| Orange New South Wales |
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The main street of Orange, Summer Street, as viewed from the vicinity of McNamara Street looking west in May 2008 |
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Orange
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| Population: | 39,329[1] | ||||||
| Established: | 1846 | ||||||
| Postcode: | 2800 | ||||||
| Elevation: | 863.2 m (2,832 ft) [2] | ||||||
| Location: | |||||||
| LGA: | City of Orange | ||||||
| County: | Wellington, Bathurst | ||||||
| State District: | Orange | ||||||
| Federal Division: | Calare | ||||||
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Orange is a city in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It is 206 kilometres (128 mi)[3] west of the state capital, Sydney, at an altitude of 862 metres (2,828 ft). Orange has an estimated population of 39,329[1] and the city is a major provincial centre.
Key industries include agriculture, mining, health services and education. A significant nearby landmark is Mount Canobolas; at an altitude of 1,395 metres (4,577 ft) it gives commanding views of the district.
Orange is the birthplace of poets Banjo Paterson and Kenneth Slessor, although Paterson lived in Orange for only a very short time as an infant.
The first Australian Touring Car Championship, known today as V8 Supercar Championship Series, was held at the Gnoo Blas circuit in 1960.[4]
In 1822 Captain Percy Simpson drove into the Wellington District and established a convict settlement which was called "Blackman's Swamp" after John Blackman. Percy had employed John Blackman as a guide because he had already accompanied an earlier explorer into that region.
In the late 1820s surveyor J. B. Richards worked on a survey of the Macquarie River below Bathurst and also of the road to Wellington. On a plan dated 1829, he indicated a village reserve, in the parish of Orange. Sir Thomas Mitchell named the parish Orange, as he had been an associate of the Prince of Orange in the Peninsular War, when both were aides-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, whose title was bestowed on the valley westward, by Oxley.[5]
Legal occupation by graziers began late in 1829, and tiny settlements grew up on the properties and in connection with the road. In 1844 surveyor Davidson was sent to check on encroachments onto the land reserved for a village, and to advise on the location for a township; the choice being Frederick's Valley, Pretty Plains or Blackman's Swamp.
Blackman's Swamp was decided upon and proclaimed a village and named Orange by Major Thomas Mitchell in 1846 in honour of Prince William of Orange. At nearby Ophir the first payable discovery of gold in Australia was made in 1851 which led to the Australian gold rush. Subsequent discoveries of gold in nearby areas led to the establishment of Orange as a central trading centre for the gold. This is contrary to the popular belief that gold was first discovered close to the nearby regional town of Bathurst.
The growth of Orange continued as the conditions were well suited for agriculture, and in 1860 it was proclaimed a municipality. The railway from Sydney reached Orange in 1877. In 1946, 100 years after first being established as a village, Orange was proclaimed a city.
Orange is a well-known fruit growing district, and produces apples, pears, and many stone fruits such as cherries, peaches, apricots and plums; oranges are not grown in the area, as the climate is too cool. In recent years, a large number of vineyards have been planted in the area for a rapidly expanding wine production industry. The growth of this wine industry, coupled with the further development of Orange as a gourmet food capital, has ensured Orange's status as a prominent tourism destination.
Other large industries include:
Orange is also the location of the New South Wales Department of Industry and Investment (formerly New South Wales Department of Primary Industries) head office.
The following Primary Schools are not within the city limits of Orange but are located within the rural fringe of Orange:
Suburbs listed as per NSW State Government.[6]
Residential locality to the north west of Orange on the Mitchell Highway.
It contains mostly residential area with one school. One of the largest residential areas, it is often split into North Orange and Bletchington. Within the suburb are the Orange Botanic Gardens, the Orange Adventure Playground, and the Waratah Sports Ground.
It contains farmland, Bloomfield Golf Course, Riverside Mental Institution and the Orange New Base Hospital along with the Gosling Creek Reservoir and the Gosling Creek nature reserve.
A locality, 15 km (9 mi) west of Orange, comprising primarily farmland. Also the site of the Australian National Field Days.[7]
It contains residential, industrial, commercial, Kinross Woloroi School, and government offices. It also has the main road out of Orange to Sydney. It also contains the Orange Showground and the Orange Cemetery.
The suburb of Calare is located to the west of the CBD. It is mostly a residential area, and contains Calare Public School and Orange High School,and Wentworth Golf course. It is also commonly split into Calare, Bel-Air and Wentworth Estate. It also has The Quarry and Towac Park Racecourse.
It contains the Mount Canobolas State recreation area and Mount Canobolas.
It contains farmland and large residential blocks and is down stream from the Suma Park Reservoir. It Also contains the Kinross State Forest.
Residential suburb to the north of the CBD.
It is mainly residential with areas of public housing, along with the Electrolux white goods manufacturing plant. It also contains industrial land in areas surrounding the Electrolux factory, as well as a more recent industrial area known as Leewood Estate.
Locality south of Orange.
