Dunoon is a small village within the City of Lismore LGA in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Dunoon had a population of 372 people.[1] It is the Macadamia nut capital of Australia.
On 26 October 2007, a tornado struck Dunoon (mainly the southern part of the village), and it was captured on video as it struck a direct hit on an electrical transformer station.[2] The tornado also destroyed two houses, severely damaged a church and two demountables at a school, with other houses in the village also damaged.[3]
Like the other small villages dotted along the ridges in the hills heading north out of Lismore, it is a quiet town. There is a post office, a primary school, a mechanic, a small food store and a second-hand/handmade toys store. Whilst Dunoon has a community hall, most community gatherings occur at the pub. The popular sports are cricket and soccer, although little athletics occurs every Friday. The Dunoon sports club also has a restaurant, a playground and a tennis court.
Dunoon also has two actively used church buildings one Catholic and the other the Anglican church building that was destroyed during the 2007 tornado that has since been rebuilt.
Dunoon is currently predominantly a unilinear development, but a major land release has expanded off the main ridge. Community concerns over the social impact on the town of a second development were allayed in February 2009 when developers withdrew their application to develop a new subdivision from Lismore City Council.[4]
Rous Water has plans to construct a new dam between Dunoon and The Channon to provide drinking water to the region to meet future projected demands.