Ballina, New South Wales
| Ballina New South Wales | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File:Ballina BigPrawn.jpg The Big Prawn | |||||||||
  Ballina | |||||||||
| Coordinates | 28°50′S 153°32′E / 28.833°S 153.533°E | ||||||||
| Population | 16,477(2006)[1] | ||||||||
| Established | 1840s | ||||||||
| Postcode(s) | 2478 | ||||||||
| Elevation | 1.3 m (4 ft)[2] | ||||||||
| Location | |||||||||
| LGA(s) | Ballina Shire | ||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Ballina | ||||||||
| Federal division(s) | Page | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Ballina (/[invalid input: 'icon']ˈbæl[invalid input: 'ɨ']nə/)[3] is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of the Ballina Shire Local Government Area. It had a population of 16,477 in the 2006 Census.[1]
Location
Ballina is on the Pacific Highway, and was established on the northern shore of the Richmond River near Cape Byron, Australia's most easterly point, in the 1840s. It is approximately 750 km (466 mi) north of Sydney and 205 km (127 mi) south of Brisbane.
Ballina is situated on the mouth of the Richmond River, which was an important transport route for the region for the first 100 years after settlement. The river and its estuaries abound with marine wildlife and are used for recreational fishing and water sports. [citation needed]
History
A lighthouse, Richmond River Light, was first constructed in Ballina in 1866. The temporary lighthouse was replaced with the current one, designed by James Barnet, in 1879, and first lit in 1880. It is still active.[4]
Ballina has a number of famous "landfalls" associated with it. In 1928, Charles Kingsford Smith's plane, the Southern Cross, crossed the coast over Ballina after its epic journey across the Pacific Ocean.[5] Ballina had a festival associated with the event during the 1970s and 1980s, and a school in East Ballina bears the name "Southern Cross".
In 1973, the Las Balsas rafts were towed into Ballina by fishing trawlers after their journey from Ecuador.[6] They had planned to arrive in Mooloolaba in Queensland, but currents forced them off their course. Their journey was almost twice as long as the Kon-Tiki expeditions of 1947 and proved that people could have travelled across the Pacific in ancient times.
A branch railway line connected Ballina with the Casino-Murwillumbah railway at Booyong. The line was opened on 24 August 1930 and closed on 12 January 1949.[7]
Name
Ballina's etymology is not entirely certain. Some believe it was named directly after the Irish town of Ballina, although a more likely source is a Bundjalung word, "bullinah", meaning "place of many oysters". One possibility is that the Aboriginal name reminded the predominantly Irish settlers of "Ballina", so the name's origin could be an accidental or deliberate corruption of the Aboriginal form.
Ballina has a sister city agreement with its Irish namesake.[8]
Demographics
The population of Ballina Shire is estimated at 38,461 in the 2006 census.[9]
Facilities and attractions
There are four high schools in the town (Xavier, Southern Cross, Ballina and Emmanuel), five primary schools (Holy Family, St. Francis Xavier, Emmanuel, Ballina and Southern Cross), a hospital and aged care facilities. Ballina is home to the world's largest prawn (made of concrete and fibreglass).
Climate
| Climate data for Ballina Airport, New South Wales | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 42.0 (107.6) |
41.0 (105.8) |
35.6 (96.1) |
31.0 (87.8) |
30.0 (86.0) |
28.0 (82.4) |
27.5 (81.5) |
36.7 (98.1) |
33.0 (91.4) |
37.0 (98.6) |
38.1 (100.6) |
40.0 (104.0) |
42.0 (107.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 28.2 (82.8) |
28.0 (82.4) |
26.9 (80.4) |
24.9 (76.8) |
22.4 (72.3) |
20.2 (68.4) |
19.9 (67.8) |
21.2 (70.2) |
23.5 (74.3) |
24.7 (76.5) |
26.1 (79.0) |
27.3 (81.1) |
24.4 (75.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 19.6 (67.3) |
19.4 (66.9) |
18.1 (64.6) |
15.2 (59.4) |
12.1 (53.8) |
9.7 (49.5) |
8.5 (47.3) |
8.7 (47.7) |
11.5 (52.7) |
13.9 (57.0) |
16.5 (61.7) |
18.2 (64.8) |
14.3 (57.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 12.2 (54.0) |
13.2 (55.8) |
11.0 (51.8) |
5.9 (42.6) |
2.0 (35.6) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
0.0 (32.0) |
1.0 (33.8) |
0.4 (32.7) |
4.2 (39.6) |
7.0 (44.6) |
9.5 (49.1) |
−2.0 (28.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 174.8 (6.88) |
194.6 (7.66) |
219.9 (8.66) |
183.0 (7.20) |
