Simpson Victoria | |||||||||||||||
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Simpson Hotel | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 38°29′0″S143°12′0″E / 38.48333°S 143.20000°E | ||||||||||||||
Population | 569 (2016 census) [1] | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1952 | ||||||||||||||
Postcode(s) | 3266 | ||||||||||||||
Location |
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LGA(s) | |||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Polwarth | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | |||||||||||||||
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Simpson is a town in the Western District of Victoria Australia. The town is in a dairying region and lies about halfway between Colac and the coastal fishing resort of Port Campbell. Most of the town is located in the Corangamite Shire, but a small, forested section lies in the Shire of Colac Otway. Simpson is 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Cobden. At the 2016 census, Simpson had a population of 569. [1]
The town is named after Les Simpson, the first chairman of the Soldier Settlement Commission. Prior to the formation of the Soldier Settlement Commission in 1946, the large bush land tract known as the Heytesbury Forest was under consideration as a possible settlement area.
Simpson is part of one of the most productive dairying centres in Australia. Dairying has become a major activity in the area and a significant contributor to the State’s dairying industry. The region consists of dissected plains exposing a range of land types with different topography, lithology and soils. This results in a range of responses to land use and climate.
The town today services the needs of 400 plus farms, through Education, Health and Produce.
Simpson was part of the Heytesbury Settlement. The Heytesbury region was settled as part of a returned soldier program. In 1960 the first settlers took up their farms, Simpson Post Office opened on 4 September 1962 as the population grew, [2] and by 1976 there were 378 families in occupation with further families to follow as more land was cleared. The amount of the Heytesbury Settlement developed to pasture was 43,000 hectares (110,000 acres). The Heytesbury Shire established a committee to help promote the scheme in collaboration with the Colac and Otway Shire councils. In 1946 an advisory committee was appointed by the Soldier Settlement Commission. This committee associated itself with several government departments with the intention of establishing an operation of an experimental area which was started in 1947. The potential of this country for pastures was overwhelming, the project commenced in 1956. Jack Shepherd owner of a local earth moving business won the contract to build the first 5 miles (8 km) of gravel road (now sealed) into the settlement, branching off from the Scotts Creek- Colac Road as it was then called. He then went on to build a number of dams for the farmers and buying and selling the farmers' calves in Colac.
A park has been set beside a natural dam in the heart of town offering visitors the chance to learn about the development of the Heytesbury Settlement, a display featuring the large equipment used to help with the clearance of the Heytesbury Forest can also be seen here.
A 5 tonne steel land clearing "high Ball" was constructed from 19 mm (0.75 in) mild steel plate in 1953 by Hume Steel Pty. Ltd. In 1956 it was employed in Heytesbury Forest for all timber clearing operations on the 50,000 hectares (120,000 acres) project until completion in 1971. In operation the ball was pulled by two 180-kilowatt (240 hp) tractors one attached to 60-metre (200 ft) chains on either side. A tree pusher tractor followed to assist the pulling of larger trees. [3]
The town has a primary school for children from prep to year 6. Secondary school students are bused to Cobden Technical School, Timboon P12 school , Mercy Regional College or Camperdown College.
The town has an Australian Rules football team playing in the Colac & District FL. [4]
Colac is a small city in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac.
The Shire of Colac Otway is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 3,438 square kilometres (1,327 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 21,503. It includes the towns of Apollo Bay, Beeac, Beech Forest, Birregurra, Colac, Cressy, Forrest, Johanna, Kennett River, Lavers Hill, Warrion and Wye River. It came into existence on 23 September 1994 through the amalgamation of the local government areas of City of Colac, Shire of Colac, part of the Shire of Otway and part of the Shire of Heytesbury.
The Shire of Corangamite is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 4,408 square kilometres (1,702 sq mi) and in June 2018 had a population of 16,140. It includes the towns of Camperdown, Terang, Cobden, Timboon, Port Campbell and Skipton. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Town of Camperdown, Shire of Hampden, Shire of Heytesbury, and parts of the Shire of Otway, Shire of Mortlake and Shire of Warrnambool.
Alvie is a small town in Victoria, Australia. It is located along Baynes Road, in the Colac Otway Shire, north-west of Colac. It was named after a Scottish town of the same name, which was the birthplace of James Macpherson Grant, the Minister of Lands. It is situated in what became a rich dairying, potato and onion growing area.
