Drouin Victoria | |||||||||||||||
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![]() Main street | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 38°08′0″S145°51′0″E / 38.13333°S 145.85000°E Coordinates: 38°08′0″S145°51′0″E / 38.13333°S 145.85000°E | ||||||||||||||
Population |
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• Density | 228.6/km2 (592/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1867 | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 3818 | ||||||||||||||
Area | 52 km2 (20.1 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Location | |||||||||||||||
LGA(s) | Shire of Baw Baw | ||||||||||||||
County | Buln Buln | ||||||||||||||
Parish | Drouin West | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Narracan | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Monash | ||||||||||||||
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Drouin is a town in the West Gippsland region, 90 kilometres (56 mi) east of Melbourne, in the Australian state of Victoria. Its local government area is the Shire of Baw Baw, and is home to the shire council’s headquarters despite being the second-largest town in the shire, behind neighbouring Warragul. The town’s name is believed to be an Aboriginal word meaning "north wind". [3] New housing developments have accelerated the town's residential growth in recent years. As at the 2016 census, Drouin had a population of 11,887 people. [1]
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. A post office opened on 5 April 1876, later renamed to Jindivick in 1878.
Between 1877 and 1879, the Gippsland railway line was constructed, connecting Melbourne with Gippsland. Workers' camps were set up along the route which passed to the south of Brandy Creek, with three camps in the vicinity of Drouin. After the Brandy Creek rail section opened in 1878, a township was surveyed at Drouin Junction, soon known as Drouin. A post office named Drouin Junction opened on 1 January 1877 and was renamed Drouin in 1878. [4] 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.[ citation needed ]
Throughout the 1880s, a number of small sawmills operated in the Drouin district, many transporting their timber by tramway to the Drouin 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 (now Fonterra) which later closed it down, removing the town's 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.
In 2010, Drouin began a new period of rapid expansion through new land development. This has been caused due to the re-zoning of land throughout the Drouin-Warragul region, as well as, the growth of the Greater Melbourne region population. The first such estate was the Jackson’s View Estate that is situated north of the centre of the town around McNeilly Park. Over 450 blocks were sold between 2010 and 2020, when the estate was fully sold off. This was led by the Jackson family and their company, Cartagen Group. This was formed by the Australian businessman, Alan Jackson who was born in Drouin in 1936. [5] [6]
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. The town forms part of a combined urban area that includes Warragul. The estimated urban population for this area was 37,928 [2] at June 2018, having grown on average 3.26% year-on-year for the preceding five years.
Drouin holds an annual Ficofolia Festival. Ficifolia are the flowering gum trees which occur throughout the town. This celebration includes the town gathering in the main street of Drouin and watching the local schools and participating businesses showcase who they are and what they do. Every year there is a theme which participants in the festival are encouraged to incorporate into their float or costumes. The participants of the parade begin from the Drouin Football Oval, through the main street, and finish at Drouin Civic Park. Here, the town continues its celebration with bands playing in the park, food trucks, rides, market stalls, and finishes with a movie in the park and fireworks.
The town has a soccer team, Drouin Dragons Soccer Club, [7] playing in the Gippsland Soccer League. [8]
The town has an Australian rules football team playing in the Gippsland Football League. [9]
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. [10]
Golfers play at the Drouin Golf and Country Club on Mcglones Road. [11]
Since 1989, Drouin's sister city has been Barrhead, Alberta, Canada. [12]
Drouin's large retail stores include a Woolworths supermarket and a Coles supermarket. Other businesses in the town include fast food businesses, hairdressers, restaurants, Tattersall's, and Community Bank—Drouin & District (Bendigo Bank)
Several of the local businesses have relocated in recent times 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. Abbey's Cafe closed down, and the long-standing Drouin Cycles moved to a location on the other side of Princes Way.
Drouin is serviced by three local papers—the weekly Warragul and Drouin Gazette, The Trader and the independent monthly and online paper the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen.
According to the Warragul Regional Newspapers website, [13] 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. [14] It returned to print as a monthly tabloid covering all of Baw Baw in July 2014, changing its name to the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. [15]
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, Smooth 91.5, 3AW 693, Nova 100), ABC broadcasters (774 ABC Melbourne, 96.7 Triple J and 100.7 ABC Gippsland) and Gippsland commercial stations 531 3GG, 94.3 Star FM, 99.5 TRFM and Gold 1242.
Free-to-air digital television signals containing programs from ABC TV, SBS TV, Southern Cross 10, Prime7 and WIN TV are broadcast to the area from Mount Tassie in the Strzelecki Ranges, 68 km south-east of Drouin. Television transmissions from Mount Dandenong for the Melbourne market (Seven, Nine and Ten) can be received[ citation needed ] in Drouin and Warragul with a suitable roof-top antenna.
