Latrobe Valley
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Latrobe Valley is nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges and the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, Australia. It is named after the Latrobe River which flows, eastwards, through it. Consisting of several cities, towns and farming communities, it is most famous for its abundant resources of brown coal, which are mined and fed to the local power stations that produce 85% of the electricity for the entire state of Victoria.
Major cities include Traralgon, Morwell and Moe. Smaller towns are Tyers, Newborough, Yallourn North and Erica. (The original Yallourn being relocated due to the open cut coal mine), Churchill (site of the local campus of Monash University) and Boolarra.
There are extensive dairy farms, cattle farms and potato farms, most notably the local Thorpdale region that exports potatoes to the entire nation of Australia and overseas.
The main city of the Latrobe City Council is Traralgon, and the main hospital is an amalgamation of three local hospitals (Moe, Morwell and Traralgon), and is located on the Princes Highway between Morwell and Traralgon.
The population is approximately 67,000 people and it consists of some major industries. Key industry sectors include power generation (The Latrobe Valley provides 85% of Victoria’s electricity), agriculture and dairy, timber industry, IT, engineering (has a substantial engineering sector that supports power generation, pulp and paper production and food processing industries) and their tertiary education sector attracts local, interstate and international students. It has a maritime climate meaning mild temperatures with large amounts of rain, the occasional frost and snow on neighbouring hills. The Latrobe Valley’s warmest month is February with an average temperature range of 12.5ºC to 26.4ºC and the coldest month is July with an average temperature range of 3.6ºC to 13.5ºC. The most rain occurs in late winter and spring, and average yearly rainfall is approximately 800mm.
All the major towns are served by Rotary clubs, Rotary club of Morwell, Rotary club of Moe, Hazelwood Rotary Club (Churchill), and Traralgon and Traralgon central rotary clubs.
