Leeton, New South Wales
Encyclopedia : L : LE : LEE : Leeton, New South Wales
Leeton is a town and Local Government Area in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Leeton is situated approximately 550 km west of Sydney and 450 km north of Melbourne in the productive Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. Leeton is administered by Leeton Shire Council. Leeton's current population is 12,041 and as of 2001, Leeton ranked as the 19th fastest growing Local Government Area in New South Wales. Leeton is situated in one of the most productive farming regions in the state, with citrus, rice, grapes and wheat farms found throughout the Leeton Shire. Leeton is Australia's Rice Capital as it is home to the SunRice headquarters. Other industry includes the Vetta Pasta Company, Berri Juices, Rockdale Beef and Murrumbidgee Irrigation.
Leeton is known as The Heart of Sunrice Country.
Leeton holds a number of town landmarks, including the famous Roxy Theatre, War Memorial, Madonna Place and the Hydro Motor Inn which are located in the centre of town. Leeton's areas are also based around large towers that store the towns water that provide a striking feature for each section of town.
Leeton is a purposely built and designed town by Walter Burley Griffin after the irrigation schemes were announced by the NSW Government in the early 1900's. The town has a unique circular road structure and streetscape. Leeton has distinct commercial, administrative, industrial, residential, educational, health, recreational and cultural areas and remains very organised today. The unique design of Leeton (and nearby Griffith) is still considered a practical method of planning even though Leeton was founded over 90 years ago.
Leeton is an attractive community, unique to other country towns in Australia. Leeton Shire Council prides itself on keeping the town neat and tidy. The town's appearance is comparable to that of coastal communities rather than one found in central New South Wales. Leeton's relatively recent history provides the town with a more modern appearance.
Education
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-->Leeton is the second largest educational centre in the Riverina after Wagga Wagga.
Leeton Shire has three secondary schools:
Leeton Shire has seven primary schools:- Leeton Public School
- Parkview Public School
- St Josephs Primary School
- Wamoon Public School
- Yanco Public School
- Murrami Public School
- Whitton Public School
- TAFE NSW Riverina Institute
- Murrumbidgee College of Agriculture
- Gralee Support School
- Plymouth Brethren School
- Leeton Pre-School
- Leeton Day Care Centre
- ABC Leeton Learning Centre
- ABC Leeton North Learning Centre
Transport
Leeton is connected very well to the surrounding regional centres and capital cities. Leeton is approximately 450 km from Melbourne along the Newell Highway, Goulburn Valley Highway and Hume Highway and 550 km from Sydney along the Sturt and Hume Highways. There are daily flights leaving Narrandera Airport, operated by Regional Express (REX). The airport is located near the shire boundary approximately 20 km from the CBD. There are coach services to Sydney and Adelaide, leaving Leeton Coach Terminal in Gidgee Street daily. CountryLink also offers coach services to Wagga Wagga to link the Sydney–Melbourne XPT daily. The Griffith Xplorer train to and from Sydney arrives at Leeton Railway Station on weekends.
| Countrylink Southern | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Narrandera | ↔ | Leeton | ↔ | Griffith |
Industry
Leeton is a very industrial town with many employment opportunities in the field. Ricegrowers Co-operative Limited is by far Leeton's largest employer as its international headquarters are located in the town. Other large industry includes Berri Juices and Rockdale Beef which are both one of the largest producers in their respective fields of juice and meat products in Australia. Vetta Pasta (formerly known as Greens) operated in the Leeton Shire for many years before relocating to Melbourne in March2006. Leeton was shocked at the prospect of 55 job losses but pleased when SunRice announced that they were advertising for 89 new jobs within their company due to the large size of the harvest in 2006. Smaller industry includes Toorak Wines, Lillipilly Wines, Coprice (a subsidiary of Ricegrowers Co-operative Limited), Riverina Cheese, Southern Central Engineering, Pacific Fresh, Murrumbidgee Irrigation and AJ Bush and Sons Abbatoir. The extensive Vance Industrial Estate houses many smaller scale industrial companies. Leeton is also home to a Call Centre for Country Energy. It is one of only four in Australia (others being located in the larger towns of Port Macquarie, Bathurst and Queanbeyan)Commercial Scene
-->Leeton's cosmopolitan heritage, coupled with its diversity of food production, gives rise to a variety and excellence in the towns eateries. The towns many restaurants, bistros and coffee shops offer great quality, service, variety and value. Leeton's main shopping areas include Pine Avenue and Kurrajong Avenue. The beautifully decorated and maintained street offers a wide range of small and major retailers, both local and national. Some of these include: Go-Lo, Best and Less, Eagle Boys, Woolworths, IGA and Target. Leeton also has a Homemakers Centre situated north of the main streets in the newly developed Karri Estate and North Leeton areas of town.
Media
Leeton has its own newspaper known as The Irrigator (formerly known as The Murrumbidgee Irrigator) which is released throughout the region on Tuesday and Friday. Leeton also has influences on the Star FM (99.7) and 2RG radio stations which are based in Griffith. WIN Television also broadcasts the local news of the M.I.A weeknightly at 6pm.Events
- The Leeton SunRice Festival, which is held biennially for ten days at Easter.
- Murrumbidgee Farm Fair, which is held annually in May.
- Leeton Agricultural Show, which is held annually in October.
Future for Leeton
Leeton is continuing to grow so more needs to be done to provide for the growing population. Industry is continuing to grow with industrial areas expanded and existing industrial businesses undergoing extensions. These provide more jobs for the people of Leeton. Leeton's housing development is continuing with various new housing estates being built on the town's boundaries. These housing estates include Karri Estate and Golf Links Estate. These have hundreds of new house blocks for people to purchase. These blocks are well equipped with all modern amenities. Leeton's retail sector is also growing with the construction of a new shopping centre at the town's former MID site. This is known as Leeton Market Plaza, and it is expected to open by 2006.Leeton is very community based, and many new community projects occur. Recent projects include the establishment of sections of the new town bike track network, regional skate park, indoor recreation centre and the federation stage in Mountford Park.
See also
External links
- [Leeton Shire Council] - council website
- [Leeton Visitors Information Centre]
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