Lockyer Valley, Queensland
Encyclopedia
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, 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...
and east of Toowoomba
Toowoomba, Queensland
Toowoomba is a city in Southern Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital city, Brisbane. With an estimated district population of 128,600, Toowoomba is Australia's second largest inland city and its largest non-capital inland city...
. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world. The intensively cultivated area grows the most diverse range of commercial fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
and vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s of any area in Australia and is often referred to as "South East Queensland
South East Queensland
South East Queensland is a region of the state of Queensland in Australia, which contains approximately two-thirds of the state population...
’s Salad Bowl".
The valley is experiencing increasing urbanisation at both its eastern and western extremities. As commuters move into the area, its towns are becoming dormitory suburbs and satellite towns of the Brisbane-Ipswich
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...
conurbation
Conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...
in the east and Toowoomba in the west. Urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
measures have been implemented to preserve the good quality agricultural land and rural feel of the valley. Such measures largely confine future development to non-arable land
Arable land
In geography and agriculture, arable land is land that can be used for growing crops. It includes all land under temporary crops , temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow...
on the slopes of the hills.
Geography
The valley is enclosed on either side by the Great Dividing RangeGreat Dividing Range
The Great Dividing Range, or the Eastern Highlands, is Australia's most substantial mountain range and the third longest in the world. The range stretches more than 3,500 km from Dauan Island off the northeastern tip of Queensland, running the entire length of the eastern coastline through...
and lies within the Lockyer Valley Region local government area. The largest town in the Lockyer Valley is Gatton
Gatton, Queensland
Gatton is a town and the administrative centre of the Lockyer Valley Local Government Area situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Gatton had a population of 5,295....
. Other centres include Laidley
Laidley, Queensland
Laidley is a town situated in the Lockyer Valley of South East Queensland, Australia. The township lies 83 km west of Brisbane, the state capital....
, Forest Hill
Forest Hill, Queensland
Forest Hill is a town in the Lockyer Valley region of south east Queensland, Australia. The town is in the Lockyer Valley Region local government area, west of the state capital, Brisbane and east of the regional centre of Toowoomba...
, Grandchester
Grandchester, Queensland
Grandchester is a town in the Lockyer Valley region in South East Queensland, Australia. It is located 76 km west of the Brisbane CBD and is situated on the border of the Ipswich and Laidley local government areas. The name comes from Grantchester, a village outside of Cambridge in England...
, Grantham
Grantham, Queensland
Grantham is a town in the Lockyer Valley region of Queensland, Australia. The town is located west of the state capital, Brisbane. At the 2006 census, Grantham had a population of 370.-History:...
, Helidon
Helidon, Queensland
Helidon is a town in the Lockyer Valley region of south east Queensland, Australia. Helidon is located on the Warrego Highway, west of the state capital, Brisbane and east of Toowoomba...
and Withcott and Prenzlau
Prenzlau, Queensland
Prenzlau is a town situated in the Lockyer Valley at the southern end of the Somerset Region LGA in southeastern Queensland, Australia. At the 2006 census, Prenzlau had a population of 1,120....
.
Lockyer Creek and its tributaries drain the valley and forms a tributary of the Brisbane River
Brisbane River
The Brisbane River is the longest river in south east Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay. John Oxley was the first European to explore the river who named it after the Governor of New South Wales, Thomas Brisbane in 1823...
that eventually empties into Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay
Moreton Bay is a bay on the eastern coast of Australia 45 km from Brisbane, Queensland. It is one of Queensland's most important coastal resources...
. Many of the creeks in the valley are ephemeral. The valley has a number of small dams that serve local storage needs, including Atkinson Dam
Atkinson Dam
Atkinson Dam was a natural lagoon near Lowood in Queensland, prior to the construction of the dam wall in 1970. It has a surface area of 550 ha and holds some 30,500 ML of water for irrigation purposes. The reservoir is one of a number of small dams built in the Lockyer Valley...
built in 1970, Bill Gunn Dam
Bill Gunn Dam
Bill Gunn Dam, west of the town of Laidley in South East Queensland, was developed to increase the capacity of the existing Lake Dyer, a natural lake adjacent to Laidley Creek, a tributary of Lockyer Creek...
and Lake Clarendon
Lake Clarendon
Lake Clarendon is a reservoir located 10 km North East of Gatton in South East Queensland, Australia. The reservoir is one of a number of small dams built in the Lockyer Valley to supply water for irrigation....
