Lismore, New South Wales

Lismore New South Wales
Molesworth Street
Lismore
Population:	30,086 (42)
Established:	1856
Postcode:	2480
Coordinates:	28°49′S 153°17′E
Elevation:	12 m (39 ft)
Location:	734 km (456 mi) NNE of Sydney 200 km (124 mi) S of Brisbane 46 km (29 mi) SW of Byron Bay
LGA:	City of Lismore
State District:	Lismore
Federal Division:	Page
Mean max temp Mean min temp Annual rainfall 25.5 °C 78 °F 13.2 °C 56 °F 1,343.0 mm 52.9 in

The Rainbow Train in Heritage Park in Lismore

Lismore is a subtropical town in northeastern New South Wales, Australia. Lismore is the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area. Lismore is a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the State.

History

The town of Lismore resides in the Aboriginal Bundjalung Nation area^{[citation needed]}. Evidence suggests aboriginal people arrived from the north of Australia around 8,000 years ago. However, the actually area of the Bundjalung people from Evans Head is currently under examination, as well as the actual origin of the name Bundjalung. It has been suggested that the Aboriginal people called the area Tuckurimbah meaning "glutton."

European History of Lismore begins in c.1843. A pastoral run covering an area of 93 km² was taken up by Captain Dumaresq at this time covering the Lismore area. The run was stocked with sheep from the New England area. Ward Stephens took up the run in the same year, but the subtropical climate was unsuited for sheep grazing, so the run was eventually abandoned. In January 1845, William and Jane Wilson took over the run. The Wilsons were Scottish, and they arrived in New South Wales in May 1833. One hypothesis is that Jane Wilson was responsible for naming the location for Lismore, Scotland, where the couple had honeymooned. Another theory is that it was named after Lismore, Ireland because of the similarity in scenery.

In 1855, the surveyor Frederick Peppercorne was instructed by Sir Thomas Mitchell to determine a site for a township in the area. The chosen site was William Wilson's homestead paddock, and the area was proclaimed the "Town of Lismore" in the NSW Government Gazette on May 1, 1856. The township was soon settled and its Post Office was opened on October 1, 1859. Lismore was incorporated as a municipality on March 5, 1879, and was proclaimed a so-called "city" on August 30, 1946. From the mid-1950s until the early 1960s Lismore hosted an annual Floral Carnival in early September. The week-long programme of events culminated in a street parade of decorated floats, crowning of the Floral Queen and a fireworks display.

Rain forest

Lismore and surrounding towns were once part of the rainforest referred to as "The Big Scrub," of which less than one percent remains following the European settlement. A section of this rain forest is viewable in the grounds of the Southern Cross University and at Wilsons Nature Reserve on Whyrallah Road.

Geography

Lismore is located on the Bruxner Highway and it lies at the confluence of the Wilsons River (a tributary of the Richmond River) and Leycester Creek, The state capital city of Sydney is located 764 km (475 mi) to the south by highway. Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, is 200 kilometres (124 mi) to the north.

Lismore's central business district is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the eastern coast, and 46 kilometres (29 mi) southwest of Byron Bay. The coastal town of Ballina is nearby. There are a number of rainforest patches in the area, remnants of what was once known as the Big Scrub. These are preserved today, with a small remnant known as Boatharbour Reserve just east of town on the Bangalow road. The nearest large and publicly accessible national park is Nightcap National Park.

Climate

Lismore experiences mild to warm temperatures all year round, with ample rainfall. Temperatures in summer range between 19 °C (66 °F) and 41 °C (106 °F). The subtropical climate combined with geographical features means the urban area is unusually humid when compared with surrounding areas, especially in summer. Although no major environmental hazards affect the area, Lismore is renowned for the occasional flood, one of the worst having occurred in 1974, rising to a water height of 12.1 metres (40 ft). Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh whilst staying in the Gollan Hotel in 1954 were almost flood-bound by one such inundation.[1] Following a flood in 2001, the then Premier of New South Wales, Bob Carr, initiated a flood levee program to curb the problem^{[citation needed]}. Nonetheless, over 9000 residents of Lismore were evacuated after floods affected much of the area on 30 June 2005, many being temporarily housed on the campus of Southern Cross University. However, a new levee that had been completed two weeks prior limited damage and stopped the water reaching the central business area. On 25 October 2007 a tornado struck nearby Dunoon, captured on video as it struck a direct hit on an electrical transformer station.

Demographics

The City's population at the 2006 census was 30,086. There has been a steady growth in population from the 2001 and 2006 censuses. 2.6% of the total population are of Indigenous Australian origin, totaling 1422 individuals. The median age is 36 years, one year above the state average of 35 years of age.

