| Cessnock, New South Wales |
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GEOGRAPHY The town is located in the rich alluvial and volcanic soils of the Hunter Valley. Rich coal seams underly much of the area. The Brokenback Range (part of the Great Dividing Range) rises to the West of the city. The Hunter River flows down the Hunter Valley approximately 20kms to the North. HISTORY The transition to wine service centre from a once prosperous mining town has been a long and at times difficult process. Cessnock lies between Australia’s earliest European settlements - Sydney, the Hawkesbury and the Hunter. Lying on the land route between these important settlements, it provided early European contact with Indigenous people, who have inhabited the Cessnock area for more than 3,000 years. The Darkinjung people were the major inhabitants at the time of European contact, which subsequently proved to be disastrous for the Darkinjung tribe. Many were murdered or died as a result of European diseases. Others were forced onto neighbouring tribal territory and killed. The City of Cessnock abounds in Indigenous place names and names with Indigenous association which is indicative of this settlement and include Congewai, Kurri Kurri, Laguna, Nulkaba and Wollombi. Pastoralists commenced settling the land in the 1820’s. The township of Cessnock developed from 1850, as a service centre at the junction of the Great North Road from Sydney to the Hunter Valley, with branches to Singleton and Maitland. During the 1860’s, land settlement was extensive between Nulkaba and Pokolbin, with wheat, tobacco and grapes the principal crops. The establishment of the South Maitland Coalfield generated extensive land settlement between 1903 and 1923. The current pattern of urban development, transport routes and industrial landscape was laid at this time. The surveying of the Greta Coal Seam by Professor Edgeworth David at the turn of the Century became the impetus for considerable social and economic change in the area with the development of the coal mining industry. Whilst mining was the principal industrial base and source of employment in the Cessnock area for the first half of this century, changes to the mining industry, including automation and the introduction of sophisticated computerised equipment, have lead to the closure of the vast majority of mines in the area. This has resulted in a decline in population in many villages and townships over the last twenty years which has lead to the closure of some schools, shops and community meeting places. Consequently, many areas have undergone a change in character, with rural residential housing developments becoming popular, as well as small cottages and farms used principally as weekend retreats. ECONOMY The decline of mining has been paralleled by growth in the wine industry. The Hunter Valley wine-growing area in Cessnock City is Australia�s oldest wine region and one of the most famous, with around 4,500 acres under vine. The vineyards of Pokolbin, Mount View and Allandale, with their rich volcanic soils tended by entrepreneurial vignerons, are also the focus of a thriving and growing tourism industry. The town, of some 40,000 has long sufferred from a relatively poor reputation in New South Wales due to issues relating to crime and unemployment,this and the general ugliness of the town - a legacy of its functionality rather than appearance as a mining centre. The city council has actively pursued a policy of renewal in the city centre since 2001, though the results have been at times questionable, with little attention paid to greening the streets of the city centre. Some people suggest the council remains in a state of identity crisis as it struggles to change from working class mining town to service city of the vineyards. Local council action in the city is seen as ineffective, especially in dealing with the poor conditions of local roadways. However, Green groups herald the city as modern and efficient, with one of the first recycling programs for waste disposal in the state. During the 1990s , factions of the local government helped local tourism operators start to sell themselves to the affluent of Sydney . This created a boom for property in the surrounding area of Polkobin, one of Australia's biggest wine producers. Currently, ex- New South Wales government minister for transport, Mr Michael Costa, lives in the area. Cessnock has begun to develop other tourist ventures beyond the wine industry such as championship golf courses, hot air ballooning, sky-diving, and guest house accommodation. Most employment comes from the local port city of Newcastle , the city of Maitland and in services industries in the local council area, which comprises of many small towns, such as Kurri Kurri, Weston, Neath, Abernethy, Kearsley, and Pokolbin. EDUCATION High Schools in Cessnock: Primary Schools in Cessnock: SPORT The city has many excellent sporting facilities. The city competes in several regional sporting competitions, particularly the Newcastle based leagues of various sports. Some very successful sporting players can trace their roots to the local district, including Australian Rugby League representative players Andrew and Matthew Johns. Golf Tournaments are often held on the local championship courses of Pokolbin. TRANSPORT For a century Cessnock was served by a very extensive railway network, originally constructed for the coal industry, but which, at one time, had considerable passenger services, including a direct train to Sydney . The network was finally closed down in 1985 . A new freeway linking the New England Highway at Branxton and the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway at West Wallsend is planned to be built in the near future, which will bypass Cessnock. Less traffic will take pressure off the local roads and provide easier access to Pokolbin from Sydney and Newcastle. The local airport is placed just to the north of the city, at the entrance to the Vineyard District. It has a small public passenger terminal. The airport is not served by RPT flights. Access by air to the region is by Newcastle Airport based at Williamtown (over 50kms away), and includes direct services from Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. The local bus service is run by Rover Motors who provide services to Maitland, Newcastle, Sydney as well as local School Bus services. SEE ALSO |
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