Launceston, Tasmania

Launceston Tasmania
Launceston City
Launceston
Coordinates	41°26′31″S 147°8′42″E
Population	99,675 (17)
Established	1806
Postcode(s)	7250
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Location	198 km (123 mi) from Hobart 101 km (63 mi) from Devonport 63 km (39 mi) from Scottsdale
LGA(s)	City of Launceston
Federal division(s)	Bass Lyons
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 18.4 °C 65 °F 7.2 °C 45 °F 668.4 mm 26.3 in

Location of Launceston within Australia

Launceston (Template:Pron-en-au) (short first vowel - not /ˈlɔːnsəstən/ as is often heard in other parts of Australia) is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia, population (greater urban and statistical sub division) 99,675, located at the juncture of the North Esk, South Esk, and Tamar rivers. It is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart.

Settled by Europeans in March 1806, Launceston is one of Australia's oldest cities and has many historical buildings and sights. Like many Australian places, it was named after a town in the United Kingdom — in this case, Launceston, Cornwall.

History

1798 – Bass & Flinders expedition from Sydney discovers Bass Straight – proves Van Diemen’s Land to be an Island, and enters the mouth of the Tamar River – which they called Port Dalrymple – (after Alexander Dalrymple, the British Admiralty's hydrographer).

1804 – Governor King, to forestall possible French settlement in Van Diemen's Land, sends Lieutenant Colonel William Paterson with a small expedition to Port Dalrymple. Paterson camps at the site of York Town on the West Bank of the Tamar – explores the Tamar southwards as far as the site of Launceston.

1806 – Port Dalrymple settlement moved to Launceston, initially called Patersonia after Paterson – name changed in 1807 to Launceston, after the town in Cornwall, birthplace of Governor King.

1811 – Governor Lachlan Macquarie visits Launceston – searches for a suitable alternative town site near the mouth of the Tamar – chooses, surveys, and names the site of George Town on the East bank of the river – orders the official military headquarters (effectively, the administrative centre) removed to George Town.

1823 – Van Diemen’s Land become a separate colony, independent of New South Wales.

1824 – Launceston once more the official administrative centre for Northern Tasmania.

1827 – Population 2000 – export centre, mainly for pastoral industry

1835 – John Batman and Fawkner move from Launceston to found Melbourne on the Australian Mainland on opposite side of Bass Strait.

1847 - Ex-convicts permitted to leave Van Diemen’s Land for the mainland.

1848 – Launceston was the place of exile of the Irish nationalist leader Terence MacManus where his cottage still stands.

1852 – Obtains responsible local government – declared a municipality

1871 – Tin discovered at Mt. Bischoff, in North Western Tasmania starting minerals boom. During the following two decades Launceston grows from a small town to an urban centre.

1877 – Gold mining commences at Beaconsfield in Tamar valley.

1881 – Launceston stock exchange opened

1885 – Launceston declared a city

Launceston firsts

Launceston was the home of several firsts:

• first use of anaesthesia in Southern Hemisphere
• first Australian city to have underground sewers
• first Australian city to be lit by hydroelectricity (see Duck Reach Power Station)
• first First-class cricket game played in Australia (at the NTCA Ground between Tasmania and Victoria)
• youngest female elected mayor in Australia (Janie Dickenson)

From 1999 to 2003, Launceston was the home of three of the four Gone South music festivals. Since 2006 it has also been the host of MS Fest, a music festival to raise funds for multiple sclerosis research.

Launceston is also the home to Australia's oldest bookshop. A.W. Birchall & Sons (Birchalls) opened its doors in 1844 at its current site in Brisbane Street.

Launceston from Ravenswood

Government

A large portion of the city is part of the City of Launceston Local Government Area. Some outer suburbs are part of adjacent council districts; Riverside and Legana are part of the West Tamar Council; Prospect Vale and Blackstone Heights are part of the Meander Valley Council.

Launceston has many small suburbs throughout the city without one that has a large population. Invermay in close to the city centre and is served by many small shops along Invermay rd, and is home of Aurora Stadium and the Inveresk Precinct.

King's Meadows is one of Launceston's southernmost suburbs, with more shops than any other suburb in Launceston. It's also home to the largest shopping centre in Launceston. Over 30 shops.

Prospect is in close proximity to Kings Meadows, being host to the Country Club Casino and many new property development.

Suburb populations
Suburb	Population (2007)
Blackstone Heights	2,249
Hadspen	1,928
Invermay	3,117
Kings Meadows	3,430
Legana	2,971
Mayfield	1,514
Mowbray	3,240
Newnham	5,387
Newstead	4,717
Norwood	3,763
Prospect	1,550
Prospect Vale	4,624
Punchbowl	412
Ravenswood	4,145
Riverside	4,759
Rocherlea	1,126
South Launceston	2,944
St Leonards	1,629
Summerhill	2,944
Travellers Rest	378
Waverley	1,557
West Launceston	4,127
Youngtown	3,682

Flag

Flag of Launceston

The design is based on the city's coat of arms granted by the College of Arms, London on 11 June 1957. The three intersecting lines represent the city's three rivers (North Esk, South Esk and Tamar) and the two rectangles in the lines represent tin ingots. The strip across the top with the jagged edge is green to represent the city's parks, gardens and surrounding countryside. Waratah flowers at the top symbolise all flowers and similar beauties of nature. The ingots are included because Launceston used to be a big tin smelting centre. The little circle at the river junction is Launceston.