Lucknow is a small village approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) East of Orange.[8] It is a historic mining town with small residential, small industrial and commercial with most being farmland.
Locality north of Orange.
Village south east of Orange. However, the area constituting a suburb of Orange is constituted of farmland lying to the north west.
It is mainly industrial and farming land.
The suburb of Orange comprises the central business district of the city, which contains the original grid street plan. The main street of Orange is Summer Street. The CBD can be defined as being the area of the city bounded by Hill, March, Peisley, and Moulder Streets.
Beginning on the Eastern side of the railway line, Orange East is mostly residential, but contains some businesses especially on Summer, Byng, and Willams Streets.
Directly to the south of the CBD, beginning past Moulder Street. Contains Wade Park and the Orange Base Hospital.
A locality to the east of Orange bypassed by the Mitchell Highway. Contains Shadforth Quarry.
Village to the south-east of Orange.
Locality and small village located south of Orange, centred on the local primary school.
A locality to the south of Orange.
Lightly populated residential area on the eastern outskirts of Orange. It contains Suma Park Reservoir, Orange's main water supply.
Lightly populated residential, industrial, and farmland area on the south eastern outskirts of Orange on the Mitchell Highway.
It is mostly residential with a high school and industrial land. It also has small school farmland and Jack Brabham Park.
Orange has a temperate climate, with rainfall distributed fairly evenly throughout the year. Compared with most population centres in Australia it has colder winters, especially in terms of its daytime maximum temperatures, and in summer the average (and absolute) maximum temperatures are also lower than in most inland centres, on account of its elevation. The climate has enabled the area to be a major apple and pear producer, and more recently a centre for cool-weather wine production.
| Climate data for Orange Airport | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 37.4 (99.3) |
37.5 (99.5) |
33.0 (91.4) |
29.8 (85.6) |
22.0 (71.6) |
18.5 (65.3) |
17.8 (64.0) |
20.4 (68.7) |
25.6 (78.1) |
30.7 (87.3) |
35.6 (96.1) |
35.0 (95.0) |
37.5 (99.5) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 26.0 (78.8) |
25.2 (77.4) |
22.4 (72.3) |
18.3 (64.9) |
13.9 (57.0) |
10.4 (50.7) |
9.3 (48.7) |
10.7 (51.3) |
13.7 (56.7) |
17.3 (63.1) |
20.5 (68.9) |
23.9 (75.0) |
17.6 (63.7) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 12.2 (54.0) |
12.3 (54.1) |
9.6 (49.3) |
6.2 (43.2) |
3.6 (38.5) |
1.5 (34.7) |
0.7 (33.3) |
1.4 (34.5) |
3.3 (37.9) |
5.8 (42.4) |
7.9 (46.2) |
10.1 (50.2) |
6.2 (43.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 1.7 (35.1) |
2.4 (36.3) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−6.6 (20.1) |
−6.5 (20.3) |
−7.1 (19.2) |
−5.8 (21.6) |
−6 (21.2) |
−3 (26.6) |
−1 (30.2) |
−1 (30.2) |
−7.1 (19.2) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 84.0 (3.307) |
82.4 (3.244) |
53.7 (2.114) |
52.6 (2.071) |
62.5 (2.461) |
66.2 (2.606) |
88.2 (3.472) |
93.6 (3.685) |
79.0 (3.11) |
78.2 (3.079) |
76.0 (2.992) |
78.8 (3.102) |
895.1 (35.24) |
| Avg. rainy days | 8.7 | 8.2 | 7.2 | 7.2 | 10.1 | 12.4 | 13.7 | 13.5 | 11.6 | 10.8 | 10.3 | 9.0 | 122.7 |
| Source: [9] | |||||||||||||
Cadia-Ridgeway Mine is a large open cut gold and copper mine located about 20 kilometres south of Orange, The mine has been developed throughout the 1990s and employing several thousand employees with an expected lifespan of several decades. Cadia is the second largest open cut mine in Australia after the Super Pit at Kalgoorlie. Large mineral deposits are also being uncovered from the more recently developed Ridgeway underground mine which is adjacent to the Cadia Mine.
The mine is operated by Newcrest Mining. Cadia-Ridgeway is one of three gold mines Newcrest currently operates in Australia, the other two being Telfer in Western Australia and Cracow in Queensland. A fourth gold mine owned by the company is the Gosowong Mine in Indonesia.[10]
The Orange wine region is defined as the area above 600m in the local government areas of Orange, Cabonne and Blayney and can be usefully described as a circle around Orange. The Orange region is good for grapegrowing and winemaking due to a combination of geology, soils, climate and temperature. Together these factors combine to produce grapes and wine of distinct flavours and colour. The climate perhaps plays the biggest part in giving Orange some distinct natural advantages - the cool temperatures during most of the growing season coupled with dry autumn conditions are ideal for grape growing.[11]
Wineries that use Orange Region grapes in their wines include Brokenwood (Hunter Valley based), Logan (Mudgee), Tamburlaine (Hunter Valley) and Lowe Wines (Mudgee). In 2007, South Australian based Penfolds released the 2007 Penfolds Bin 311 Orange Region Chardonnay
Orange is served by several radio stations, including 105.1 2GZFM, 105.9 Star FM, 107.5 Community Radio, 103.5 Rhema FM, HIT Country 88 FM and 1089AM – a commercial station that gets most of its programming from 2SM in Sydney. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) also broadcasts four radio stations in Orange including ABC Local Radio (2CR) on 549AM and three national networks - ABC Classic FM on 102.7 FM, ABC Radio National on 104.3 FM & Triple J on 101.9 FM.
