Hunter Valley
Encyclopedia
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, extending from approximately 120 km (75 mi) to 310 km (193 mi) north of Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
with an approximate population of 645,395 people. Most of the population of the Hunter Region lives within 25 km (16 mi) of the coast, with 55% of the entire population living in the cities of Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
and Lake Macquarie. There are numerous other towns and villages scattered across the valley in the eleven Local Government Areas that make up the region. The eleven LGAs are:
- Cessnock CityCity of CessnockCessnock City Council is a Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located to the west of Newcastle. The largest population centre and council seat is the city of Cessnock, after which the LGA is named....
- Dungog ShireDungog ShireDungog Shire is a Local Government Area in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. It is situated in the Barrington Tops region and consists predominantly of very rugged to hilly country which becomes less rugged from north to south.- Incomes :...
- Gloucester ShireGloucester ShireGloucester Shire is a Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia on the Mid North Coast. It is on the Bucketts Way and the North Coast railway line.- Incomes :According to the during 2003-04, there:...
- Great Lakes Council
- Lake Macquarie City
- Maitland CityCity of MaitlandThe City of Maitland is a Local Government Area in the Lower Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and CityRail's Hunter line.-Demographics:...
- Muswellbrook Shire
- Newcastle CityCity of NewcastleNewcastle City Council is a Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia.-Demographics:According to the Australian Bureau Statistics the City of Newcastle had an estimated resident population of 154,777 as of 30 June 2008...
- Port Stephens Council
- Singleton Shire
- Upper Hunter Shire
The Hunter Region contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and south. The Hunter Valley is one of the largest river valleys on the NSW coast, and is most commonly known for its wineries and coal industry.
Rivers and water supply
RiversThe main river is the Hunter River, after which the region is named. There are several other rivers including the Williams
Williams River (New South Wales)
The Williams River is a river that flows through Dungog, Clarence Town and Seaham in New South Wales, Australia. The river flows generally south east and south for about to its confluence with the Hunter River, just to the west of the Fitzgerald Bridge at Raymond Terrace. Previously it was known...
, Karuah
Karuah River
The Karuah River is a major river in the Great Lakes Area of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is fed by numerous creeks and streams on the south side of the Gloucester Tops Ranges which makes up part of the Great Dividing Range....
, Chichester
Chichester River
The Chichester River is a river of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It is dammed by the Chichester Dam.-References:...
, Goulburn
Goulburn River (New South Wales)
The Goulburn River is a tributary of the Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia.The Goulburn River rises east of Mudgee and flows east, joining the Hunter River near the town of Denman. It flows through a rugged and partly settled area, much of which is a national park...
, Pages
Pages River
-References:...
, Paterson
Paterson River
The Paterson River, a tributary of the Hunter River, is a significant river in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Its headwaters are in the Barrington Tops National Park and it flows to join the Hunter River between Hinton and Morpeth...
, Avon and Gloucester
Gloucester River
The Gloucester River is a river of the state of New South Wales in Australia. It originates in the World Heritage Barrington Tops region, flowing through Antarctic Beech and Southern Sassafras high altitude rainforest. And then through lower altitude sub tropical rainforest including trees such as...
.
Water supply
Fresh water supply for the region is provided from a number of sources. Glenbawn
Glenbawn Dam
Glenbawn Dam is a major dam and reservoir on the Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest earth-filled dam in Australia....
, Chichester
Chichester Dam
Chichester Dam is a dam in the Hunter Region of New South Wales approximately north of Dungog. It was constructed between 1917 and 1926 as a supply of drinking water for the Hunter Region by damming the Chichester River. The dam contributes about 35 percent of the lower Hunter region's water supply...
and Lostock
Lostock Dam
Lostock Dam is a high, earth and rock filled embankment dam on the Paterson River, approximately north-west of Newcastle in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The Paterson River is a tributary of the Hunter River...
are dams on the Hunter, Chichester and Paterson rivers respectively. Grahamstown Dam, the largest dam in the region, is supplied with water diverted from the Williams River just north of the Seaham Weir. A proposal to build Tillegra Dam
Tillegra Dam
Tillegra Dam was a proposed dam on the Williams River to be located northwest of Dungog, in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It was first proposed in the 1970s but a formal proposal was not announced until 2006. That proposal was scrapped in November 2010...
on the Williams River has existed since the 1950s. In addition to the dams, fresh water for the lower Hunter region is supplied from the Tomago Sandbeds
Tomago, New South Wales
Tomago is a combined industrial/semi-rural suburb of the Port Stephens Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is located just north of the Hunter River and west of the body of water known as Fullerton Cove...
.
Towns and cities
Newcastle, situated at the mouth of the Hunter River, is the largest city in the region. Its immediate metropolitan area includes Lake Macquarie, though its statistical division also includes the MaitlandCity of Maitland
The City of Maitland is a Local Government Area in the Lower Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and CityRail's Hunter line.-Demographics:...