. 12 different land types have been identified in the valley.
History
In the 1840's the valley was settled and land clearing began.Gatton was gazetted in 1855, making it one of Queensland's earliest Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an settlements. The valley was populated by German immigrants under a scheme organised by Lutheran Pastor Heussler.
The first rail line in the valley was opened in 1865 when the Ipswich
Ipswich, Queensland
Ipswich is a city in South-East Queensland, Australia. Situated along the Bremer River Valley approximately 40 kilometres away from the state's capital Brisbane. The suburb by the same name forms the city's Central Business District and administrative centre...
to Grandchester services began operation. A small town developed in the 1870s while a small timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
industry grew at about the same time. Structures in the valley were damaged by a 4.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the area on November 17, 1960.
Climate
With an average annual rainfall of 780 mm, the Lockyer Valley is the driest part of South East Queensland. Rainfall is highly variable and droughts are experienced regularly.The Lockyer Valley typically experiences temperatures higher than the Brisbane region in summer, but colder in the winter. In November 2008, the valley experienced some of the worst flooding in its recorded history with farmers experiencing total crop failure. The flooding claimed the lives of livestock as well as an elderly female in the Forest Hill area, caught up in the flooding whilst driving.
This event was overshadowed by severe flooding in January 2011. The towns of Withcott
Withcott
Withcott is a town in the Lockyer Valley region of Queensland, Australia. The town is located on the Warrego Highway, west of the state capital, Brisbane and east of the regional centre of Toowoomba. At the 2006 census, Withcott had a population of 1,000....
and Grantham
Grantham, Queensland
Grantham is a town in the Lockyer Valley region of Queensland, Australia. The town is located west of the state capital, Brisbane. At the 2006 census, Grantham had a population of 370.-History:...
were particularly hard hit. Flood related deaths were recorded in the communities of Spring Bluff
Spring Bluff, Queensland
Spring Bluff is a locality north of Toowoomba, Queensland. It is situated north of the city centre via New England Highway, and is adjacent to the town of Highfields....
, Murphys Creek
Murphys Creek, Queensland
Murphys Creek is a town in Queensland, Australia, located at the foot of the Great Dividing Range. The town's name is correctly spelled without an apostrophe.-History:...
, Grantham and Postmans Ridge. Many council-owned bridges in the valley were either completely gone or partially destroyed. To repair roads and drains the Lockyer Valley Region local government area initially estimated the repair bill to be A$176 million.
Agriculture
The valley's main agricultural activities are intensive horticulture, cropping and grazing. Major crops grown in the areas include grains, vegetables and lucerne. Most of the water used in agriculture is sourced from below the surfaceGroundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
.
The valley contains fertile black soils which support a $160 million-a-year vegetable industry. However the viability of agriculture in the Lockyer Valley has been questioned after unreliable rains during drought, pest outbreaks and crop damage during severe weather have led to a decrease in agricultural productivity
Agricultural productivity
Agricultural productivity is measured as the ratio of agricultural outputs to agricultural inputs. While individual products are usually measured by weight, their varying densities make measuring overall agricultural output difficult...
. Some farmers have instigated the use of laser measurements to ensure irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
systems are optimally configured and yields are high.
Nearly all the nation's processing beetroot is grown in the Lockyer Valley. In 2002, the number of beetroot farmers had reduced to just eight farms. Golden Circle sources vegetables from the Lockyer Valley.
See also
- Agriculture in AustraliaAgriculture in AustraliaAustralia is a major agricultural producer and exporter. Agriculture and its closely related sectors earn $155 billion-a-year for a 12% share of GDP. Australian farmers and graziers own 135,996 farms, covering 61% of Australia’s landmass. There is a mix of irrigation and dry-land farming...
- Fassifern ValleyFassifern ValleyFassifern Valley is a valley of the Scenic Rim in South East Queensland. Towns found in the valley include Harrisville, Kalbar, Roadvale, Warril View and Aratula...
- List of valleys of Australia