The city receives 5 network television stations - Prime7 (a Seven Network affiliate), WIN TV (a Nine Network affiliate), Southern Cross Ten (a Ten Network affiliate), ABC TV and SBS One. All networks also provide additional digital only television stations.
Of the three commercial networks, Prime and WIN air 30-minute local news bulletins on weeknights, both produced locally and broadcast from studios outside the region (Canberra and Wollongong, respectively). WIN also produces a state-wide late night news bulletin for southern New South Wales and the ACT while Southern Cross Ten provides short local news updates throughout the day.
Subscription television service Austar is available in Orange and the surrounding region via satellite and MMDS transmission.
The local newspapers are the Central Western Daily, the Midstate Observer and Orange Photo News.
Orange has several music clubs which meet regularly. The Orange Blues Club[12] meets at the Victoria Hotel. The Orange Blues Club also hold an annual Blues Music Festival – Black Stump Blues Festival[13] The Orange Jazz Club[14] meets 1st Sunday monthly at the Royal Hotel.
Orange has several water sources used for domestic consumption, both currently in use and formerly used. Currently Suma Park Dam and Spring Creek Reservoir are used for domestic water consumption. Two other dams, Lake Canobolas and Gosling Creek Reservoir, were previously used for domestic water consumption however are now used for recreational purposes. Orange was on Level 5 Water restrictions, however after heavy rain increased capacity from around 20% to 100% restrictions were eased back to level 2. Orange City Council is undertaking a number of strategies to supplement its supply, including stormwater harvesting.
The first batch of harvested stormwater was released into Suma Park Dam on 21 April 2009. The harvested stormwater was tested by Analytical Laboratory Services, an independent laboratory based in Sydney. ALS tested for 90 potential pollutants. The tests revealed that the water quality met all targets. The first batch contained 14 megalitres. It is believed to be an Australian first for harvesting stormwater for potable use. The hardware is in place, operating rules have been developed and environmental factors and impacts on downstream users have been considered. A three month trial will ensure all these elements are working together to ensure high water quality and environmental standards are met. There are several phases involved in the commissioning period. The hardware, which includes three separate pumping stations, creek flow monitoring points and advanced electronics including fibre optic cables, will undergo further operating tests. The other elements of the scheme include a weir on Blackmans Swamp Creek, which creates a 3 megalitre pool and the site for the first pump station, a 200 megalitre dam and two 17 megalitre batching ponds.The pumps on the creek transfer stormwater to the 200 megalitre dam at a rate of up to 450 litres per second and are designed to rapidly extract peak storm flows from the creek. The operating rules require that a base flow immediately downstream in the creek must be maintained. The creek flow monitoring points ensure these standards are met. The monitoring station also measures when harvesting can commence. The trigger is flows passing the monitor in Blackmans Swamp Creek exceeding 1000 litres per second.
The local mine, Cadia Valley Operations, uses the city's treated effluent to supplement its water supply.
Orange is situated on the Mitchell Highway, linking the city to Molong, Wellington, Dubbo and Bourke to the north west, and to Bathurst to the east and from there to Sydney via the Great Western Highway (260 km/160 mi). Due west are Parkes (100 km/62 mi) and Forbes (125 km/78 mi), which is midway along the Newell Highway, running from Brisbane to Melbourne. In 2007 a bypass road, known as the northern distributor road, was opened for use after decades of planning. Orange is also serviced by a regional-class airport, Orange Airport, located approximately 15 km to the south of the city, in an area known as Huntley.
Orange has two railway stations. The main station, on the Main Western Line to Bourke, was opened in 1877[15] and is served by the daily Countrylink XPT service between Sydney and Dubbo and the weekly Xplorer service between Sydney and Broken Hill. A smaller station, opened in 1970,[16] known as Orange East Fork, lies on the branch line to Broken Hill and is served by the twice-weekly Indian Pacific service to Perth.
| Preceding station | CountryLink | Following station | ||
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towards Dubbo
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CountryLink Western
Dubbo XPT
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towards Sydney
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towards Broken Hill
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CountryLink Western
Broken Hill Outback Xplorer
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| Preceding station | Great Southern Railway | Following station | ||
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towards East Perth
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Indian Pacific |
towards Sydney
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Orange is a sister city to:[17]
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