, Cessnock
City of Cessnock
Cessnock City Council is a Local Government Area in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, located to the west of Newcastle. The largest population centre and council seat is the city of Cessnock, after which the LGA is named....
and Port Stephens areas. Other major centres of the Hunter Region are Dungog
Dungog, New South Wales
Dungog is a country town on the Williams River in the upper Hunter Valley in New South Wales, Australia. Located in the middle of dairy and timber country, it is the centre of the Dungog Shire Local Government Area and at the 2006 census it had a population of 2,102 people. The area includes the...
, Forster
Forster, New South Wales
Forster is a large coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Great Lakes Council LGA, about north-north-east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin, Tuncurry, which is the smaller of the two towns...
/Tuncurry
Tuncurry, New South Wales
Tuncurry is a coastal town in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Great Lakes Council LGA, about north north east of Sydney. It is immediately adjacent to its twin town of Forster, which is the larger of the two towns....
, Gloucester
Gloucester, New South Wales
Gloucester is a town in the dairy and beef cattle country of the Manning district on the Mid North Coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia in the Gloucester Shire....
, Kurri Kurri
Kurri Kurri, New South Wales
Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the 2006 census its population was 5,644...
, Muswellbrook
Muswellbrook, New South Wales
Muswellbrook, a corruption of 'Muscle Brook', is a town and Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia. The original spelling and etymology of the town's name is a matter of some debate...
, Scone
Scone, New South Wales
Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 4,624 people. It is located on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney, and is part of the Hunter and Upper...
and Singleton
Singleton, New South Wales
-Industry & Commerce:Major industries near Singleton include coal mining, energy generation, light industry, vineyards, horse breeding and cattle production. Dairying was once a mainstay in the area, but has declined....
.
Industries
The main industries in the Hunter Region are coal mining, agriculture, viticulture and wine making, tourism, horse breeding, electricity production, dairyDairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
farming and beef cattle farming, and associated service industries. The Hunter Region is one of Australia's most famous wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
-growing regions, known for both its red and white wine varieties.
Coal mining
The most important economic activity in the valley is coalCoal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
(through businesses such as Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto Group
The Rio Tinto Group is a diversified, British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group with headquarters in London and Melbourne. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river, in Huelva, Spain from the...
& BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...
), mostly for export
Export
The term export is derived from the conceptual meaning as to ship the goods and services out of the port of a country. The seller of such goods and services is referred to as an "exporter" who is based in the country of export whereas the overseas based buyer is referred to as an "importer"...
. There is increasing tension between the coal mining industry and some other industries because of the environmental impacts of coal mining including dust, water usage, water contamination, and destruction of agricultural land, and the impact of coal trucks on local and regional roads. The port at Newcastle is the world's largest export facility for coal, most of which is brought to the port via railway. Coal ships are often seen off the coast of Newcastle. Climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
activists have staged direct actions at the coal port on a number of occasions.
Electricity generation
Electricity generationElectricity generation
Electricity generation is the process of generating electric energy from other forms of energy.The fundamental principles of electricity generation were discovered during the 1820s and early 1830s by the British scientist Michael Faraday...
at the Eraring
Eraring Power Station, New South Wales
Eraring Power Station is one of two coal fired electricity power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. Eraring is located on the western shore of the lake, near the township of Dora Creek...
, Bayswater
Bayswater Power Station, New South Wales
Bayswater Power Station is located from Muswellbrook, and from Singleton in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. Bayswater shares the title of being Australia's largest power station with Eraring Power Station. It is coal powered with four steam driven turbo alternators with a...
, Liddell
Liddell Power Station, New South Wales
Liddell Power Station is located at Lake Liddell near Muswellbrook, in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. It is coal powered, with four 500 MW GEC steam driven turbo alternators for a combined capacity of 2,000 MW....
, Munmorah
Munmorah Power Station, New South Wales
Munmorah Power Station is a coal fired power station on the shores of Lake Munmorah. It has two steam turbines that generate a total capacity of 600.01 MW of electricity....
, Redbank
Redbank Power Station, New South Wales
Redbank Power Station is located near Singleton, in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales, Australia. It is coal powered with one steam driven turbo generator with a capacity of 151MW of electricity....
and Vales Point
Vales Point Power Station, New South Wales
Vales Point Power Station is one of two coal fired power stations on the shores of Lake Macquarie. Vales Point is located on the southern shore of the lake, near the township of Mannering Park...
coal fired power stations is a major industry of the region.