• Urban population: 65% of people live in the urban areas of Lismore. The Goonellabah area has the largest urban population with 13,706 people or 32.72% of the total Local Government Area and 50.74% of the total urban population.
• Rural population: 5% of people live in the surrounding villages of Lismore. Modanville is the largest village population with 467 people. 30% of people live in rural areas.
• Education: Lismore has 7,340 school-age children. 26 government primary schools are present in the area, 9 non-government primary schools (3 of which incorporate secondary schools), 3 government secondary schools and 2 non-government secondary schools.
• Older persons: 12.8% of the population is over 65 years of age. The total number of persons over this age is 5,356. This represents an increase of 319 people, or 1.2% growth since 1996.
• Youth: 19.9% of the population is between 12 and 24 years of age. The total number of persons in this age range is 8,314.
• Ethnicity: 35,943 people in the area are of Australian origin. This represents a total of 85.8% of people in the entire area. In the urban areas, those born overseas are primarily from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Italy. In the rural areas, overseas origins are mainly the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Germany, and Italy.

In the urban areas, the three most common languages, other than English, spoken at home are: Italian, Chinese languages, and German. In the rural areas the three most common languages, other than English, spoken at home are Italian, German, and Spanish. Another language commonly spoken is Hungarian.

Media

The Northern Rivers Echo is a free weekly community newspaper with 27,000 copies^{[citation needed]} going to Lismore, Alstonville, Wollongbar, Ballina, Casino, Nimbin and Evans Head. The Northern Star is a tabloid newspaper based in Lismore. It covers the region from Casino to Ballina and up to Murwillimbah and Byron Bay, covering a population of several hundred thousand.^{[citation needed]}

The commercial radio stations of Lismore are Triple Z (Hit Music) & 2LM 900 AM (also broadcast on 104.3fm). Both are run by Broadcast Operations Group. The community radio station is River FM 92.9 which offers an independent alternative media voice playing a diverse range of music. Other radio stations are JJJ 96.1 FM, Radio National 96.9 FM, Classic FM 95.3 and ABC North Coast 94.5 FM.

All major television Network channels are available in Lismore and in the general Northern Rivers region. The networks and the channels they currently broadcast are listed as follows:

Analog channels:

• Prime7, NBN, Southern Cross Ten, ABC and SBS. Analog transmissions for these channels will all be turned off by the end of 2012 as part of the Federal Government's switchover to digital broadcasting.

Digital channels:

• Prime7 (SD), 7Two (SD), 7mate (HD) - Seven Network affiliated channels. UHF35(578.5 MHz)
• NBN Television (SD), Go! (SD), GEM HD - Nine Network affiliated channels. UHF37(592.5 MHz)
• Southern Cross Ten (SD), Eleven (SD), One HD - Network Ten affiliated channels. UHF32(557.5 MHz)
• ABC Television, ABC1, ABC2, ABC3 (all SD), ABC News 24 (HD) - part of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation National Network. UHF29(536.5 MHz)
• SBS Television, SBS ONE (SD) and (HD), SBS TWO (SD)- [Special Broadcasting Service] National Network. UHF40(613.5 MHz)

• Digital Radio channels are also broadcast on the [(ABC Television) and (SBS Television) Networks].

Subscription Television services are provided by Austar.

Business

The four largest industries by employment are retail, health care, education (Southern Cross University) and agriculture (Norco milk).^{[citation needed]}

Education

• The Southern Cross University is the university of Lismore. It also attracts a high number of out-of-region students, because of the natural beauty of the area, and is the seventh-highest provider of long-distance education in Australia. Entry scores for the university have been steadily rising since the university's establishment more than a decade ago^{[citation needed]}.

Lismore and the surrounding area is home to a number of public and private schools, including:

• Blue Hills College
• Kadina High School
• Lismore High School
• Lismore South Public School
• Our Lady of Lourdes Infants School
• Richmond River High School
• St John's College, Woodlawn
• Summerland Christian College [2]
• Trinity Catholic College Lismore [3]
• Vistara Primary

Sister cities

Lismore formed a sister city relationship with Yamatotakada City, Nara Prefecture, Japan in 1963. The first such relationship established between Australia and Japan, it was initiated by Lismore-born Marist priest and writer Paul Glynn.

Lismore is also a sister city of Eau Claire, Wisconsin and Lismore, County Waterford, Ireland.

Leaders

• Mayor Jenny Dowell
• Member Of Federal Parliament Janelle Saffin
• Member Of State Parliament Thomas George

Notable people

• The noted tightrope walker Con Colleano was born in Lismore in 1899.
• Nigel Roy, a rugby league player, was born in Lismore in 1974.
• Adam Gilchrist, cricketer, lived in Lismore from the age of 13, and was the captain of his high school team.
• The pop/rock band Grinspoon originated in Lismore
• Socceroo Craig Foster was born in Lismore in 1969.
• The Australian Capital Territory MLA Andrew Barr was born in Lismore.
• The Australian artist Margaret Olley was born in Lismore.
• Marist missionary priest and writer Paul Glynn, born here in 1928

Trivia

Lismore is featured in the first verse of the original version of "I've Been Everywhere" and also mentioned in the Midnight Oil song "Outside World".

See also

• Lismore Airport
• Lismore Turf Club

External links

• Southern Cross University
• Wireless Broadband News
• Northern Rivers Echo newspaper
• Northern Star newspaper
• Lismore Plants and Vegetation
• The Richmond River Historical Society
• Collection of photographs of Lismore in 1995, National Library of Australia
• Lismore Regional Gallery Artabase page