Leeton, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Leeton
state = nsw


caption = Location of Leeton
lga = Leeton Shire Council
postcode =
est =
pop = 6,828
elevation=
maxtemp = 23.0
mintemp = 10.3
rainfall = 432.0
county = Cooper
stategov = Murrumbidgee
fedgov = Riverina
dist1 = 550
location1= Sydney
dist2 = 450
location2= Melbourne

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.cite web|title = Leeton |url = http://www.walkabout.com.au/locations/NSWLeeton.shtml|publisher = Walkabout |accessdate = 2008-03-20] Leeton is administered by Leeton Shire. Leeton's current urban population is 6,828Census 2006 AUS
id = UCL147200
name = Leeton (Urban Centre/Locality)
quick = on
accessdate = 2008-07-30] 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. [cite web|title = Fine Food & Wine |url = http://www.visitriverina.com.au/index.cfm/page/222|publisher = Riverina Regional Tourism |accessdate = 2008-08-28] Other industry includes the Berri Juices, Rockdale Beef and Murrumbidgee Irrigation.

Leeton is renowned as "The Heart of SunRice Country".cite web|title = The Irrigator |url = http://www.riverinamediagroup.com.au/images/pdfDownloads/RMGMKp13.pdf |publisher = Riverina Media Group |work = Fairfax Media |accessdate = 2008-08-19]

Leeton holds a number of town landmarks, including the famous Roxy Theatre, War Memorial, Madonna Place, St Peter's Church, and the Historic 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'scite web
title = About the Shire
url = http://www.leeton.nsw.gov.au/about.html
publisher = Leeton Shire Council
accessdate = 2008-03-20] 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. It is the current title holder of New South Wales overall state winner tidiest town.

Education

Leeton is the second largest educational centre in the Riverina after Wagga Wagga.

Leeton Shire has three secondary schools:
* Leeton High School
* St Francis De Sales Regional College
* Yanco Agricultural High SchoolLeeton 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 SchoolOther education includes:
* 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

Climate

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.

Industry

Leeton is a very industrial town with many employment opportunities in the field. "Ricegrowers 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 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 which include the town's two shopping complexes, Leeton Market Plaza and the Woolworths Complex. The beautifully decorated and maintained streets 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, Franklins, The Reject Shop, Red Rooster, IGA and Target.

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 Star FM (99.7) and 2RG radio stations which are based in Griffith. WIN Television also broadcasts the local news of the Riverina during week nights.

Events

* The Leeton SunRice Festival, which is held biennially for ten days at Easter.
* 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. The shires first fully enclosed shopping centre Leeton Market Plaza, was opened in OctoberFact|date=March 2008.

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.

Notable people

* John Faulkner
* Lorna Gill - CWA founder and lamington cook
* John Frederick Gorey - rowing champion
* Henry Lawson - poet
* Rod Maybon - rugby league
* Robert McLachlan - road bicycle racer
* Peter Peters - rugby league player/commentator
* Mark Taylor - cricketer
* Helen Wellings - consumer advocate

References

External links

* [http://www.leeton.nsw.gov.au/ Leeton Shire Council] - council website
* [http://www.leetontourism.com.au Leeton Visitors Information Centre]