| Warragul Victoria |
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Warragul
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| Population: | 12,943[1] | ||||||||||||
| Postcode: | 3820 | ||||||||||||
| Elevation: | 143 m (469 ft) | ||||||||||||
| Location: | |||||||||||||
| LGA: | Shire of Baw Baw | ||||||||||||
| County: | Buln Buln | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Narracan | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | McMillan | ||||||||||||
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Warragul is a rural centre with a population of 12,943 people[1] 104 kilometres (65 mi) east-southeast of Melbourne in Victoria. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. The town is named after an Aboriginal word meaning "wild dog".[2]
Warragul is the main population and service centre of the West Gippsland region and the Shire of Baw Baw. The surrounding area is noted for dairy farming and other niche agriculture and has long been producing gourmet foods.
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Warragul was settled after the construction of the Traralgon railway line in 1877, the Post Office opening on 16 March 1877.[3]
Existing roads were renamed Princes Highway after the visit to Australia in 1920 of the Prince of Wales (who later became King Edward VIII). The highway was officially opened on 10 August 1920 at a ceremony in Warragul.
Warragul's Petersville Milk Products Factory in Queen Street supplied the famous Peters Ice Cream brand's factory in Mulgrave with all the dairy raw material (fresh cream and concentrated skim milk) for 35 years. The plant also manufactured skim milk powder under the famous Dutch Jug brand and butter under the Iceberg brand. It exported butter, butter oil and milk powders to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.
Warragul is the major township closest to Lardner, the home of the Gippsland Field Days. Three major events are held at Lardner Park each year - the Farm World agricultural show, Trucks In Action and the Harvest of Gippsland. The Farm World agricultural show is a major drawcard for the Warragul area. Every year in late March, Warragul plays host to these Field Days at Lardner Park. The Field Days are Australia's premier mixed farming Field Days and they include one of Australia's most diverse ranges of beef cattle, dairying and horticulture exhibits.
Warragul is also home to the annual Warragul Show, which is held on the first Friday of March each year. It is traditionally a farming and livestock show, but includes rides, stalls, games, fireworks and showbags. It is held at the Warragul showgrounds.
For a town of its size, Warragul has a large education industry with four primary schools, three secondary schools and two tertiary institutions.
Both Warragul North Primary and Warragul Primary are state primary schools, St. Joseph's Catholic Primary is a Catholic school, and St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School is a Church of England primary school.
There are three secondary schools in Warragul, these include Warragul Regional College, Marist-Sion College and St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School. Warragul Regional College was formed in 1994 from the merger of Warragul High School and Warragul Secondary College. Marist-Sion College was formed in 1975 as a result of the merger between the Marist Brothers Boys College and the Our Lady of Sion Girls College.[4] St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School was formed in 1982 with just 19 year seven students and has grown quite significantly in recent years.[5] St. Paul's Anglican Grammar School is divided into two campuses, with the year 9 campus located in the former James Miller Rope Factory next to the golf course.[5]
The Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE has a campus located to the South of the CBD adjacent to the railway station. The Education Centre Gippsland has recently taken over the courses previously provided by the McMillan Institute of Land and Food Resources, a former campus of the University of Melbourne.[6][7] The courses offered encompass the areas of agriculture, equine management, harness racing, horticulture and conservation and land management.
The Warragul railway station is a staffed V/Line station located to the south of the Warragul CBD. The railway station is situated on the Bairnsdale V/Line rail service, which services the towns between Bairnsdale and Southern Cross Station in Melbourne.
Warragul has a modest bus network consisting of four routes within the town's boundaries. Each route has a frequency of three services a day. There are also bus services to neighbouring towns. The Warragul bus network was recently upgraded with the Myki technology, fitted to all town buses. This ticketing system will soon be implemented on the V/Line Train services.
