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Attunga, New South Wales

Coordinates: 30°55′46″S 150°50′42″E / 30.92944°S 150.84500°E / -30.92944; 150.84500
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Attunga
New South Wales
Attunga is located in New South Wales
Attunga
Attunga
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates30°55′46″S 150°50′42″E / 30.92944°S 150.84500°E / -30.92944; 150.84500
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

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

History

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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

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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

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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

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

References

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  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. Edit this at Wikidata
  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. Edit this at Wikidata
  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.