Wodonga, Victoria
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| Wodonga Victoria |
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 Location of Wodonga in Victoria (red) |
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| Population: | 29,710 (2006)[1] | ||||||
| Established: | 1852 | ||||||
| Postcode: | 3690 | ||||||
| Elevation: | 152 m (499 ft) | ||||||
| Area: | 400 km² (154.4 sq mi) | ||||||
| Location: |
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| LGA: | City of Wodonga | ||||||
| Region: | Northeast Victoria | ||||||
| State District: | Benambra | ||||||
| Federal Division: | Indi | ||||||
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Wodonga () is a small city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, 300 kilometres north-east of Melbourne, Australia. It is covered by the municipality Wodonga City Council. Its population is approximately 40,500 people, and with Albury forms an urban area with more than 82,000 people.
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[edit] History
Founded as a customs post with its twin city Albury on the other side of the Murray River, the town grew subsequent to the opening of the first bridge across the Murray in 1860. Originally named Wodonga its name was changed to Belvoir then later back to Wodonga. The Post Office opened June 1, 1856 although known as Belvoir until July 26, 1869.[2] It has been regarded as the smaller, less prosperous cousin of the two (once commonly referred to by locals as 'Struggle Town'). Whilst still somewhat smaller than Albury, economic growth in both areas has ameliorated such distinctions.
[edit] Industry
Major secondary industries based in Wodonga include 'LOGIC' a logistics distributions hub, a large cattle market, a pet food factory (Mars Corporation), a cardboard box factory (VISY) and an abattoir and a foundry (Bradken Limited) as well as a variety of other, smaller enterprises. It also serves as a central point for the delivery of government services to the surrounding region.
It houses the Australian corporate headquarters for Mars Corp. Wodonga is the site of an Australian Army logistics base and a training centre for army technical apprentices, Latchford Barracks. It is also the home of a campus of La Trobe University and Wodonga Institute of TAFE.
Several experiments in cross-border governance in an attempt to bring the cities of Albury and Wodonga together have been tried - see Albury-Wodonga for details.
[edit] Sport and culture
There are three Australian rules football clubs in Wodonga, the Wodonga Football Club, the Wodonga Raiders Football Club and the Wodonga Saints Football Club. Wodonga and Wodonga Raiders compete in the Ovens & Murray Football League, while the Wodonga Saints compete in the Tallangatta and District Football League. There are many other sporting clubs in the region. Brisbane Lions dual-premiership player Daniel Bradshaw and celebrated Saint Kilda Saints forward Fraser Gehrig are originally from Wodonga.
Much of the arts and theatrical activity in the region is conducted in a cross-border fashion; for instance HotHouse Theatre [1] is located almost equidistant from the Wodonga and Albury city centres.
Australian Socceroos Archie Thompson and Joshua Kennedy played for soccer team Twin City Wanderers as a child. Wodonga Diamonds Football Club and Wodonga Panthers Soccer Club are two other soccer clubs based in Wodonga.
The World's Biggest Rolling Pin (listed in the Guinness Book of World Records) is located in Wodonga, atop "Henri's Bakery". [3]
[edit] Transport
Wodonga railway station lies on the Melbourne-Albury and Melbourne-Sydney lines. There are future plans for the station to be moved from its present central location to a position on a new line on the northern edge of the town.
Wodonga is on the junction of the Hume Highway (the main route from Melbourne to Sydney) and the Murray Valley Highway (which follows the southern bank of the Murray River).
Local public transport is provided by Mylon Motorways, who run buses on a number of routes both within Wodonga and to Albury [2]. Bus services are generally quite infrequent and public transport use in Wodonga is very low. There are also long-distance bus services to the capitals.
There are a number of bicycle paths in Wodonga, including one to Albury. Bicycle path maps are available from the Vicroads website [3].
Albury Airport, which provides scheduled commuter flights to Melbourne and Sydney, is a short drive from Wodonga.
[edit] Government
Federal Government
Wodonga is in the federal Division of Indi. The current representative for the Division of Indi is Liberal Party of Australia member Sophie Mirabella.
State Government
Wodonga is in the Victorian Electoral district of Benambra. Bill Tilley of the Liberal Party was elected member for the electoral district of Benambra in the 2006 Victorian State Election in November 2006.
[edit] Education
In 2005 there were 3 public high schools in Wodonga: Wodonga High School, Mitchell Secondary College and Wodonga West Secondary College. Wodonga High School celebrated its 50th birthday in 2005. From 2006, the three government high schools have merged to form a specialist senior college for Years 10, 11 and 12, known as Wodonga Senior Secondary College[4], and a specialist school for Years 7, 8 and 9, known as Wodonga Middle Years College, on two campuses; Felltimber Campus and Huon Campus.[5] [6]
Six private schools in Wodonga are Catholic College Wodonga[7], Trinity Anglican College, Victory Lutheran College [8] and Mount Carmel Christian School[9], St. Augustines Primary school and St. Monicas primary school
One TAFE Campus Wodonga Institute Of TAFE [10].
Wodonga is also home to the Flying Fruit Fly Circus School[11], the educational arm of the Flying Fruit Fly Circus[12], that provides educational services with an emphasis on the performing arts and contemporary circus training. In 2003, a devastating fire[13] destroyed the school's facilities at then Wodonga High School, and the school relocated to Wodonga West Secondary College (now Wodonga Middle Years College Felltimber Campus)[14].
[edit] References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). Albury-Wodonga (Wodonga Part) (Urban Centre/Locality). 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
- ^ Premier Postal History, Post Office List, <https://www.premierpostal.com/cgi-bin/wsProd.sh/Viewpocd.w?>. Retrieved on 11 April 2008
- ^ Biggest Rollng Pin - Wodonga, Victoria (html). Retrieved on 2007-10-07.
[edit] External links
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