Shepparton, Victoria

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Location of Shepparton in Victoria (red)

Shepparton is the fifth largest city in Victoria, Australia. The population in 2005 was estimated to be at 47,218 residents^{[citation needed]}. It is located approximately 200km North-East of Melbourne.

It houses the central administration of the City of Greater Shepparton and is central to the Greater Shepparton urban area, which includes the surrounding suburbs/townships of Tatura, Mooroopna, Murchison, Dookie, Grahamvale and the Goulburn Valley.

[edit] History

The town developed adjacent to the Goulburn River, at a crossing point for miners travelling from the Bendigo goldfields to the new finds in the Beechworth area. As there was no bridge to link rich pastures on either sides of the Goulburn River, a punt was quickly established and the settlement became known as "McGuire's Punt".

The name Shepparton comes from a squatter called Sherbourne Sheppard who held the Tallygaroopna Station. From about 1855 it appears in various documents as a dual name "Shepparton or McGuire's Punt". The initial spelling was Sheppardtown or Sheppardton, before coming to its present spelling when the town was surveyed. It's sometimes imagined the name is from Shepperton in England, but that's not the case.^[1]

[edit] Economy

Shepparton is the home of leading food packager SPC Ardmona who is owned partially by Coca-Cola Amatil, which processes seasonal fruits, such as peaches, pears and apricots, into metal cans as well as plastic packaging. A factory sales outlet where damaged goods can be purchased at discounted prices is also located in the suburb of Mooroopna, to the west of Shepparton's CBD.

[edit] Culture and leisure

Shepparton Cow Parade.

The city is also notable for its Mooving Art project, which involves local artists painting fibreglass cows, which are then displayed in tourist locations throughout the city and surrounding townships. The project is an artistic representation of the strong dairy industry prevalent in the Shepparton area. Unfortunately, the cows are frequently subjected to vandalism, which a large majority or residents are disappointed in.

Kidstown, one of the largest outdoor playgrounds in Australia, is said to have over 200 children visiting each day. Located between Shepparton and the town of Mooroopna, it has two giant slides, a 35 metre flying fox and a train that goes right around the playground. Entry is free (with the exception of the train ride). The playground and the on-site café which has a great variety of foods.

The city is home to a large swimming centre called Aquamoves, a performing arts centre called Riverlinks, art gallery and sports stadium.

The band Augie March come from the town and Killing Heidi are from the surrounding area (Violet Town).

Nikki Whealan who presents comercials to promote the reigion stars as Pepper in the Australian soap, Neighbours.

[edit] Education

Shepparton has numerous primary schools, such as state schools Bouchier Street Primary, Gowrie Street Primary, Guthrie Street Primary, St Georges Road Primary School, Grahamvale Primary, Kialla West Primary, Kialla Primary and Wilmot Road 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 five 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 school 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.

LaTrobe University also has a campus, offering a small range of subjects.

Goulburn Ovens Insitute of TAFE has two campuses, one in Fryers Street, and the William Orr Campus in Wanganui Road.

[edit] Sports

[edit] Australian rules football

The town has a major football league, called the Goulburn Valley Football League (GVFL), which includes 3 teams from Shepparton. There is also a junior league in the schools (SDJFA). The town also has a team where the Australian Football League (AFL) frequently scouts for new talents to AFL clubs, which is The Murray Bushrangers.

[edit] Basketball

The Shepparton-Mooroopna 'Gators' represent the Shepparton and Mooroopna region in men's and women's basketball playing in the Big V

[edit] Facilities

[edit] Sports precinct

A sports precinct is located at the north end of Shepparton. There is a stadium, which houses multi-purpose courts (used for basketball and badminton, among other sports), as well as table tennis. The precinct also includes an athletics track (McEwen Reserve), tennis and netball courts, a velodrome and an equestrian arena.

[edit] Transport

Shepparton railway station is serviced by VLine services to and from Melbourne.

[edit] Suburbs

Shepparton has three nearby towns, which could be classified as suburbs. They are Mooroopna to the west, and Kialla to the South, and Shepparton East to the east. To the east on the way to the town of Dookie is the housing estate known as Dobson Estate, and is classified as the area Grahamvale.

[edit] Mooroopna

Mooroopna is the historic town to the west of Shepparton, on the opposite bank of the Goulburn River. Mooroopna is connected to the Shepparton by the Peter Ross-Edwards Causeway.

VLine services originating from and returning to Shepparton stop at the Mooroopna railway station.

[edit] Kialla

A major housing estate, known as Kialla Lakes, is found in Kialla. Three man-made lakes provide scenery. Houses with lake frontage sell for a premium price. With the demand for land in the residential area growing rapidly, newly developed vacant blocks sell for little under AU$100,000.

[edit] Media

[edit] Newspapers

Newspapers in Shepparton include the daily Shepparton News, published by the McPherson Media group, which is sold for $1.20, $1.40 on Fridays (May 2006). The Country News, which is aimed at the farming community of the Shepparton area, is included in the Shepparton News on a Tuesday, as well as other newspapers in the Goulburn Valley, which are published by McPherson Media.

The Shepparton Adviser is a free newspaper, distributed to mailboxes within the Shepparton area. The Shepparton Car Weekly takes up roughly half of the pages of the Advisor.

[edit] Radio stations

Triple J 94.5 FM (Government-funded Youth Radio)
ABC Goulburn Valley 97.7 FM (Government-funded local news, current affairs, light entertainment and talkback)
ABC Radio National 621AM (Government-funded, mostly news and talkback)
774 ABC Melbourne 774AM (Government-funded, mostly news and talkback)
ABC Classic FM 96.1 FM (Government-funded, classical music station)
95 3SR FM 95.3 FM (Commercial)
96 9 Star FM 96.9 FM (Commercial) formerly known as 96.9 SUN FM
FM 98.5 The Pulse of the Valleys(Community/Volunteer) formerly known as ONE FM
Radio for the Print Handicapped 100.1 FM
Racing Radio 1260 AM (narrowcast)

[edit] Television stations

Shepparton is served by three commercial television stations (Prime Television, WIN Television and Southern Cross Ten) and two government owned services (ABC TV and SBS).

Of the three commercial services, only WIN Television provides a local news service to the region. Incidentally, WIN Television was originally known as GMV-6 (and later Television Victoria), and was the only commercial television station in the region until aggregation in 1992.

[edit] Famous People from Shepparton

John Furphy - inventor of the the famous Furphy water-cart.
Louise Dobson - Field hockey fullback from the 1996 Olympics.
Mike Walsh - TV presenter got his first radio job in Shepparton.
Ella Hooper - lead singer of Killing Heidi lived nearby.
Tom Long - Australian actor from TVs SeaChange lived in Violet Town
Augie March - Three of the band members grew up in Sheppparton.
Clint Morris - known journalist turned film producer.

[edit] References

^ 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

[edit] External links

	Cities of Victoria
Capital:	Melbourne
Cities:	Ararat \| Ballarat \| Benalla \| Bendigo \| Geelong \| Latrobe City \| Mildura \| Portland \| Shepparton \| Swan Hill \| Wangaratta \| Warrnambool \| Wodonga