Horse breeding
The Hunter Valley is Australia's main region for the breeding and rearing of ThoroughbredThoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
horses. The Upper Hunter area around Scone
Scone, New South Wales
Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter Shire in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Scone had a population of 4,624 people. It is located on the New England Highway north of Muswellbrook about 270 kilometres north of Sydney, and is part of the Hunter and Upper...
is one of the largest horse breeding areas in the world.
Tourism
The Hunter Valley is a major tourist destination in New South Wales and is the 6th most visited place in Australia attracting more than 2.5 million people annually. There are regular events held in the Hunter for visitors, including the Hunter Valley Steam Trains running the first three Sundays of each month and regular scenic cruises on the Hunter River and Lake Macquarie.Wine growing
Pokolbin is the centre of the Hunter Valley Wine CountryWine Country
The Wine Country is a region of Northern California in the United States known worldwide as a premium wine-growing region. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the mid-19th century...
. It is located between the towns of Cessnock
Cessnock, New South Wales
Cessnock is a city in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, about by road west of Newcastle. It is the administrative centre of the Cessnock City Council LGA and was named after an 1826 grant of land called Cessnock Estate, which was owned by John Campbell...
and Branxton
Branxton, New South Wales
Branxton is a town in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, Australia. Branxton is north of Sydney via the Sydney-Newcastle Freeway and New England Highway.Branxton is located mostly in Cessnock City Council, but part of it is in Singleton Shire...
, about 50 km (31 mi) west of Newcastle. The wine country is primarily located within the Cessnock and Singleton
Singleton Shire Council
Singleton Council is a local government area in New South Wales, Australia. It is on the New England Highway and CityRail's Hunter line.- Main towns and villages :...
LGAs. Its proximity to Sydney has been an influence on the area’s investments in wine production and its emergence as a tourist destination. Much of the rolling countryside around Pokolbin is under vine with the traditional varieties Shiraz and Semillon
Sémillon
Sémillon is a golden-skinned grape used to make dry and sweet white wines, most notably in France and Australia.-History:The origin of the Sémillon grape is hard to determine. It is known that it first arrived in Australia in the early 19th century and by the 1820s the grape covered over 90 percent...
as well as extensive plantings of Chardonnay
Chardonnay
Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...
, Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon
Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...
and small quantities of Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir
Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...
. The Pokolbin
Pokolbin, New South Wales
Pokolbin is a rural locality in the Hunter Region of New South Wales Australia. It is part of the Singleton Shire Council Local Government Area and the city of Cessnock. The area is the centre of the Lower Hunter Valley wine region...
area has a large number of vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
s, restaurants, shops, golf courses and country guesthouses. Other parts of the valley including the Wollombi Valley
Wollombi, New South Wales
Wollombi is a small village in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is within the Cessnock City Council LGA, situated southwest of Cessnock and north of Sydney...
and Broke Fordwich Wine Region
Broke, New South Wales
Broke is a village of approximately 540 people in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia in Singleton Shire. It is located to the north of Sydney on the original early colonial road from Sydney to Singleton .-Description:...
are also well known for wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
.Approximately 48,300 people reside in the area.
Environmental protection
The Hunter region contains the Goulburn River National ParkGoulburn River National Park
Goulburn River National Park is in New South Wales, Australia, 280 km northwest of Sydney and it is 20 km south-west of Merriwa. The Goulburn River National Park is located in Hunter Valley and covers approximately 90 km of the Goulburn River...
, Myall Lakes National Park
Myall Lakes National Park
Myall Lakes National Park is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, northeast of Sydney. It surrounds the scenic Myall Lakes, and includes Broughton Island.-See also:* Protected areas of New South Wales...
, Barrington Tops National Park
Barrington Tops National Park
Barrington Tops is a National Park in the Hunter Valley, approximately north of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The nearest towns are Scone, Singleton, Dungog, Gloucester and East Gresford....
, Werakata National Park
Werakata National Park
Werakata is a national park in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. The park is located to the north, east and south of the town of Cessnock...
, Watagans National Park
Watagans National Park
Watagans is a national park in New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney.-References:...
, Mount Royal National Park
Mount Royal National Park
Mount Royal is a national park in New South Wales, Australia. It is 187 km north of Sydney.The park is part of the Barrington Tops Area of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia inscribed in 1986 and which was also added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007.-See...
, Polkolbin State Forest, Putty State Forest, Chichester State Forest, Running Creek Nature Reserve, The Glen Nature Reserve, Black Bulga State Conservation Area
Black Bulga State Conservation Area
Black Bulga State Conservation Area is located near the Barrington Tops, from Dungog in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia. An area of . Previously part of Trevor State Forest and Chichester State Forest....
, Myall River State Forest and Karuah Nature Reserve,
External links
- Hunter Region Botanical Gardens
- Hunter Economic Development Corporation
- Hunter Valley Wine Country website
- Broke Fordwich Wine Region
- Wollombi Valley