Drouin, Victoria

Drouin Victoria
Main street
Drouin
Coordinates	38°08′0″S 145°51′0″E / 38.13333°S 145.85000°E / -38.13333; 145.85000Coordinates: 38°08′0″S 145°51′0″E / 38.13333°S 145.85000°E / -38.13333; 145.85000
Population	7,523 (2006)[1]
Postcode(s)	3818
Location	102 km (63 mi) from Melbourne 7 km (4 mi) from Warragul
LGA(s)	Shire of Baw Baw
County	Buln Buln
Parish	Drouin West
State electorate(s)	Narracan
Federal Division(s)	McMillan
Localities around Drouin: Labertouche Robin Hood Drouin East Longwarry Drouin Warragul Ripplebrook Hallora Lardner

Drouin is a major service town, located in West Gippsland, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Melbourne. Its local government area is the Shire of Baw Baw. The town is supposedly named after a Frenchman who invented a chlorination process for the extraction of ore or an Aboriginal word meaning "north wind".^[2] New estate developments have accelerated the town's residential growth in recent years. According to the 2006 census, Drouin and the surrounding area had a population of 7,523 people.^[1]

History

Main Street, Drouin ca 1944

Settlement in this part of Gippsland was rather delayed due to the dense forest. Pastoral runs were taken up but little developed. In 1867, a coaching station was established on the track into Gippsland at Brandy Creek, about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) north-east of present Drouin. By the early 1870s, a small settlement had developed and land was being selected in the area.

Meanwhile, contracts had been let for the construction of a railway from Melbourne into Gippsland. Workers' camps were set up along the route which passed to the south of Brandy Creek. There were three camps in the vicinity of Drouin. After the Gippsland Railway opened in 1878, a township was surveyed at Drouin Junction, soon known as Drouin. A Post Office opened on 5 April 1876 and was renamed Jindivick in 1878. A Post Office named Drouin Junction opened on 1 January 1877 and was renamed Drouin in 1878.^[3] As Drouin developed, Brandy Creek, now called Buln Buln, had declined. When the Buln Buln Shire was formed in 1878, the administrative centre was located in Drouin. The New Tourists' Guide described the township in 1889, showing its substantial development.

Throughout the 1880s, a number of small sawmills operated in the Drouin district, many transporting their timber by tramway to the railway station. In the 1890s, a quarry was opened south-east of Drouin, the stone being carried by tramway to a railway siding east of Drouin. In 1913, this quarry was purchased and operated by the Shire.

As land was cleared, dairy farming became the main industry. Initially, butter and cheese were made on the farm. A creamery operated from 1891 to 1895 and in 1904 a co-operative butter factory was established at Drouin. When this factory was extended in 1907, an electric light plant was installed which also provided light for the streets and homes of Drouin. The factory supplied fresh milk to the Melbourne market from 1915.

Over the years, the company acquired other dairy companies and enlarged its own operation, producing casein, skim milk and butter-oil as well as butter and cheese. It became part of the Bonlac company which later closed it down, destroying the towns biggest employer. Flax was grown around Drouin during the two World Wars. A private factory operated for a while and in 1941, the government constructed a factory to manufacture canvas goods for military use.

The town has progressed steadily. In 1904, the population was 700. By 1933, there were just over 1,000 inhabitants and by 1970, 2,750.From the 1970s, the subdivision of an industrial estate on the south-east edge of the town had encouraged the growth of light industry. A number of housing subdivisions have also been initiated, as well as rural residential subdivision on the fringes of the town. The construction of a freeway bypassing Drouin allowed the remodelling of the shopping centre. By 1981, the population was 3,492 and in 1991 was 4,100. The Victorian Municipal Directory described the town in 1994.

Community

Drouin holds an annual Ficofolia Festival. Ficofolia are the flowering gum trees which occur throughout the town.

The town has an Association football (soccer) team Drouin Dragons Soccer Club playing in the Gippsland Soccer League.^[4]

The town has an Australian Rules football team playing in the Gippsland Football League.^[5]

Drouin has a picnic horse racing club, the Drouin Picnic Racing Club, which holds two race meetings a year with the Drouin Cup on Boxing Day (26 December). The racecourse is set on a golf course.^[6]

Golfers play at the Drouin Golf and Country Club on Mcglones Road.^[7]

Retail

Drouin Central

Drouin's large retail stores include a Woolworths supermarket, a Coles supermarket. Other businesses in the town include The French Pear, Reflections, Burrows Newsagency, Annflora Florist, Drouin Gourmet Cafe, and a new Westpac Bank in Commercial Place.

Several of the local businesses have relocated over the past couple of years from the southern side of the shopping precinct on Princes Way (next to the railway station), due to land acquisition for the construction of a multi-storey retail shopping complex. Abby's Cafe closed down, and the long-standing Drouin Cycles moved to a location on the other side of the road.

Local Media

Newspapers

Drouin is service by three local papers - The weekly Warragul and Drouin Gazette, the Trader and the independent online paper The Warragul Citizen.

According to the Warragul Regional Newspapers website,^[8] The Gazette and The Trader are distributed to locations from as far as Pakenham to Moe and from Poowong to Noojee.

The Warragul Citizen was established in 2011 as a quarterly print paper before becoming bimonthly in 2012, covering Warragul, Drouin and Yarragon. The paper's online news offering started in late 2011 and covers all of Baw Baw. The paper moved to being online-only in 2013, printing its last physical edition in February.^[9]

Radio

West Gippsland Community Radio (3BBR) is based in Drouin.

The radio reception available in Drouin also 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 ,531 3GG ,

Television

Melbourne channels (Seven, Nine and Ten) can be received in analogue and more clearly in digital in Drouin and Warragul 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, and Channel 31 ,Community TV are broadcast to Drouin as well WIN TV , Southern Cross TV,Prime TV , ABC and SBS are local Gippsland TV channels transmitted from MT TASSIE , South of Traralgon and received at Drouin

Notable people

• Gary Ablett, Sr. - Played for the Geelong Football Club in the AFL, and was named the greatest player in the club's history.^[10]
• Dale Thomas - Currently plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the AFL.
• Lionel Rose - Former world champion boxer and was the 1968 Australian of the Year from Jackson's Track, just outside of Drouin. A statue of Lionel Rose was unveiled in 2010 in Warragul's Queen Street Park.
• Lisa Gerrard - Golden Globe winner resides in Drouin

External links

Media related to Drouin, Victoria at Wikimedia Commons

• Australian Places - Drouin
• Baw Baw Shire
• Drouin town and rural life during World War 2 1944 & 1945 Collection of photographs by Jim Fitzpatrick held in the Pictures Collection National Library, Canberra
• Drouin: A Small Town at War at Culture Victoria

References