Northern Rivers

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Northern Rivers
New South Wales
ByronBay Bay.jpg
View south from Byron Bay, the most easterly point on mainland Australia
Australia New South Wales relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Northern Rivers
Coordinates 29°09′S153°07′E / 29.150°S 153.117°E / -29.150; 153.117
Population313,422 (2022) [1]
 • Density15.11735/km2 (39.15376/sq mi)
Area20,732.6 km2 (8,004.9 sq mi)
Time zone AEST (UTC+10)
 • Summer (DST) AEDT (UTC+11)
LGA(s)
State electorate(s)
Federal division(s)
Localities around Northern Rivers:
Darling Downs (QLD) South East Queensland Coral Sea
New England Northern Rivers Coral Sea
New England Mid North Coast Tasman Sea

Northern Rivers is the most northeasterly region of the Australian state of New South Wales, located between 590 and 820 kilometres (370 and 510 mi) north of the state capital, Sydney, and encompasses the catchments and fertile valleys of the Clarence, Richmond, and Tweed rivers. It extends from Tweed Heads in the north (adjacent to the Queensland border) to the southern extent of the Clarence river catchment which lies between Grafton and Coffs Harbour, and includes the main towns of Tweed Heads, Byron Bay, Ballina, Kyogle, Lismore, Casino and Grafton. At its most northern point, the region is 102 kilometres (63 mi) south-southeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane.

Contents

As with all regions of New South Wales, it has no official status, although state government department offices and local governments in the area work together for purposes such as tourism, education, water catchment management and waste management. [2] [3] This area has a mild, sub-tropical climate. Major industries are agriculture, fisheries, public services (particularly health) and tourism; the region is also popular for niche crops, hobby farmers, and retirees from life in the larger cities.

Geography

The Northern Rivers region is bounded by the Coral Sea and the Tasman Sea to the east and the New England region to the west, where the Great Dividing Range forms a mountainous boundary. To the north is the border between New South Wales and Queensland, where the Darling Downs are located to the north-west and South East Queensland directly to the north. The southern boundary is the Dorrigo ranges, which also mark the southern boundary for the Clarence River Basin.

The defining characteristic of the region are the fertile valleys of the Clarence, Richmond and Tweed rivers and their sources, hence the region's name; and the region's white sandy beaches.

Demography and area

The following local government areas are contained within the region:

Population by Local Government Area
Richmond Tweed rankLocal government areaPopulation 2022 [1] 10 year growth ratePopulation density (people/km2)
1 Tweed Shire 97,9699.774.2
3 Ballina Shire 46,85013.996.6
4 City of Lismore 44,276-0.334.3
5 Byron Shire 36,51017.065.6
6 Richmond Valley Council 23,7023.77.8
7 Kyogle Council 9,4530.42.6
Richmond Tweed258,7608.625.1
2 Clarence Valley Council 54,6626.45.2
Northern Rivers313,4228.210.7

The region is traversed by the Pacific Highway, Bruxner Highway, Clarence Way, Summerland Way and the North Coast railway line which links Sydney to Brisbane.

Characteristics

The northernmost part of the region contains Mount Warning and the surrounding remnants of the long-extinct Tweed Volcano, portions of which extend into southern Queensland. Immediately to the south was formerly the "Big Scrub", an extensive area of subtropical rainforest that was largely cleared for timber-getting and subsequently dairy farming in the nineteenth century. The major towns of the area developed at the navigable heads of the local river systems (Murwillumbah on the Tweed, Lismore on the Wilsons – a tributary of the Richmond – and Grafton on the Clarence) rather than on the coast, in order to be able to transport the valuable timber products (in particular the Australian red cedar, Toona ciliata ) to markets interstate and overseas. [4] Dairy production in the region was extensive up until the 1970s and many towns in the area retain their dairy processing plants ("butter factories") from that era, now largely re-purposed for other uses; dairy cattle were then largely replaced with beef cattle for economic reasons, although some dairy production remains. [5] The north of the region is an important sugarcane growing area with smaller contributions from coffee, bananas and assorted tropical fruit and vegetables. The hills with their red volcanic soils inland from Byron Bay provide Australia's main region for the cultivation of macadamia trees which are used for their production of both raw nuts and macadamia oil. [6] Ballina is a fishing port and was a centre for Australia's east coast offshore prawn industry, although boat numbers have declined in recent years, while additional vessels operate out of Iluka and Yamba. [7] Byron Bay was at one time a centre for commercial whaling as well as mineral extraction via sand mining. Further south, the rural portions of the Clarence river catchment are predominantly used for forestry, agriculture and grazing. [8]

