Tony Reneker is the current mayor of Leeton.[10][11]
History
Burley Griffin Water Towers
Prior to European colonisation, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri people. The town is named after Charles Alfred Lee, a Minister for Public Works in New South Wales from 1904 to 1910.[12][13]
Single Burley Griffin Water Tower in 1912/1913
In 1912 a water tower was built to supply water to the town.[14] Leeton Post Office opened on 6 September 1912.[15]
When the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission of New South Wales was formed on 1 January 1913, Leeton was a canvas town, with the only houses being on farms built by settlers or the Commission-built homes for officers.[16]
On 22 January 1913, under the provisions of the Crown Lands Act of 1884, Leeton was declared a town by the Department of Lands, Sydney.[17]
The first block of land was sold in the town April 3, 1913. In1913, a Kurrajong tree (later known as Pioneers' Tree), was planted as a central feature on the eponymous Kurrajong Avenue, and a butter factory was established in the town.[18] In August of the same year, Walter Burley Griffin visited the town to complete its design.[14][19]
In 1914, World War I broke out; of the town's population of 2,000 people, 200 men were serving in the military. During 1914 and 1915 an abattoir and canning factory were established in the town.[18]
In 1919, the Hydro Hotel was constructed for Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission executives to stay whilst in Leeton, but was not licensed to sell alcohol until 1924 when the alcohol prohibition in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area was lifted.[20]
During 1920, the Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission of New South Wales began to pressure the Government for relief for being responsible for providing civic and local government services with the Commission stating "revenue which comes mainly from rents and water charges, having remained unchanged, is insufficient to cover the cost of local government services now that the weekly wage is more than double the figure paid when the settlement started".[21] The Commission chose and appointed an advisory board which was made up of pioneer farmers which already had been in operation in the Yanco area since 1913. In June 1925 the Commission released its annual report stating that a Royal Commission recommended setting up of local government bodies within the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area but no date had been decided.[21]
1 January 1928, the Willimbong Shire was formed with the name "Willimbong" being retained until 19 July 1946 when it was renamed as Leeton Shire.[22]
In 1929 the Roxy Theatre was built on a large vacant block of land on the corner of Wade and Pine Avenue and was completed and opened in April 1930.[23]
In 1930 Willimbong Shire become the trustee of the Leeton Racecourse, established in 1912, when the land was appropriated as a reserve for racing, public recreation and aviation. In August 1931 Southern Cross became the first aircraft to officially land at the aerodrome. During 1935, the aerodrome was refurbished to the standard that qualified it to base and fly commercial .[24] In August 1935, Western and Southern Provincial (W.A.S.P.) Airlines commenced an air service between Leeton and Sydney. However the service was ended in 1936 when a Tugan Gannet aircraft used by W.A.S.P. Airlines crashed on 26 February 1936 in the Cordeaux Dam area.[24]
In July 1938 it was proposed to the Willimbong Shire by the Civil Aviation Board that the area around Fivebough could be developed into an aerodrome since the Leeton Aerodrome at the race course was too small and could only operate on a restricted license.[24] Willimbong Shire agreed to lease the land with preliminary work carried out on the site but the aerodrome was never used by any commercial airline.[24]
During World War II, the Royal Australian Air Force established a training school in the nearby town of Narrandera which was a large aerodrome. After this, a report from the Department of Civil Aviation stated that Fivebough was eminently suitable as an aerodrome but strongly recommended that they should consider jointly operating the aerodrome with Narrandera Shire.[24]
During the early part of the 1930s Willimbong Shire took over the town water supply when it became apparent that the town needed a second water tower which was completed next to the first tower on 27 March 1937.[14]
Leeton & District Memorial Swimming Pool
The swimming baths in Leeton were constructed by voluntary labour and were completed on 24 February 1932.[25] The Leeton Swimming Club made a request that the swimming baths be replaced by a modern swimming complex. In 1959 money was raised though the Irrigana Festival, a biennial festival in the town, and the Leeton Shire obtained a loan.[25] On 17 November 1962 the Leeton & District Memorial Swimming Pool was opened.[25]
Rice growing became a major industry during World War II, under government promotion to help supply food for troops. A number of local farmers, such as teenager Norm Houghton, pioneered the planting of new varieties to suit the local conditions.[26] The Irrigana Festival began in 1959 as a biennial event but was short lived due to a lack of strong publicity value. The name "Irrigana" was chosen from a competition in the Murrumbidgee Irrigator.[27] In 1970 a similar festival returned in the town, known as the "Rice Bowl Festival", and by 1988 the festival was renamed to "Sunwhite Rice Festival" with sponsorship from the Ricegrowers Co-Operative Limited.[27]
Heritage listings
Leeton has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
The processing of agricultural products comprises Leeton's largest industry.[9]Ricegrowers Limited, operating as SunRice and CopRice, is by far Leeton's largest employer. Its international headquarters are located in the town, as well a rice mill and manufacturing plants. Other major companies include The Daily Juice Company, JBS Australia (as a subsidiary of JBS S.A.), Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited, Pacific Fresh,Toorak Wines, Lillypilly Wines and Southern Central Engineering, as well as the Arnott's Group,[7] located in Stanbridge, and Southern Cotton, located in Whitton.[9][38]
Pine Avenue forms part of the main street of Leeton
Media
Leeton's town newspaper The Irrigator (formerly known as The Murrumbidgee Irrigator) is released throughout the region on Tuesday and Friday.[6] Local radio stations are ABC Riverina on 100.6 FM, Star FM on 99.7 FM and 2RG. WIN Television also broadcasts the local news of the Riverina on weeknights.
