's north and there is an extensive range of bike paths throughout the city and surrounding areas.
Shepparton Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the city. [16]
The Shepparton Greyhound Racing Club holds regular meetings at its track on the Goulburn Valley Highway, Kialla.[17]
Golfers play at the course of the Shepparton Golf Club on Golf Drive.[18]
The Royal Australian Navyship HMAS Shepparton is named after the city, and the 8th/7th Battalion Royal Victoria Regiment has a base in the city's south-east.
Shepparton has Victoria's second largest Aboriginal community after Melbourne, making up approximately 10% of the city's population.[19] The concentration of Indigenous Australians is the largest of any Victorian city and is 4 times the national average (2.5%).[20] Shepparton has a large immigrant community, with people from places such as Albania, Afghanistan, Iraq, Greece, Italy and Sudan, as well as many other places.
St Brendans Catholic Church
The majority of people in Shepparton identify with Christianity with over 65% of people in the City of Greater Shepparton identifying with the Christian faith. Roman Catholicism is the most prominent of the religions with over 28% of people in the City of Greater Shepparton identifying themselves as Catholic and this religion representing the largest church congregations. The largest non-Christian faith in Shepparton is Islam with over 3%.[21]
Shepparton has numerous primary schools, such as state schools Bourchier Street Primary, Gowrie Street Primary, Guthrie Street Primary, St Georges Road Primary School, Grahamvale Primary, Kialla West Primary, Kialla Primary, Wilmot Road Primary, Shepparton East Primary and Orrvale Primary. Catholic primary schools include St. Brendan's, St. Mel's and St. Lukes. It also has a school catering for students with disabilities, called Verney Road School.
There are six secondary schools in the Shepparton Region, Mooroopna Secondary College, McGuire College, Shepparton High School and Wanganui Park Secondary College, as well as the Catholic Notre Dame College, and the private Goulburn Valley Grammar School.
The University of Melbourne's School of Rural Health and Rural Clinical School of the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences are also based in Shepparton.
La Trobe University also has a campus offering a range of degree programs including Arts, Business/Commerce, Nursing/Health Sciences, and Education. Approximately 400 students attend the university which provides day, evening, part-time, and full-time study options.
Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE has two campuses, one in Fryers Street which hosts the organisation's administration department as well as many teaching departments, and the William Orr Campus, a 120 hectare property in Wanganui Road.
The city is located at the junction of the Midland Highway and the Goulburn Valley Highway, the latter which is being progressively converted to freeway standard. The Peter Ross-Edwards Causeway connects Shepparton to Mooroopna.
V/Line runs bus coach services to Wangaratta, Bendigo and Griffith, New South Wales. A dedicated bus service to Shepparton from Melbourne Airport is also run twice daily passing through Seymour and Nagambie.
Shepparton station and goods yard
Shepparton railway station is serviced by V/Line rail services on the Shepparton line to and from Melbourne and to Mooroopna railway station.
Shepparton Airport, located south of the city on the Goulburn Valley Highway and is home to Gawne Aviation.
The Shepparton Adviser is a free newspaper delivering to a CAB audited 34,745 homes, farms and businesses each week. This circulation equates to a conservative readership estimate of 60,000 per week and includes direct delivery to 3,000 local RMB addresses via Australia Post. The Shepparton Adviser is independently owned and is the largest circulating established free newspaper in the Goulburn and Murray Valleys.
The Shepparton News is a paid morning daily newspaper published by the McPherson Media Group. It has an audited average daily distribution of 12–14,000. From the same publisher, The SN Weekly is a free newspaper delivered directly across the wider Shepparton area. The Country News, with an audited circulation of 55,000 is aimed at the farming community in the Goulburn Valley and surrounding regions, and is included as an insert in the Shepparton News, Riverine Herald (Echuca), Seymour Telegraph, Cobram Courier, McIvor Times (Heathcote), Pastoral Times (Deniliquin), Benalla Ensign, Euroa Gazette, Southern Riverina News (Finley), Kyabram Free Press and the Campaspe Valley News (Rochester).
- Triple J 94.5 FM (government-funded Youth Radio)
- 97.7 ABC Shepparton (government-funded local news, current affairs, light entertainment and talkback)
- ABC Radio National 621 AM (government-funded, mostly news, current affairs and the arts)
- 774 ABC Melbourne 775 AM (government-funded, mostly news and talkback)
- ABC Classic FM 96.1 FM (government-funded, classical music station)
- 95 3SR FM 95.3 FM (commercial)
- Star FM 96.9 FM (commercial) – formerly known as Sun FM.
