Leongatha

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox Australian place

Leongatha (Template:IPAc-en) is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located Template:Convert south-east of Melbourne. At the Template:CensusAU, Leongatha had a population of 5,869.<ref name="Census2021" />

Canadian dairy company Saputo which trades in Australia under the Devondale label, among others, has a dairy processing plant on the north side of the town producing milk-based products for Australian and overseas markets.

HistoryEdit

First settlement of the area by Europeans occurred in 1845. The Post Office opened as Koorooman on 1 October 1887 and renamed Leongatha in 1891 when a township was established on the arrival of the railway.<ref name="a">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The railway line from Melbourne reached the town in 1891,<ref name="newsrail-line">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and stimulated further settlement. Regular V/Line passenger operations on the line to the local railway station ceased in 1993.<ref name="nrs">Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The Leongatha Magistrates' Court closed on 1 January 1990.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The town made international media headlines in 2023, when four people were taken to hospital after consuming beef Wellington suspected to have contained death cap mushrooms. Three of the four guests subsequently died, and one survived, later receiving a liver transplant. The woman who cooked the meal, Erin Patterson, was charged with murder in November 2023.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

ClimateEdit

Leongatha has an oceanic climate (Köppen: Cfb), with warm summers and cool winters. Average maxima vary from Template:Convert in February to Template:Convert in July, while average minima fluctuate between Template:Convert in February and Template:Convert in July. Precipitation is moderate (averaging Template:Convert per annum), and is frequent (spread between 174.8 precipitation days).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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TransportEdit

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The town is located on the South Gippsland Highway which links Leongatha to Melbourne. Leongatha was formerly situated along the South Gippsland railway corridor that operated to its terminus at Yarram in the early 1980s and Leongatha in the mid 1990s. A V/Line road coach service replaced the rail service on 24 July 1993, running between Melbourne and Yarram.

A second service runs from Traralgon to Wonthaggi. There was also a third bus service running from Venus Bay, through Tarwin Lower and Koonwarra connecting with the V/Line services that depart from Leongatha. This was a trial service and no longer operates.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref> The Leongatha Airport is located south of the town and serves general aviation.

EducationEdit

Leongatha is a major educational hub for South Gippsland, and contains several schools, including:

Leongatha Secondary College, result of a merger between Leongatha Technical School and Leongatha High School.
Leongatha Primary School
South Gippsland Specialist School
GippsTafe (Leongatha Campus)
St Laurence O'Toole Catholic Primary School
Mary MacKillop Catholic Regional College
Chairo Christian School – For prep level to year 10. Also provides three to four year-old Kindergarten.

The town also has two kindergartens (Allora and Hasset Street), and two childcare centres (Brown Street and Leongatha Children's), which both have kindergarten rooms.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

TourismEdit

The Daffodil Festival is held annually in September. Competitions are held and many daffodil varieties are on display. A garden competition is also held.
The railway line from Nyora through Leongatha to Foster has been converted into the Great Southern Rail Trail, for the shared use of horse riding, walking and cycling.

The Great Southern Rail Trail is now extended as far as Yarram with a side trail from Alberton to Port Albert. The old railway stations at Korumburra and Leongatha have been updated with a monthly Farmers Market held at the Leongatha site

CommunityEdit

Leongatha has a community theatre company, the "Lyric Theatre Company" that regularly stages theatrical productions.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The town has a medieval society, the "Leongatha Medieval Society", which re-enacts 14th-century weapons, armour and fighting styles.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Medieval Society can be seen each month at Coal Creek Community Park and Museum at Korumburra.

Leongatha offers a range of sports including: athletics, basketball, badminton, cricket, croquet, cycling (BMX, road and track), equestrian, football (Australian rules, association and indoor soccer), golf, gymnastics, hockey (field and underwater), lawn bowls, martial arts (karate and taekwondo), netball, shooting, skateboarding, softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, and volleyball (indoor and beach).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The town's Australian Rules football club, the Leongatha Football Club ("The Parrots"), competes in the Gippsland Football League. Golfers play at the course of the Leongatha Golf Club on Inverloch-Koonwarra Road, Leongatha South,<ref name = "golf">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> or at the course of the Woorayl Golf Club at the Recreation Reserve.<ref name = "golf2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Community services include CFA, SES, Police, ambulance. Other community organisations include Scouts (cubs, scouts, venturers and rovers), Girl Guides, and Salvation Army Youth Corps. The town also boasts a large YMCA complex (including pool, gym and basketball courts) plus a four theatre complex.

Leongatha Mechanics Institute.JPG

Mechanics Institute
Leongatha Otago Hotel.JPG

Bair's Otago Hotel
Leongatha Post & Telegraph Office.JPG

Post Office
Leongatha Roman Catholic Church.JPG

Catholic Church
Leongatha War Memorial Hall.JPG

Leongatha War Memorial Hall
Leongatha War Memorial.JPG

War memorial
Leongatha Court House.JPG

Court House
Leongatha eastview.jpg

Leongatha eastview
Leongatha Anglican Church.JPG

Anglican Church
"Leongatha, Counties of Buln Buln and Mornington," T.F. McGauran, Department of Crown Lands and Survey, Melbourne, 1892 (State Library Victoria).jpg

Leongatha, Crown Lands and Survey 1892

Notable peopleEdit

Joff Ellen, comedian and actor.
Lennie Gwyther, 9 year old boy who traveled more than 1000 km on horseback to see the opening of the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 1932.
Dyson Heppell, Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club and is the former captain.
Roc Kirby, businessman who founded the Village Roadshow cinema chain and film production company.
Eleanor Patterson, Australian Olympic athlete who competes in high jump and has set national records.
Jarryd Roughead, Australian rules footballer with the Hawthorn Football Club and part owner of McCartins Hotel.
Stephen Wallis, Australian rules footballer.