Camperdown is a town in southwestern Victoria, Australia, 190 kilometres (120 mi) west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2016 census, Camperdown had a population of 3,369.
Cobden is a town located 200 kilometres southwest of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia named in honour of Richard Cobden. At the 2006 census, Cobden had a population of 1,813. At the 2001 census, Cobden had a population of 1,419.
Timboon is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Corangamite local government area, and is approximately 213 kilometres (132 mi) south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2001 census, Timboon had a population of 787. At the 2006 census, Timboon had a population of 871. During the 2016 census Timboon had a population of 1,202. As of 2021, Timboon had a hearty population of 1,250, however this represents a significant decline in growth when compared to the 2006-2016 run.
The Shire of Heytesbury was a local government area about 200 kilometres (124 mi) west-southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1,558.39 square kilometres (601.7 sq mi), and existed from 1895 until 1994.
The Shire of Otway was a local government area about 190 kilometres (118 mi) southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 1,906.94 square kilometres (736.3 sq mi), and existed from 1919 until 1994.
The Colac & District Football Netball League (CDFNL) is a minor country football league based in the South West of Victoria in the city of Colac. The CDFNL has 10 clubs, all located in the Colac Otway Shire, with the exception of Lorne, which falls within the Surf Coast Shire. The competition incorporates the two sports of Australian rules football and netball.
The Group Settlement Scheme was an assisted migration scheme which operated in Western Australia from the early 1920s. It was engineered by Premier James Mitchell and followed on from the Soldier Settlement Scheme immediately after World War I. Targeting civilians and others who were otherwise ineligible for the Soldiers' scheme, its principal purpose was to provide a labour force to open up the large tracts of potential agricultural land to ultimately reduce dependence on food imports from interstate. It was also seen by Australians as boosting the ideals of the White Australia policy by strengthening the Anglo-Australian cultural identity of Australia. High levels of post-war unemployment in Britain saw the UK Government seizing on the scheme as a way to reduce dole-queues. Over 6,000 people emigrated to Western Australia under the scheme which was funded jointly by the state, federal and UK governments.
Swan Marsh is a town in the Western District of Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Colac Otway Shire local government area, 168 kilometres (104 mi) south west of the state capital, Melbourne.
The Heytesbury Settlement Scheme was a soldier settlement scheme established in the Western District of Victoria, Australia after World War II. The scheme involved the clearing of the Heytesbury Forest south of Colac, Victoria and adjacent to the Otway Ranges to allow for the establishment of a dairy industry in the area. Established in 1960 by the Victorian Government led by Premier Henry Bolte, some early problems saw the scheme dismissed as "Bolte's Blunder". In time the area became one of Australia's most productive dairy regions. The scheme was one of the last large scale land settlement schemes in Victoria.
The Forrest railway line is a former branch railway in Victoria, Australia. It branched off the Warrnambool railway line at Birregurra, and ran through the foothills of the Otway Ranges to the town of Forrest.
Mount Sabine is a rural locality in the Shire of Colac Otway, Victoria, Australia. The small locality is located deep in the Otway Ranges, and is mostly densely forested.
Keith McGarvie was an Australian politician. He was a United Australia Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1933 to 1935, representing the electorate of Warrnambool.
Norman Houghton is a historian and archivist in Geelong, Victoria, who has published more than 40 books, many focusing on timber tramways and sawmills of the Otway and Wombat Forests of Western Victoria, Australia. Most of his works have been self-published, while he has provided numerous articles to the newsletter and journal of the Light Railway Research Society of Australia.
Gordonbrook is a rural locality in the South Burnett Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census Gordonbrook had a population of 175 people.
Cooriemungle is a locality within the Shire of Corangamite in Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, Cooriemungle had a population of 364.
Scotts Creek is a locality in south-west Victoria, Australia, in the Corangamite Shire, 210 kilometres (130 mi) south-west of the state capital, Melbourne. Located where the Timboon-Colac Rd intersects the Cobden-Port Campbell Rd, Scotts Creek was a part of the original pastoral run of Daniel Curdie. Later the area was explored by gold prospectors but didn't find anything. Later came the timber workers and then the farmers. In 1886 the area was burnt out by the summer bushfires, but no-one was killed.
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