Geography and landmarks

Ornate fountain in Princes Square

The Sir Josh Hart Conservatory in City Park

Queen Victoria Memorial Fountain, an ornate cast iron fountain in City Park

Launceston serves as the commercial hub for the north of the state and, like many parts of Tasmania, is a major tourist centre. Some points of attraction are:

• The Cataract Gorge, a natural wonder of Tasmania and only five minutes walk from the city. Home to the longest single span chairlift in the world.
• The City Park, which includes an enclosure for Japanese Macaque monkeys, a gift from the sister-city of Ikeda, Japan.
• The Tamar River and tributaries.
• The Tamar Valley, once a major apple growing area - now known for its vineyards.
• The Boag's Brewery.
• Aurora Stadium - The State's only venue for Australian Football League matches.
• The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (the largest museum and art gallery in Australia located outside a capital city) near Royal Park, includes the preserved interior of a Chinese Temple that once served the Chinese mining community and a Planetarium. The museum's collection long ago outgrew the original historic building and much of this is now displayed at the Inveresk complex.
• Launceston's GPO dates back to the 1880s, with a clock tower added in the early years of the twentieth century, the clock chimes every quarter hour as well as every hour.
• The University of Tasmania has a large campus close to the city, at Newnham. The Australian Maritime College (recently amalgamated with the University) is located on the grounds.
• The Silverdome is an indoor sporting and entertainment venue.
• The Country Club Resort is a hotel, casino and golf course complex.
• The Launceston General Hospital is one of 3 major public hospitals in the state. The Launceston Remand Centre serves as the area's detention facility.
• Launceston synagogue, is a rare example of the Egyptian Revival style

The city is home to a large collection of well preserved Victorian architecture.

Launceston has a diverse collection of art-deco architecture that includes the dominant art-deco landmark, Holyman House.

Launceston is the hub for the state's medical retrieval service. The Royal Flying Doctor Service is serviced by the state's ambulance service, and doctors from the Launceston General Hospital.

Climate

Launceston has a mild temperate climate, with four distinct seasons. The highest recorded temperature in Launceston was 37.3°C at Launceston Airport on the 28th January 1943 and the lowest temperature was again recorded at Launceston Airport, with the temperature dropping as low as -7.1°C on 24th June 1972. Launceston has a yearly average of 7.0 hours of sunshine a day compared with Tasmanian's capital Hobart which has 5.9. Although the mountains around Launceston regularly receive snow during the winter months, the Launceston area rarely receives snow. Along with Hobart, Launceston is one of the driest areas in Tasmania averaging a low of 31mm of rain in February and a high of 85mm of rain in August. During the winter months there is an average of 16 frosts, in total there are an average of 26 in a year. There are around 50 clear days each year.

Climate data for Launceston
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year

Other daily elements

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Yearly
Mean number of rain days	5.6	4.1	4.3	6.6	7.4	8.6	10.4	10.6	9.8	8.7	6.9	6.0	146.7
Mean number of clear days	5.0	5.3	5.3	4.7	4.3	4.9	3.5	3.6	2.9	3.4	3.5	3.5	49.9
Mean number of cloudy days	12.5	10.4	12.5	12.9	15.8	15.6	16.2	16.1	13.9	13.0	12.5	12.5	179.5
Source: Bureau of Meteorology

Transport

File:Launceston st john st..JPG

Metro Bus Launceston

Launceston has a public bus service operated by the Tasmanian government owned company Metro Tasmania. Buses operate on an irregular time table and take commuters between city suburbs. Services run from some stops per hour, Monday to Friday and with only a few services on weekends.

Launceston is the hub of five of the state's major highways:

• The Midland Highway, the primary route to Hobart
• The Bass Highway, the primary route to Devonport and Burnie
• The Tasman Highway, the alternate scenic route to Hobart via Scottsdale and the east coast.
• The West Tamar Highway and East Tamar Highway, on either side of the Tamar River, joining the city to its port and seaside satellite towns.

The city is served by Launceston Airport (IATA code LST), just south-east of the city. There are direct flights to and from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.

The Tamar river is a navigable estuary and is still used for tourist cruises. For many years ocean going shipping used the river to obtain access to the Port of Launceston - located in the city centre. The Port of Launceston is now located at Bell Bay, some 40km by road from the city, on the east bank of the Tamar estuary, close to its mouth.

Although the passenger rail system in Tasmania was closed some years ago, the main freight rail route links Burnie through Launceston (and up to Bell Bay) to Hobart.