Sport
The Leeton Greens play rugby league in the Group 20 Rugby League competition and have won eight premierships. The club was founded in the 1920s[42] and play on Leeton No 1 Oval.[43] They are the current reigning premiers as of 2022.[44]
The Leeton-Whitton Crows play Australian rules football in the Riverina Football League and were formed by a merger of the Leeton Redlegs and Whitton-Yanco Tigers in 1995.[45] They won their first premiership since the merger in 2017, breaking a 39-year premiership drought.[46]
Australian poet and writer Henry Lawson lived in Leeton for two years, from 1916 to 1917. Lawson had been hired to write about the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area to attract settlers to the area.[63][64]
Related Research Articles
Narrandera, until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the Riverina region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt highways, adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River, and it is considered the gateway to the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. At the 2016 census, Narrandera had a population of 3746 people.
The Riverina is an agricultural region of southwestern New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation. This combination has allowed the Riverina to develop into one of the most productive and agriculturally diverse areas of Australia. Bordered on the south by the state of Victoria and on the east by the Great Dividing Range, the Riverina covers those areas of New South Wales in the Murray and Murrumbidgee drainage zones to their confluence in the west.
Griffith is a major regional city in the north-western Riverina region of New South Wales, known commonly as the food bowl of Australia. It is also the seat of the City of Griffith local government area. Like the Australian capital, Canberra, and extensions to the nearby town of Leeton, Griffith was designed by Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin. Griffith was named after Arthur Hill Griffith, the then New South Wales Secretary for Public Works. Griffith was proclaimed a city in 1987, and at the 2021 census had a population of 20,569.
Yanco is a village with a population of 432 in Leeton Shire in south western New South Wales, Australia. Yanco is a Wiradjuri aboriginal language word meaning the sound of running water. Yanco is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) from Leeton along Irrigation Way. Yanco is home to the Powerhouse Museum, McCaughey Park, Murrumbidgee Rural Studies Centre and Yanco Agricultural High School. Murrumbidgee Irrigation builds the Roach’s Surge Reservoir near Yanco, holding up to 5 million tonnes of water.
Leeton railway station is a heritage-listed former goods yard and railway station and now bus station and railway station located on the Yanco–Griffith line at Dunn Avenue in Leeton in the Leeton Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Leeton Railway Station and yard group. The property was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
Leeton High School is a government-funded co-educational comprehensive secondary day school, located in Leeton in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia.
Leeton Shire is a local government area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River and falls within the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area.
Group 20 is a rugby league competition in the region of Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. The competition is played in six grades, with these being Under 16s, Under 18s, Women's League-Tag, Women's Tackle, Reserve Grade and First Grade.
Irrigation Way is a major rural road that runs approximately 85 kilometres (53 mi) through the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area in south western New South Wales, Australia.
Wamoon is a village in Leeton Shire in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Wamoon is located 8.8 kilometres (5.5 mi) from Leeton along the Irrigation Way to the Leeton CBD and Henry Lawson Drive to the Leeton suburb of Wattle Hill. Wamoon provides a village of homes to the farmers of northern Leeton and there is a small primary school known as Wamoon Public School.
The Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) is geographically located within the Riverina area of New South Wales. It was created to control and divert the flow of local river and creek systems for the purpose of food production. The main river systems feeding and fed by the area are the Murrumbidgee and the Tumut. It is one of the most diverse and productive regions in Australia contributing over A$5 billion annually to the Australian economy.
Grong Grong is a small town that is located in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is situated on the Newell Highway, 23 kilometres (14 mi) east of Narrandera in the Shire of Narrandera.
Whitton is a small town located in Leeton Shire in the Australian state of New South Wales and is located 23km west of the Leeton township. Founded in 1850, it is named after John Whitton (1820–98), Engineer-in-Charge of the New South Wales Government Railways. The railway reached Whitton in 1881. At the 2016 census, Whitton had a population of 496.
ABC Riverina is an ABC Local Radio station based in Wagga Wagga and broadcasting to the Riverina and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area regions in New South Wales. This includes the towns and cities of Griffith, Leeton and Hay.
Fivebough and Tuckerbil Wetlands are two wetland sites within the Riverina and Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA), near Leeton in New South Wales, Australia. Both Fivebough and Tuckerbil sites form Crown reserve number 1030008 managed by NSW Department of Industry, for ecological conservation and public recreation. The reserve was recognised as being a Wetland of International Importance through designation under the Ramsar Convention on 21 October 2002 as Ramsar Site 1224
The Irrigation Record was a fortnightly newspaper published in Leeton, New South Wales, Australia from 15 February 1913 to 15 June 1917 by the NSW Water Conservation and Irrigation Commission. Its purpose was to educate new settlers of the fledgling Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA), about agricultural methods, irrigation techniques, crops, stock and machinery.
The Irrigator, formerly The Murrumbidgee Irrigator, is a weekly newspaper published in Leeton, New South Wales, Australia, since 1915.
Yanco Weir is a heritage-listed weir at Yanco, Leeton Shire, New South Wales, Australia. It was built from 1928 to 1929 by WC & IC. It is also known as Yanco Weir and site. The property is owned by Department of Planning and Infrastructure, a department of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The Leeton District Office artefacts is a heritage-listed collection of artefacts at a waterworks at Chelmsford Place, Leeton in the Leeton Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It is also known as Leeton District Office - Artefacts in Reception Lobby Showcase 1. The property is owned by Department of Planning and Infrastructure, an agency of the Government of New South Wales. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999.
The South West District Football League was a major Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 until 1981 in the Riverina region of New South Wales.
↑ Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2014). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers: every AFL/VFL player since 1897 (10thed.). Seaford, Victoria: BAS Publishing. p.259. ISBN978-1-921496-32-5.
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