Warragul is a town in Victoria, Australia, 102 kilometres south-east of Melbourne. Warragul lies between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau of the Great Dividing Range to the north. As of the 2021 census, the town had a population of 19,856 people. Warragul forms part of a larger urban area that includes nearby Drouin that had an estimated total population of 42,827 as of the 2021 census.
The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Baw Baw Ranges, part of the Great Dividing Range, to the north. Mount St Phillack is the highest peak to the north of the Latrobe Valley, due north of Moe. The highest peak to the south is Mt Tassie, south of Traralgon.
The Shire of Baw Baw is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of 4,028 square kilometres (1,555 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 52,015.
Warragul railway station is located on the Gippsland line in Victoria, Australia. It serves the town of Warragul, and it opened on 1 March 1878 as Warrigal. It was renamed Warragul on 1 May 1879.
Moe is a town in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is approximately 130 kilometres east of the central business district of Melbourne, 45 kilometres due south of the peak of Mount Baw Baw in the Great Dividing Range and features views of the Baw Baw Ranges to the north and Strzelecki Ranges to the south.
Yarragon is a town in the Shire of Baw Baw in the West Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The town lies on the Princes Highway and the main Gippsland Railway line approximately halfway between the major towns of Warragul and Moe. Hills of the Strzelecki Ranges rise over 500 metres (1,600 ft) immediately to the south of the town, providing a spectacular backdrop, while the Moe River and the lowlands lie to the north and east. Mount Worth at 515 m (1,690 ft) above sea level is the highest near peak to the south in the Mount Worth State Park 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) SSW of Yarragon. Mount Baw Baw at 1,563 m (5,128 ft) in the Baw Baw Ranges as part of the Great Dividing Range to the north is approximately 85 kilometres (53 mi) NNE of Yarragon. The township sits at approximately 88 metres (289 ft) above sea level. At the 2006 census, Yarragon had a population of 1131.
Neerim South is a town in West Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located in the Shire of Baw Baw, 109 kilometres (68 mi) east of Melbourne and 19 kilometres (12 mi) north of Warragul. At the 2016 census, Neerim South had a population of 1,305.
Darnum is a town in West Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, located 110 km east of Melbourne and a short distance to Warragul, in the Shire of Baw Baw. It is nestled between the Great Dividing Range and Strzelecki Ranges. The Moe River meanders through the edge of the township which the historic Darnum Butter Factory overlooks.
West Gippsland, a region of Gippsland in Victoria, Australia, extends from the southeastern limits of metropolitan Melbourne and Western Port Bay in the west to the Latrobe Valley in the east, and is bounded by the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Mount Baw Baw Plateau in the Great Dividing Range to the north.
The Ellinbank and District Football League is an Australian rules football and Netball League, based in the West Gippsland region of Victoria for smaller towns and villages in the regions of Baw Baw, South Gippsland and Cardinia.
The Shire of Buln Buln was a local government area about 95 kilometres (59 mi) east-southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1,259 square kilometres (486.1 sq mi), and existed from 1878 until 1994.
The Rural City of Warragul was a local government area about 100 kilometres (62 mi) east-southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The rural city covered an area of 352.2 square kilometres (136.0 sq mi), and existed from 1881 until 1994.
The Shire of Narracan was a local government area about 120 kilometres (75 mi) east-southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 2,300 square kilometres (888.0 sq mi), and existed from 1878 until 1994.
Buln Buln is a town in West Gippsland, approximately 8 kilometres north of Warragul. At the 2021 Census, Buln Buln had a population of 551.
The Warragul Football and Netball Club, nicknamed the Gulls, is an Australian rules football and netball club based in the city of the same name in the state of Victoria.
Western Park is a recreation reserve on the western side of the West Gippsland town of Warragul, Victoria.
The Noojee railway line is a closed railway line in Victoria, Australia. Branching off from the Gippsland line at Warragul station, it was built to service the timber industry in the upper Latrobe River area, transporting timber as well as providing a general goods and passenger service to townships in the area. The final section of the line between Neerim South and Noojee traversed increasingly hilly terrain and featured a number of large timber trestle bridges. Extensively and repeatedly damaged by bushfires over the years, the line was closed in the 1950s and dismantled. The last remaining large trestle bridge on the line has been preserved and has become a popular local tourist attraction.
Jindivick is a town in Victoria, Australia, located on Jacksons Track, in the Shire of Baw Baw. The town was first established in 1858 by Joseph Jackson. The word ‘Jindivick’ is an Aboriginal word that is translated to, ‘burst asunder’.
Bena is a town in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. It is located 100 km south-east of Melbourne and 8 km from Korumburra.
Alan Robert JacksonFCA was an Australian businessman who was the Director of BTR Nylex between 1984 and 1996 and Chief Executive Officer of BTR plc between 1991 and 1996 as well as Chairman of the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) between 1996 and 2001. He was also a board member of the Reserve Bank of Australia between 1991 and 2001.
Media related to Drouin, Victoria at Wikimedia Commons