Like many of the larger cities in Australia, Launceston operated a tramway system between 1911 and 1952 , which consisted of 29 trams and was first planned in 1909 after observations of efficiently working systems in Melbourne and Adelaide. For a decade before the tram system was abandoned, Launceston had begun converting to trolleybuses, especially for the hilly routes and operated one of the most extensive trolleybus networks in Australia. The network was finally ripped up in 1952 to make way for cars and buses and a single tramway museum in Inveresk is all that remains. Launceston's streets, most of which were planned in very early years of the nineteenth century, were probably always too narrow for trams to be fully successful, in many cases little of the roadway remained for other forms of transport.

Culture

Inveresk precinct

File:QVMAG.JPG

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery - Inveresk

This precinct, on the grounds of the former railway station and rail yards, hosts the the newer part of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, in buildings largely converted from the former Railway Workshops.

The latest addition to the precinct is the new Launceston Tramway Museum. Included in the museum is the fully restored No 29 tram, the fully restored 'Mary St' shelter shed and a host of memorabilia. The restoration has taken place over a number of years and the museum is run entirely by volunteers. Tram No 29 Inveresk 2004

The state's largest Preservation Railway, Don River Railway, has a carriage rebuilding workshop on the site.

The University of Tasmania also has two of its schools located at the Inveresk site.

Sport

Cricket and Australian rules football are the most popular sports in Launceston.

The current Australian cricket captain Ricky Ponting and retired cricketing icon David Boon both hail from Launceston.

Launceston is the home of York Park (Aurora Stadium), which is the state's only first-class sports ground equipped with lights for evening games. The Melbourne team Hawthorn (and previously St Kilda) have played a small number of AFL (Australian football) games there each year. Launceston holds the record attendance for a VFL/AFL crowd in Tasmania (20,961) set on June 18, 2006 when Hawthorn played Richmond Football Club.

The city was also one of the venues for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, attracting a record crowd of 15,891 for the sport of rugby union in Tasmania to a game between Romania and Namibia at York Park.

Launceston is the only city in Tasmania to have hosted national association football (soccer) matches. A National Soccer League game was held at Aurora Stadium in 2002 between Perth Glory and Melbourne Knights, attracting 5,324 fans. A-League pre-season cup games have been held at the same venue between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United each year since 2006. The record crowd is 8,061.

Media

Launceston's major newspaper is The Examiner, which was founded by James Aikenhead in 1842 and has been continually published ever since. The paper is currently owned and operated by Rural Press Limited.

Five free-to-air television channels service Launceston. Commercial television channels are provided by Southern Cross Tasmania, Tasmanian Digital Television (TDT) and WIN Television. Other stations include ABC1 and SBS TV. There is also free to air digital ABC2.

All stations commenced digital broadcasting during 2003, and in December 2003, a fifth station, TDT, began broadcasting. TDT is a joint venture between Southern Cross and WIN. Many programs that Channel 10 on the mainland show, are shown on TDT. In March 2005, ABC2 came on-line.

Pay TV services are provided by Austar and SelecTV via satellite.

7LA, ABC Northern Tasmania (7NT) and City Park Radio (7LTN) are radio stations based in Launceston.

Economy

Launceston is a major service centre for the north of the island of Tasmania, with the regional finance and service industries inescapable from this function. As noted elsewhere, the city is a "University town" - housing a large campus of the University of Tasmania including the Australian Maritime College. It also still has a fairly large minerals and manufacturing base, although this has been in decline, historically, and the city is no longer the "mill town" it still was fifty years ago. It is also a hub for a major agricultural and pastoral region. Historically this was mainly concerned with the growing of apples - in recent years the stress has moved to viticulture. Superfine wool remains an important part of the rural economy of North-East Tasmania, and wool sales in Launceston attract many international buyers.

Development

Current redevelopments, developments, projects include;

• New office and residential apartments being built at the old gasworks site at a total cost of about $35 million.
• A five story office building called Cimitiere House is being built in the city centre at a cost of $10 million.
• A modern Aquatic Centre is being built within minutes from the city centre, replacing the old Launceston Swimming pool at a total cost of $26.3 million.
• A $20 million upgrade for Launceston airport is expected to be completed in July 2009.

Notable people from Launceston

• Marcos Ambrose (racing car driver)
• Simon Baker (actor)
• David Boon (cricket player)
• Hudson Fysh (aviator)
• Daniel Geale (boxer)
• Tim Lane (sports commentator)
• Graeme Murphy (choreographer)
• Ricky Ponting (cricket player)
• Peter Sculthorpe (composer)
• Allan Stone (tennis player)
• Rachael Taylor (actress)
• Allan Salisbury (cartoonist best known for Snake Tales)

Sister cities

• Ikeda, Japan (1965)
• Seremban, Malaysia (1976)
• Napa, United States of America (1988)
• Taiyuan, Peoples Republic of China (1995)

See also

• Tasmanian wine
• List of Launceston Mayors

External links

• Launceston City Council