| Tarago New South Wales |
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Railway Station |
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Tarago
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| Population: | 531[1] (2006 Census) |
| Established: | 1827 |
| Postcode: | 2580 |
| Elevation: | 703 m (2,306 ft) |
| Location: | |
| LGA: | Goulburn Mulwaree Council |
| County: | Argyle |
| State District: | Goulburn |
| Federal Division: | Hume |
Tarago is a town in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council. It is situated 39 kilometres south of the city of Goulburn and 69 kilometres northeast of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It is located on the Goulburn-Braidwood road.
Originally known as Sherwin's Flats, the town took the name "Tarago", possibly an Aboriginal word meaning "country",[2] from the town presently known as Lake Bathurst, which is located 7 km north of Tarago.[2] The name change coincided with the railway line's arrival and the opening of the station on 3 January 1884.[3]
Within the town there are several historic buildings remaining, among them the original 1884 railway station, the St Josephs Catholic Church, and the Loaded Dog Hotel, which dates from 1848.[2]
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The town of Tarago serves the adjoining large Woodlawn Mine. The mine originally contained gold, copper, lead and zinc deposits[4] until it was suddenly closed down in 1998. During the period of mining operations, goods sidings were added at the town's railway station to facilitate the transfer of minerals to and from the site.[3] The closure of the mine sparked controversy when the pay entitlements of the 160 former miners, totalling $6.5 million, were not paid.[5] Waste company Collex (now Veolia) had examined both the Woodlawn site and others during the 1990s as a new site to house Sydney's waste, and eventually were given approval to use the site in 2002.[6]. As part of their agreement, Collex promised to pay out the workers' entitlements.[5] They planned to run six 55-car trains a week between a waste transfer station in the Sydney suburb of Clyde and sidings off the Bombala Railway Line near the mine. These would take, at full capacity, 400,000 tonnes of putrescible waste a year, up to 20% of Sydney's waste.[5]
The project was highly controversial, especially in regard to the shipping of waste by train. Residents of Clyde and neighbouring Auburn in Sydney opposed the mine's approval on environmental grounds and took the company to court to try to stop the project.[7] The New South Wales Land and Environment Court ruled in their favour, finding that the transfer station would cause significant air pollution problems.[8] However, the court's decision was overturned by the New South Wales Government, led by Bob Carr, with bipartisan agreement by special legislation.[9] The Government, in doing this, stressed the need for a new waste site for Sydney and the need to pay the mine workers' entitlements.[10] The mine finally reopened on 7 September 2004,[11] with mine workers receiving their entitlements shortly afterwards.[12] An intermodal transfer station was built just outside of the township of Tarago, at Crisps Creek.[13]
Today, the mine site is being used for developments in green energy while still providing for Sydney's waste disposal. The owners of the mine, Veolia, plan to begin using the mine in late 2007 to harvest methane gas and use it for electricity to cut down the greenhouse gas emissions from the mine. The company also plans to use the organic waste in the site, once broken down, for fertiliser.[14] In 2005, the Government also gave approval to Veolia to build a $96 million, 25-tower wind farm at the site, which would generate enough electricity to power 22,000 homes.[15] However, as existing quotas on greenhouse gases at State and Commonwealth levels were being fulfilled at that time, the project was postponed in July 2006 until renewable energy targets were raised.[16]
Tarago is located on the Bombala branch railway line from Goulburn and as such is served by a twice-daily Countrylink Xplorer service from Sydney to Canberra.[17] The rail service is the only public transport that serves Tarago.
| Preceding station | NSW Branch lines | Following station | ||
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Mount Fairy
towards Bombala
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Bombala Line |
Inveralochy
towards Joppa Junction
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| Preceding station | CountryLink | Following station | ||
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towards Canberra
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CountryLink Southern
Canberra Xplorer
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towards Sydney
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