Attunga, New South Wales

Attunga is a small farming community in the New England region of New South Wales Australia.

Attunga
New South Wales
Attunga
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates30°55′46″S 150°50′42″E
Population633 (2006 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2345
Elevation374 m (1,227 ft)
Location
LGA(s)Tamworth Regional Council
State electorate(s)Tamworth
Federal Division(s)New England

History

The name is an Aboriginal word for "a high place", and was originally the name for a nearby farm operated by pastoralist John Brown in the 1840s.[2] The land had previously been part of a 313,000-acre (1,270 km2) grant to the Australian Agricultural Company in 1834 and had been used to graze 6,000 sheep.[3]

The village of Attunga was gazetted in 1847[4] but early settlement appears to have been slow. The first recorded burials at the Attunga Cemetery date from 1872 with the earliest inscriptions dated 1881.[5] BHP opened a limestone quarry there in 1919.[6]

Population growth remained slow until the mid-twentieth century. The current population of 633 includes families of commuters to Tamworth. Services in Attunga currently include a primary school, supermarket, hotel and sports ground, and rural fire service headquarters.

The late English singer-songwriter Max Bygraves owned "Attunga Park", an 84-hectare farm near the town of Murwillumbah.

Industries

The main industries are sheep and cattle farming, and limestone mining from a mine to the east of the town. The town abuts the Attunga State Forest, a popular walking and camping destination.[7]

The town was served by the Barraba branch railway line until the local station was closed in 1985.

Environmental issues

Recent drought conditions have caused bank erosion along Attunga Creek, as a result of stock movements across and along the creek bed. In 2006 the town of Attunga received funding for a major program of bank stabilisation and revegetation to restrict stock movements to defined corridors near the waterway.[8]

Mobile Phone Blackspot Program

Vodafone will serve the town and surrounding area with mobile phone service as part of the National Blackspot Program from Q4 2016.

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Attunga (State Suburb)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  2. "Attunga". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales.
  3. "Tamworth's History: The Beginning of European Settlement - 1800-1850". Tamworth Regional Council. November 2007. Archived from the original on 18 June 2005. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  4. "Attunga". Geographical Names Register (GNR) of NSW. Geographical Names Board of New South Wales. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  5. "Attunga General Cemetery". Australian Cemeteries Index. August 2006. Archived from the original on 6 June 2008. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  6. "NEWS OF THE NORTH. - New Railway Line for Attunga". Daily Observer (Tamworth, NSW : 1917 - 1920). 8 May 1919. p. 1. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  7. "Information Guide to Attunga". The Northern NSW Regional Internet Site. November 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2007.
  8. "Question on Notice: Envirofund funding". Hansard, Parliament of Australia. February 2006. Archived from the original on 24 May 2011. Retrieved 2007-11-09.
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