Protestors Falls in Nightcap National Park, 2013 Protestors Falls - panoramio.jpg
Protestors Falls in Nightcap National Park, 2013
Old NSW Bank building in Mullumbimby, 2014 Old NSW Bank building, Mullumbimby NSW 2014.jpg
Old NSW Bank building in Mullumbimby, 2014
Coastal vegetation at Byron Bay, 2016 Australia - Part 2 (27446512691).jpg
Coastal vegetation at Byron Bay, 2016

The region as a whole includes a significant component of New South Wales' state forests and national parks, and tourism is important in the north of the region in particular, especially in Tweed Heads, which is effectively a southern extension of the Gold Coast, and Byron Bay, which has developed a reputation as both a centre for relaxation and "alternative" health practices such as yoga, and at certain times of the year, a convenient out-of-town recreation area for partygoers from the major urban centres of south-east Queensland. The village of Nimbin, in the Lismore area, also attracts tourists interested in its reputation for environmental and alternative living initiatives such as permaculture, sustainability, and self-sufficiency, as well as its often-cited counterculture which includes lobbying for the decriminalisation of recreational and medicinal cannabis, as evidenced by its annual MardiGrass celebration. [9] Following some decades of population decline with the reduction of certain primary industry (in particular dairying), the area is now seeing a population increase, in part because of the availability of ex-dairy land for newer niche crops and hobby farms along with an influx of "sea change" and "tree change" families, as well as retirees attracted by the region's subtropical climate and unique combination of lifestyle attributes. [10] [11]

From the 1970s onwards, the northern portion of the region has also been the scene of successful environmental protests aimed at preventing the destruction of the area's significant natural assets, including the 1979 Terania Creek anti-logging protest in the Nightcap National Park which led to the then Wran State Government gazetting remaining rainforest in New South Wales as National Parks, the 2014 Bentley blockade, which protested against exploratory drilling for gas at that location, and flow-on community reaction which eventually led to the New South Wales State Government buying back a coal seam gas exploration licence covering more than 500,000 hectares across the region in October 2015. [12] [13] [14] [15]

Prior to European settlement in the nineteenth century, the region was home to the Aboriginal Bundjalung people (or Bandjalang) (including the Widjabul of the Lismore region, the Arakwal of the Byron Bay area, and the Kalibal and Minjungbal of the Tweed and Queensland border) and the Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl peoples to the south, which collectively still form a component of the local population, [16] [17] and have been successful in some native title land claims on behalf of local Bandjalang and Yaegl communities. [18]

Education

The region contains the Southern Cross University, which is headquartered at Lismore and has campuses in Tweed Heads and Coffs Harbour. [19] The North Coast Institute of TAFE has campuses at Lismore, Ballina, Casino, Grafton, Kingscliff, Maclean, Trenayr, Wollongbar and Yamba. [20]

Sport and recreation

There are several local sporting competitions, including:

The region has also produced several famous sportspeople, including:

Sporting venues

Some sporting venues on the Northern Rivers includes:

Culture

The Northern Rivers has its own orchestras, the Northern Rivers Symphony Orchestra based in Murwillumbah and the Lismore Symphony Orchestra. [21] Murwillumbah, Lismore and Grafton all have regional art galleries; that at Murwillumbah (the Tweed Regional Gallery) includes the Margaret Olley Art Centre named after the prominent locally-born Australian artist Margaret Olley and includes examples of her work plus a recreation of areas of Olley's famous home studio, principally the Hat Factory and the Yellow Room. [22]

History of settlement

The region has a history of Italian settlement. The locality of New Italy was settled in 1882 by Italian pioneers who attempted to cultivate the area's difficult interior, while additional phases of migration followed in the 1920s and again with the post-World War II influx of European migrants anxious to escape their war-ravaged country. [23] They typically leased hilly land from local farmers on which they cultivated bananas, moving to other trades when the local banana industry declined when refrigeration and better transport links facilitated the supply of cheaper competition from Queensland.