173.7 (6.84) |
197.4 (7.77) |
119.6 (4.71) |
92.8 (3.65) |
67.4 (2.65) |
108.8 (4.28) |
124.4 (4.90) |
142.9 (5.63) |
1,799.3 (70.84) |
| Average rainy days | 14.4 | 14.8 | 17.3 | 15.4 | 14.8 | 12.2 | 10.8 | 9.5 | 9.3 | 11.8 | 12.6 | 12.7 | 155.6 |
| Source: Bureau of Meteorology[10] | |||||||||||||
Economy
![[icon]](/enwiki/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (September 2011) |
Media
The Northern Rivers Echo is a free weekly community newspaper with 27,000 copies [citation needed] going to Lismore, Alstonville, Wollongbar, Ballina, Casino, Nimbin and Evans Head. The Northern Star is a tabloid newspaper based in Lismore. It covers the region from Casino to Ballina and up to Murwillimbah and Byron Bay, covering a population of several hundred thousand. [citation needed]
The commercial radio stations in the area are Triple Z (Hit Music) & 2LM 900 AM (also broadcast on 104.3fm). Both are run by Broadcast Operations Group. The community radio station is Paradise FM 101.9.[11] Other radio stations are Triple J 96.1 FM, ABC Radio National 96.9 FM, ABC Classic FM 95.3 and ABC Local Radio - North Coast 94.5 FM.
Transport
Ballina bypass
 |
The long awaited Ballina bypass[12] project will upgrade 12.4 km of dual carriageway road, extending from south of Ballina at the intersection of the Bruxner and Pacific Highways to north of Ballina at the intersection with Ross Lane at Tintenbar. Twelve km of local roads will be upgraded.
Early works started in April 2008 with commencement of substantial works on 16 June 2008. The Cumbalum to Ross Lane section is due to open by early 2011 (the bypass was extended an extra .5 km to allow for a better connection to the Tintenbar to Ewingsdale Project) with full completion mid 2012. In July 2011 it was announced the section between Cumbalum and the Bruxner Highway interchange would open to traffic in late 2011, several months ahead of schedule.
Airport
The major airport for the region, servicing Byron Bay and Lismore, is in Ballina. The airport has links to Melbourne and Sydney with Jetstar Airways, Regional Express Airlines and Virgin Australia each operating services. Ballina Airport is located in Southern Cross Drive and is 5 km (3 mi) from the Ballina CBD. The airport is a 20 minute road trip to Byron Bay and 30 minutes to Lismore. In 2005 the Ballina airport was renamed the Ballina Byron Gateway airport in a bid to attract more people to the area.
Notable people
- Kerry Saxby-Junna[13] Saxby competed with the Ballina Athletic Club; the "Kerry Saxby Pathway" runs past the Olympic Pool and Waterslide to the Naval and Maritime Museum.
- Dustin Dollin
- Dustin Clare, actor
- Simon Baker, actor
- Nathan Crosswell, basketball player
Twin cities
Ballina is twinned with:
- Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland[8]
- Matamata-Piako District, Waikato, New Zealand[8]
References
- ^ a b Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Ballina (Urban Centre/Locality)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
- ^ "Ballina Airport AWS". Climate Averages for Australian Sites. Bureau of Meteorology. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
- ^ Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition (2005). Melbourne, The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd. ISBN 1-876429-14-3
- ^ "The Richmond River Lighthouse". Lighthouses of New South Wales. Lighthouses of Australia Inc.
- ^ Kingsford-Smith, Charles (1928). Story of "Southern Cross" Trans-Pacific Flight, 1928. Sydney: Penlington and Somerville.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Ballina Naval & Maritime Museum". Ballina Naval & Maritime Museum. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
- ^ Hagarty, D. The Booyong-Ballina Branch Line. Australian Railway Historical Society Bulletin, June 1953, pp. 65–68
- ^ a b c "Sister City Agreement". Retrieved 10 July 2009.
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Ballina (A) (Local Government Area)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 September 2008.
- ^ "Climate Statistics for Ballina Airport, New South Wales". Retrieved 24 March 2012.
- ^ http://www.cbonline.org.au/index.cfm?pageId=13,12,6,3204
- ^ Ballina bypass - Road Projects. New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority.
- ^ Saxby-Junna, Kerry at the International Association of Athletics Federations
External links
Media related to Ballina, New South Wales at Wikimedia Commons