- ONE FM 98.5 (community / not-for-profit)
- Radio for the Print Handicapped 100.1 FM
- Racing Radio 1260 AM (narrowcast)
- Raw FM 87.6 FM (dance music station)
Shepparton is served by three commercial television networks and two publicly owned services.
The new digital channels broadcast by all the networks in addition to the main stations are available on Freeview to viewers in Shepparton and the wider Goulburn and Murray Valley regions.
Of the three commercial networks, WIN Television (previously GMV-6 and 'Television Victoria') airs a 30-minute local news bulletin each weeknight while Southern Cross Ten produces Weeknights, an evening news magazine program from Monday to Friday.
On 5 May 2011, analogue television transmissions ceased in regional Victoria and some border regions including the Goulburn Valley and parts of the Southern Riverina in New South Wales. All local free-to-air television services are now broadcasting in digital transmission only as part of the Federal Government`s plan for Digital terrestrial television in Australia.
[22][23]
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Shepparton-Mooroopna (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2006 Census QuickStats. http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/LocationSearch?collection=Census&period=2006&areacode=UCL248400&producttype=QuickStats&breadcrumb=PL&action=401. Retrieved 25 January 2009.
- ^ Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-876429-14-3
- ^ Bill Wannan, Australian Folklore, Lansdowne Press, 1970, reprint 1979 ISBN 0-7018-1309-1, under "Place Names", page 422, citing William Sandry James, A History of Shepparton, 1938.
- ^ "Shepparton". The Sydney Morning Herald. 17 January 2008. http://www.smh.com.au/news/victoria/shepparton/2005/02/17/1108500207320.html.
- ^ a b Premier Postal History, Post Office List, http://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocdwrapper.p?SortBy=VIC&filter=Shepparton, retrieved 2 January 2012
- ^ Shepparton Celebrates 150 announcement and website launch – Greater Shepparton City Council. Greatershepparton.com.au (17 March 2010). Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
- ^ http://www.greatershepparton.com.au/downloads/leisure/Greater_Shepparton_Council_Shared_Pathway_Information.pdf
- ^ Sid Brown (March 1990), "Tracks Across the State", Newsrail (Australian Railway Historical Society (Victorian Division)): pages 71–76.
- ^ http://www.vrhistory.com/VRMaps/Vic1900.pdf
- ^ Key drivers of change – City of Greater Shepparton forecast (forecast.id®). Forecast.id.com.au (8 October 2009). Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
- ^ Tapper, Andrew; Tapper, Nigel (1996). Gray, Kathleen. ed. The weather and climate of Australia and New Zealand (First ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. p. 300. ISBN 0-19-553393-3.
- ^ Shepparton Weather. Shepparton.com.au. Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
- ^ "BOM". May 2011. http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/averages/tables/cw_081125.shtml.
- ^ Aquamoves
- ^ Shepparton Theatre Arts Group Inc. Stagtheatre.com. Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
- ^ Australian Harness Racing, Shepparton, http://www.harness.org.au/shepparton/shepparton.cfm?fromstate=vic, retrieved 11 May 2009
- ^ Greyhound Racing Victoria, Shepparton, http://shepparton.grv.org.au/index.html, retrieved 15 April 2009 [dead link]
- ^ Golf Select, Shepparton, http://www.golfselect.com.au/armchair/courseView.aspx?course_id=322, retrieved 11 May 2009
- ^ http://www.greatershepparton.com.au/download.asp?RelatedLinkID=2697
- ^ 4705.0 – Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006. Abs.gov.au. Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
- ^ Religion – City of Greater Shepparton Community Profile. Profile.id.com.au (8 August 2006). Retrieved on 18 August 2011.
- ^ "Parliament of Victoria Legislative Assembly Hansard" (PDF). 29 March 2006. pp. 661–662. http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard/pdf/Assembly/Feb-Jun%202006/Assembly%20Extract%2029%20March%202006%20from%20Book%203.pdf.
- ^ "Sharp shooters' silver bullet". The Age (Melbourne). 18 March 2006. http://www.theage.com.au/news/shooting/sharp-shooters-silver-bullet/2006/03/18/1142582569263.html.
Coordinates: 36°23′S 145°24′E / 36.383°S 145.4°E / -36.383; 145.4