Rail transport

The Northern Rivers was served for over a century by the Murwillumbah railway line, although, amidst some ongoing controversy, services were suspended in 2004. [24]

Principal towns

Boats on the Richmond River at Ballina Boats on the Ricmond River at Ballina.jpg
Boats on the Richmond River at Ballina

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lismore, New South Wales</span> City in New South Wales, Australia

Lismore is a city located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia and the main population centre in the City of Lismore local government area, it is also a regional centre in the Northern Rivers region of the state. Lismore is 734 km (456 mi) north of Sydney and 200 km (120 mi) south of Brisbane. It is situated on a low floodplain on the banks of the Wilsons River near the latter's junction with Leycester Creek, both tributaries of the Richmond River which enters the Pacific Ocean at Ballina, 30 km (19 mi) to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballina, New South Wales</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Ballina is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of the Ballina Shire local government area. It lies 740 km (460 mi) north of Sydney and 185 km (115 mi) south of Brisbane. Ballina's urban population at the end of 2021 was 46,190.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Evans Head, New South Wales</span> Seaside village in New South Wales, Australia

Evans Head is a town in Richmond Valley Council of the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Evans Head had a population of 2,843 people. It is 726 kilometres north of Sydney, and 11 kilometres east off the Pacific Highway from Woodburn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral district of Ballina</span> State electoral district of New South Wales, Australia

Ballina is an electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in the Australian state of New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Coast railway line, New South Wales</span> Railway line in New South Wales, Australia

The North Coast railway line is the primary rail route in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions of New South Wales, Australia, and forms a major part of the Sydney–Brisbane rail corridor.

The Summerland Australian Football League or SAFL was an Australian rules football competition in the Northern Rivers and New England region of New South Wales, Australia, in existence from 1984 to 2011. It now is reformed under the AFL Queensland banner under various QFA divisions, currently QFA Division 2 South/Northern Rivers.

Football Far North Coast (FFNC) is the governing body controlling association football on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The name of the organisation was changed in late 2005 from Soccer Far North Coast in line with the national governing body which changed from Soccer Australia to Football Federation Australia.

Group 1 Rugby League was a rugby league competition held in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The group, however, still runs a junior rugby league competition. When the Group 18-Gold Coast competition dissolved in 2005, the New South Wales sides joined together with Group 1 to form a divisional league, Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL). Group 18 also still holds its own individual junior rugby league competition.

Group 18 is the name of a junior rugby league competition on the far north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Currently, the group has no senior competition. Prior to 2005, there was a joint Gold Coast-Group 18 competition which fielded teams from both the Queensland and New South Wales sides of the border. With the Burleigh Bears joining the Queensland Cup in 1997 and the Tweed Heads Seagulls joining them in 2003, the combined competition started to lose some of its lustre. In 2005, it was dissolved with the remaining Queensland teams forming a dedicated Gold Coast competition and the NSW teams joining an expanded Group 1 competition, now named Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League. Both Group 1 and Group 18 run junior competitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murwillumbah railway line</span> Former railway line in New South Wales

The Murwillumbah railway line is a mostly disused railway line in far north-eastern Northern Rivers New South Wales, Australia. The line ran from Casino to Lismore, Byron Bay, Mullumbimby and Murwillumbah, opening in 1894. It is one of only two branches off the North Coast line,. Train services to the region ceased in May 2004. The line from Casino to Bentley and Murwillumbah to Crabbes Creek was formally closed on 23 September 2020 to facilitate the construction of the Northern Rivers Rail Trail.

The Rainforest Way is a circular series of tourist drives that extends through South East Queensland, Australia across the border into the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bundjalung people</span> Aboriginal Australian people of New South

The Bundjalung people, also spelled Bunjalung, Badjalang and Bandjalang, are Aboriginal Australians who are the original custodians of a region from around Grafton in northern coastal New South Wales to Beaudesert in south-east Queensland. The region is located approximately 550 kilometres (340 mi) northeast of Sydney and 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Brisbane that now includes the Bundjalung National Park.

ABC North Coast is an ABC Local Radio station based in Lismore and broadcasting to the Northern Rivers region in New South Wales. This includes the towns and cities of Grafton, Ballina, Byron Bay, Casino and Murwillumbah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League</span>

The Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL) is a rugby league competition run in the far north of New South Wales, Australia. It is run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The league formed in 2005 as an extended Group 1 Rugby League competition, featuring teams from Group 18 Rugby League. Prior to this, teams from Group 18 played in a competition with teams from the Gold Coast region of Queensland; these clubs have since gone on to form the Gold Coast Rugby League competition. Both Group 1 and Group 18 continue to run junior competitions from Under 5s to Under 16s.

