Burnie, Tasmania

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Burnie
Tasmania
File:Burnie-20120203-002.jpg
A view of Burnie CBD and port
Burnie is located in Tasmania
Burnie
Burnie
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Population 19,329 (2011)[1]
Time zone AEST (UTC+10)
 • Summer (DST) AEDT (UTC+11)
Location
LGA(s) City of Burnie
State electorate(s) Braddon
Federal Division(s) Braddon

Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania. When founded in 1827, Burnie was named Emu Bay but it was renamed for William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s.

Burnie is governed by the City of Burnie local government area. At the 2011 Australian Census the local government area recorded a population of 19,329, making it the fourth largest city in Tasmania.[1]

Economy

The key industries are heavy manufacturing, forestry and farming. The Burnie port along with the forestry industry provides the main source of revenue for the city.[2][3] Burnie was the main port for the west coast mines after the opening of the Emu Bay Railway in 1897. Most industry in Burnie was based around the railway and the port that served it.

After the hand over of the Surrey Hills and Hampshire Hills lots, the agriculture industry was largely replaced by forestry. The influence of forestry had a major role on Burnie's development in the 1900s with the founding of the pulp and paper mill by Associated Pulp and Paper Mills in 1938 [4] and the woodchip terminal in the later part of the century. The Burnie Paper Mill closed in 2010 after failing to secure a buyer.[5]

Facilities and education

Tasmania's third largest hospital, The North West Regional Hospital is on Brickport Road. It provides both in and outpatient services for general medicine, general surgery, orthopaedics and paediatrics.

Burnie has a central business district with several national retailers. Just outside the CBD there are other major retailers including: Harvey Norman Superstore; Spotlight; Godfreys; SuperCheap Auto.

Other amenities include the multi-function "Burnie Arts and Function Centre" (formerly known as the Civic Centre), post office, police station, supreme court, public and private hospital, as well as numerous sporting and social organisations.

Burnie is also home to the Cradle Coast campus of the University of Tasmania, and campuses of the Tasmanian Polytechnic and the Tasmanian Academy. The University of Tasmania campus includes the Cuthbertson Research Laboratores run by the Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research.

Transport

Burnie Airport is located in the adjacent town of Wynyard, a 20-minute drive from the City of Burnie.

Burnie Port is Tasmania's largest general cargo port[6] and was once Australia's fifth largest container port. It is the nearest Tasmanian port to Melbourne and the Australian mainland. As with other ports in Tasmania, it is operated by the government owned TasPorts.[7] The port currently operates as a container port with a separate terminal for the exportation of woodchips. The port was planned to be expanded in 2013 so that it could accommodate extra freight from the proposed north-west mines in the Tarkine.[8]

Burnie is connected with Devonport via the four lane Bass Highway and a rail link which is used for freight purposes. Burnie is also connected to the west coast of Tasmania by the Murchison Highway.

Bus service Metro Tasmania provides transport around the city and its suburbs.,[9] Redline Coaches provides daily coach services to several towns and to the city of Hobart.[10]

Suburbs

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Main article: City of Burnie

Climate

Burnie has an oceanic climate with mild summers and cool winters. The average temperature in summer ranges from 12.5 to 21 °C with drier days as warm as 30 °C, with around 16 hours of sunlight per day. In winter, temperature ranges from 6 to 13 °C, and only 8 hours of sunlight. Relative humidity averages over 60% for the year in the afternoon.

Burnie averages 994 mm of rainfall per year. Most of the rain is during the cooler months from May to October. The summer months bring constant daily sunshine and only occasional rainfall with temperatures up to 30 °C on the warmest and driest days. Nearly every day from January to March has a maximum temperature of 20–25 °C.

Climate data for Burnie
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 21.2
(70.2)		 21.2
(70.2)		 20.0
(68)		 17.7
(63.9)		 15.3
(59.5)		 13.4
(56.1)		 12.7
(54.9)		 13.1
(55.6)		 14.3
(57.7)		 15.9
(60.6)		 17.7
(63.9)		 19.4
(66.9)		 16.8
(62.2)
Average low °C (°F) 12.6
(54.7)		 13.2
(55.8)		 12.0
(53.6)		 9.9
(49.8)		 8.3
(46.9)		 6.7
(44.1)		 5.9
(42.6)		 6.1
(43)		 6.8
(44.2)		 8.0
(46.4)		 9.6
(49.3)		 11.1
(52)		 9.2
(48.6)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 43.2
(1.701)		 45.5
(1.791)		 49.5
(1.949)		 74.8
(2.945)		 94.9
(3.736)		 103.6
(4.079)		 125.2
(4.929)		 110.5
(4.35)		 87.4
(3.441)		 87.5
(3.445)		 68.0
(2.677)		 65.1
(2.563)		 956.2
(37.646)
Source: Bureau of Meteorology[11]

Sport

Australian rules football is popular in Burnie. The city's team is the Burnie Dockers Football Club in the Tasmanian State League. Their ground is West Park Oval.

Rugby union is also played in Burnie. The local club is the Burnie Rugby Union Club. They are the current Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide Division Two Premiers and were promoted to the Statewide First Division for the 2008 season. Their nickname is "The Mighty Emus". The club has been in existence since 1953 but at the end of the 1980s, were forced into a temporary absence from all competitions and relinquishing their place in the statewide First Division. Their home ground is Upper Burnie Sports centre. Gerry Horch is a past player, past president, life member, and local identity.

Soccer is also represented on the north coast with Burnie United FC having four teams compete in the northern premier league, the women's team, under 18 team, reserve team and division one team. recently last year they have entered two youth side in the under 16 and under 14 northern league.

Burnie hosts an ATP Challenger Tour tennis event, the McDonald's Burnie International, during the week following the Australian Open.

Media

The Advocate newspaper was established in 1890 servicing the North West region. The mailroom is located in Burnie whilst the local press operations ceased in mid-2008 and were relocated to Launceston[citation needed].

Burnie has access to the ABC, SBS, WIN and Southern Cross television stations. The fifth channel, Tasmanian Digital Television, has recently[when?] started transmitting from the tower at Round Hill, east of the suburb of South Burnie.

There are two commercial radio station, 7BU at 558 kHz on the AM band and Sea FM on 101.7 on the FM band. Many Melbourne radio stations can be received in Burnie.[citation needed]

Burnie CBD and Port from Wilfred Campbell Memorial Reserve

Notable people

  • Cameron Baird – Australian soldier, posthumously awarded the VC for actions in Afghanistan.
  • Justin Heazlewood – Australian songwriter, author, actor and humourist also known as The Bedroom Philosopher.
  • Josh Earl - Comedian and former host of Spicks and Specks
  • Eddie Jones – Current Head Coach of the English Rugby Union Football Team.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ http://www.qube.com.au/ports-and-bulk/facilities/burnie-port-facility
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Metro Tasmania website
  10. ↑ Redline Coaches website
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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