Launceston, Tasmania

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Launceston Tasmania
Launceston City
Population:	99,675 [1] (17)
Established:	1805
Postcode:	7250
Coordinates:	41°26′31″S 147°8′42″E / -41.44194, 147.145Coordinates: 41°26′31″S 147°8′42″E / -41.44194, 147.145
Time zone:  • Summer (DST)	AEST (UTC+10) AEDT (UTC+11)
Mayor:	Albert Van Zetten
Location:	198 km (123 mi) from Hobart 101 km (63 mi) from Devonport 63 km (39 mi) from Scottsdale
LGA:	City of Launceston
Land District:	Cornwall
Federal Division:	Bass Lyons
Mean Max Temp Mean Min Temp Rainfall 24.5 °C 76 °F 2.6 °C 37 °F 668.4 mm 26.3 in

Location of Launceston within Australia

Launceston (pronounced /ˈlɔnsəstən/) (short first vowel - not /ˈlɔːnsəstən/ as is often heard in other parts of Australia)^[2][3] is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia, population (greater urban and statistical sub division) 99,675^[4], 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.

Established in 1805, 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.

[edit] History

Europeans originally settled at the mouth of the Tamar River (historically called Port Dalrymple^[5]) at George Town in 1804 but moved to the present site of Launceston in 1805. From 1803 until the proclamation of Van Diemen's Land in 1823, Launceston was the administrative capital of one the dependencies of New South Wales on the island.

Launceston was once the home of John Batman (see History of Melbourne). From Launceston, Batman planned and designed the city of Melbourne, and in 1834 he sailed with John Pascoe Fawkner across Bass Strait to settle at Port Phillip, Victoria. (Note: The spelling of John Batman's surname is Bateman in some literature.)

For some years after 1848, Launceston was the place of exile of the Irish nationalist leader Terence MacManus where his cottage still stands.

[edit] Government

Almost the entire 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 from Ravenswood

[edit] 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.

[edit] Geography and landmarks

Ornate fountain in Princes Square

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.^[6]
• 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, which is home to some of Australia's best vineyards.
• The Boag's Brewery, which produces one of Australia's premium beers.
• Launceston Lakes Wildlife Park in Riverside.
• 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^[7] 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, a rare example of the Egyptian Revival style

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

Launceston has a diverse collection of impressive art-deco architecture that includes the dominant art-deco landmark, Holyman House. There are also several landmark houses in Launceston built in the art-deco style.

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.

Topographically, Launceston combines steep (originally heavily wooded) ridges and low-lying areas (originally wetlands - in fact parts of the suburbs of Inveresk and Invermay are below high-tide level). The topography of the area, and of the Tamar Valley generally are not conducive to the easy dispersion of airborne pollution. As a result, parts of Launceston are subject to landslip problems, while others are liable to poor drainage - not to mention periodic flooding. Global warming in particular, raises doubts about the adequacy of the city's system of flood levees.

Launceston's notorious winter air pollution (the worst of a centre of comparable size in Australia) is not primarily caused by industrial smoke, but by the use of woodburning stoves to heat the majority of the city's homes, especially in the less affluent suburbs.^[8]

[edit] Transport

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 there is no passenger rail system in Tasmania, 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.

[edit] Culture, sport, notable achievements

[edit] Launceston firsts

The Sir Josh Hart Conservatory in City Park

Ornate cast iron fountain in City Park

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 telephone call in Australia
• first laminated tennis racket
• first use of two way radios in taxis
• first shopping mall in Australia
• first breeding of seahorses in captivity, in the world
• 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.^[9]

[edit] Inveresk precinct

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.

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. The School of Visual and Performing Arts is situated next to museum buildings, and offers a range of course from visual arts, theatre and contemporary music. Adjacent to this, is the School of Architecture. The school's major emphasis is on environmental sustainability, which makes it one of the leading architecture schools in the country.

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery - Inveresk

[edit] Sport

Cricket and Australian rules football enjoy massive popularity 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.^[10][11]

There is heated (but friendly) rivalry between residents of Launceston and the southern capital Hobart. The AFL games mentioned above are an example -- Hobart residents are disappointed about missing out -- while Hobart hosts all international cricket games played in the state at Bellerive Oval.

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.^[12] 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.^[13]

[edit] Media

The Examiner is a daily newspaper published in Launceston.

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

TNT (Southern Cross) is a television station based in Launceston.

WIN TV has a newsroom, production and sales office at Kings Meadows.

[edit] 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.

Tourism has been an important part of the economic life of the city for many years, as it has always been a popular holiday destination within Australia. International tourism has become more important in recent years.

Launceston's current development compares well with that of comparable regional centres in Australia.

Redevelopments of formerly run-down sites include:

• New office and residential apartments being built at the old gasworks^[14] site at a total cost of about $35 million.
• Redevelopment of the former Launceston General Hospital site, where a hotel and new modern apartments is expected to cost an estimated $30-35 million.
• A five story office building called Cimitiere House^[15] 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 $22 million.^[16]
• A $20 million upgrade for Launceston airport is expected to be completed in July 2009.^[17]

[edit] 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)
• Peter Cundall (Gardening Australia)

[edit] Sister cities

Find more about Launceston on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Dictionary definitions
	Textbooks
	Quotations
	Source texts
	Images and media
	News stories
	Learning resources

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

[edit] See also

• Tasmanian wine
• List of Launceston Mayors

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Launceston City Council

v • d • e Suburbs of Launceston, Tasmania City of Launceston Dilston - East Launceston - Invermay - Kings Meadows - Launceston - Mayfield - Mowbray - Newnham - Newstead - Norwood - Prospect - Punchbowl - Ravenswood - Rocherlea - South Launceston - St Leonards - Summerhill - Trevallyn - Waverley - West Launceston - Youngtown Meander Valley Council Blackstone Heights - Prospect Vale - Travellers Rest West Tamar Council Riverside