The Queensland Football Association Northern Rivers was an Australian rules football competition containing four clubs based in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales and the southern area of the Gold Coast in Queensland. The league was initially known as the Summerland Australian Football League and was established in 1984 as a New South Wales-only competition involving clubs from Ballina, Byron Bay, Goonellabah and Lismore. The competition saw several clubs from the regions of the Northern Rivers, New England and the Mid North Coast come and go between the 1990s and early 2000s. In 2010 the league allowed entry to its first Queensland-based team, Coolangatta-Tweed Heads. In 2012 the remaining clubs joined the AFL Queensland umbrella and rebranded to the QAFA (B) South.

The Byron Bay Red Devils are an Australian rugby league football team based in Byron Bay, New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New South Wales Country Rugby Union</span> Governing body for the sport of rugby union

The New South Wales Country Rugby Union, or NSWCRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within most of New South Wales in Australia.

The Yugambeh–Bandjalangic peoples' are an Aboriginal Australian ethnolinguistic group identified by their use of one of more of the Yugambeh–Bundjalung languages and shared cultural practices and histories. There are roughly 15 individual groups, who together form a wider cultural bloc or polity often described as Bundjalung or "Three Brothers Mob".

The Far North Coast District Rugby Union, or FNCRU, is the governing body for the sport of rugby union within the District of Far North Coast in Australia. It is a member of the New South Wales Country Rugby Union.

References

  1. 1 2 "Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2021-2022". Australian Bureau of Statistics. April 2023. Retrieved 16 January 2024.
  2. ↑ Northern Rivers Tourism. "Who we are" . Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  3. ↑ "Northern Rivers ACE Colleges" . Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  4. ↑ Traces magazine September 2013: Ballina Naval and Maritime Museum :: Cedar and steamers
  5. ↑ Richmond River Historical Society: Dairying
  6. ↑ www.macadamiacastle.com.au: Macadamia History
  7. ↑ Harrison, John. A Socio-economic Evaluation of the Commercial Fishing Industry in the Ballina, Clarence and Coffs Harbour Regions, Professional Fishermen’s Association, 2010 ISBN   978-0-9808239-0-5 – via Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
  8. ↑ Clarence Valley Council: economic profile
  9. ↑ Nimbin MardiGrass official site
  10. ↑ Regional Development Australia: Northern Rivers Community Profile
  11. ↑ Bock, Karl & Brunckhorst, David (undated but post-2006). Identifying socio-economic trends for the Northern Rivers Region of New South Wales. Institute for Rural Futures/University of New England, 25 pp.
  12. ↑ "The battle to save Terania Creek rainforest", The Northern Star
  13. ↑ ABC News: Bentley gas protest makes history
  14. ↑ ABC News: Lismore coal seam gas licence PEL 445 bought back by NSW Government for $1 million
  15. ↑ Rickets, Aidan; Kia, Annie (2018). "Enabling Emergence: The Bentley Blockade and the Struggle for a Gasfield Free Northern Rivers". Commons Social Change Library.
  16. ↑ Tenterfield Shire Council: Bundjalung people
  17. ↑ Arakwal – people of Byron Bay (official site)
  18. ↑ The following six successful native title claims in the Northern Rivers region are recorded on the National Native Title Register as at August 2018: National Native Title Register Details: NCD2013/001 – Bandjalang People #1; National Native Title Register Details: NCD2013/002 – Bandjalang People #2; National Native Title Register Details: NCD2016/001 – Bandjalang People #3; National Native Title Register Details: NCD2019/001 – Bandjalang People #4; National Native Title Register Details: NCD2015/002 – Yaegl People #1; and National Native Title Register Details: Yaegl People #2 (Part B).
  19. ↑ Southern Cross University (3 May 2011). "About SCU – Lismore" . Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  20. ↑ "North Coast (19 camouses)". TAFE NSW . Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  21. ↑ Lismore Symphony Orchestra
  22. ↑ Tweed Regional Gallery: Margaret Olley Art Centre
  23. ↑ "Italian families settle on the Richmond", The Northern Star
  24. ↑ "Fury at the Railway Friendly as Byron hits the end of the line". Sydney Morning Herald . 15 May 2004.
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