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the major Gippsland Football League, the Warragul Football Club and another, the Warragul Industrials, competing in the Ellinbank & District Football League.[8]
The Warragul & District Junior Football League caters for younger Australian Rules footballers, with three teams based in Warragul, the Colts, Warranor (at Eastern Park) & the Blues (at Marist-Sion College ). The WDJFL has three competitions, consisting of the Under 10s, Under 12s and the Under 14.5s.
The Warragul Little Athletics Centre meets on Saturdays throughout the summer season at the Geoff Watt Memorial Track, Burke Street, Warragul. It caters for young athletes in age groups ranging from Under 6 through to Under 17. As well as competing locally, athletes are able to contest Regional and State Championships in Track & Field as well as Relay Championships and Multi-Events.
Warragul's Wild Dog Triathlon Club also meets on Saturdays throughout the summer season for a swim/cycle/run event. The club caters for all ages and abilities with Junior, Under 14, Fun Tri, Super-Sprint, A Grade and B Grade categories. Weekly competition commences at the clubrooms opposite the indoor pool in Burke Street, Warragul.
Warragul Harness Racing Club conducts regular meetings at its racetrack in the town.[9]
The Warragul Greyhound Racing Club holds regular meetings at the Logan Park Showgrounds.[10]
Golfers play at the course of the Warragul Country Club on Sutton Street.[11]
Warragul possesses one of the best outdoor velodromes in the state and is serviced by the Warragul Cycling Club, (WCC) which runs road races most Saturdays on the outskirts of the town.
The club hosts the Baw Baw Classic road race, held early each April. This race features one of the hardest climbs in the country and has been won by riders such as 2000 Cyclist of the year, Dave McKenzie, Tour de France Stage Winner, Simon Gerrans and 2009 Australian Road Champion, Peter McDonald.
Warragul has two weekly local newspapers, "The Warragul and Drouin Gazette" and a free publication, "The West Gippsland Trader". According to the Warragul Regional Newspapers website,[12] The Gazette and The Trader are distributed to locations from as far as Pakenham to Moe and from Poowong to Noojee covering over 40,000 readers.
Warragul also has a free quarterly printed and regular online community-written paper called "The Warragul Citizen". The Warragul Citizen was Established in 2011 and publishes articles submitted by the general public; including news articles, opinion, reviews, short stories and any other publishable material. The Citizen is distributed in both Warragul and Drouin, but anyone from any town can write for the paper. [13]
Warragul has two commercial radio stations, 3GG and 94.3 Star FM (previously known as Sea FM), as well as a community radio station, 103.1 3BBR FM. 3GG commenced in 1937, then known as 3UL. It changed its name to 3GG in 1990.
Warragul also receives the Drouin-based West Gippsland Community Radio, 103.1 3BBR FM.
The radio reception available in Warragul, includes many of the Melbourne commercial stations (such as 105.1 Triple M, Vega 91.5 fm, 3AW 693, Nova 100), ABC Broadcasters (774 ABC Melbourne, 96.7 Triple J and 100.7 ABC Gippsland) and Gippsland commercial stations 99.5 TR FM and 1242 3GV.
Melbourne channels (Seven, Nine and Ten) can be received in analogue and more clearly in digital in Warragul and Drouin with a suitable roof-top antenna. Both national public broadcasters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation including channels ABC1, ABC2, ABC3, ABC News 24 and Special Broadcasting Service including SBS One and SBS Two, are broadcast to Warragul as well The Seven, Nine and Ten networks are also re-broadcast into Warragul by their regional affiliates, which are Prime7, WIN Television and Southern Cross Ten respectively. All three channels have local commercials placed on their broadcasts. WIN TV also broadcasts a local news bulletin for the Gippsland and Latrobe Valley region from Monday to Friday at 6.30pm.
New channels broadcast by the commercial networks in addition to the ones listed above are available on the digital service called Freeview (Australia) to viewers in Warragul and the wider Gippsland \ Latrobe Valley region. These channels include One HD, Eleven, 7Two, 7mate, GEM and GO!.
Subscription television service Austar is available via satellite.
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