Churchill, Victoria
Encyclopedia
Churchill is a town in the Latrobe Valley
, located in central Gippsland
in the east of Victoria, Australia
. The town had a population of 4,588 at the 2006 census, and is part of the Latrobe City
local government area
. The town was named in honour of former British leader Sir Winston Churchill
.
and began as a service centre for the Hazelwood Power Station
and future replacement for Yallourn
and Morwell
townships. The site was chosen for its pleasant location at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges, overlooking Hazelwood pondage. It was relatively free from air pollution, is not above rich coalfields and is in close proximity to the larger towns and power stations in the Latrobe Valley.
Construction of Churchill began in 1965. In that year the first two houses in Churchill were completed
and occupied by the Arch and Ayers families who received morning paper deliveries from Yinnar General Store
, and milk delivery from John Koedijk. Within a week five more families arrived and so the town began to grow street by street.
The town was sufficiently advanced for the Post Office to open on 11 April 1966.
The shopping centre in Churchill was officially opened on July 1967, the first two shops (butcher and pharmacy) having opened 19 May 1967. In that year many new traders opened for business. All the shop keepers were offered a commission house in Churchill for their use. The Churchill Newsagency opened in 1967 and was run by Ian and Winifred Jones who had previously run the Yinnar General Store
. A Tattersalls agency was established in 1975. The Churchill Newsagency business was later purchased in April 1978 by Jack and Olive Robson
The town was planned with a well-defined commercial centre, expansive parklands, a mix of government and privately owned quarter-acre (1,000 m²) town blocks and light industrial estates spaced from residential areas by a belt of parkland. The transport system was to be a network of restricted-access highways and a ring road fully encircling the town. Population was planned to reach 6,000 by 1971, and eventually 40,000 by 2000. However slow development of services and a slowdown of the state of Victoria's power station construction program meant that Churchill was to never realise its potential, and population reached a modest level of 5500 by the 1991 census, before stabilising at around 5,000. Signs of renewed growth are appearing, with a new housing estate development opening in 2005, the first for some years.
During 2009, the town's retail precinct was refurbished, with the Richies IGA
supermarket expanded, and a new mall constructed, containing a new Woolworths supermarket, KFC
outlet and other shops. After closing in 2006 the hotel was remodeled and reopened in January 2011.
In 2009 Churchill also suffered the shock of the Black Saturday bush fires. Lit deliberately on Glendonald Rd, these fires burnt the surrounding hills of Churchill through to Yarram and killed 11 people.
, but was renamed after Sir Winston Churchill's death. The change of name has not been without its critics, and residents who pushed hard to restore the Hazelwood
name were finally heard in 1989, when the town was asked to vote on whether the town would be renamed to Hazelwood or stay as Churchill. The name Churchill won by narrow vote.
Some of the names in Churchill have a distinctly local flavour. Estates in the town were named after various early settlers. These include Silcock, Medew, McMillan, Glendonald, and Northways. Roads have also been named after people (such as McDonald, Canterbury, Philip, and Manning), flora (Acacia, Hawthorn, Blackwood and Birch), and Aboriginal names (Amaroo, Gundaroo).
Churchill has one defining and quite unique landmark, that being a huge replica of Winston Churchill's cigar (known locally as "the big cigar"). Originally it was anticipated that five of these would be built around points of the town centre's edge, but only one was actually ever built. Near the base of the cigar is a commemorative brick wall built by the Rotary Club of Hazelwood. It gives the names of the first families to move into the town.
Binishell
The Binishell located at the Monash University
campus was once a prominent feature visible from much of the eastern side of town, this has since been pulled down.
Mathison Park
Close to Churchill is Mathison Park, with walking tracks around Lake Hyland. Remote Control Model Power Boat Drivers Stand was built in 1996. A variety of trees and plants are being planted. This has now been enhanced with the walking path and fishing decks that were completed in 2005. The Lake continually has fish added to the eco-system for recreational fishing.
Monash University
Monash University
's third largest campus
is located in the town.
Gippsland Education Precinct
Gippsland Education Precinct includes the colocation of Kurnai College's VCE
/senior Campus, Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE (aka. GippsTAFE) and Gippsland Group Training (Apprenticeships Victoria). The precinct aims to increase youth engagement in the transition from secondary school to tertiary education, training and employment.
Primary Schools
The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the North Gippsland Football League
, known as the "Churchill Cougars". They have been the premiers of the North Gippsland Football League on three occasions. They have also won seven Mid Gippsland Premierships prior to joining the North Gippsland league. The town also has a junior team compeating in the Traralgon and District Junior Football League, under the same name, in the Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16's divisions.
Soccer Club
Soccer is also very popular with the Churchill Rams catering for both sexes of all ages.
Hockey Club
Churchill is also home to a field hockey
club, which reformed in 2009 to join the East Gippsland Hockey Association
. The hockey team had been in recess after the collapse of hockey in the Latrobe Valley a few years previously.
Golf Club
The town also has a golf club, known as the "Churchill and Monash Golf Club".
Pony Club
On the banks of Hazelwood
Pondage can also be found the Jeeralang Pony Club grounds.
Latrobe Valley
The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical region and urban area of Gippsland in the state of Victoria, Australia. It is east of the City Of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Great Dividing Range to the north – with the highest peak to the north of the...
, located in central Gippsland
Gippsland
Gippsland is a large rural region in Victoria, Australia. It begins immediately east of the suburbs of Melbourne and stretches to the New South Wales border, lying between the Great Dividing Range to the north and Bass Strait to the south...
in the east of Victoria, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. The town had a population of 4,588 at the 2006 census, and is part of the Latrobe City
Latrobe City
The City of Latrobe is a Local Government Area in eastern Victoria, Australia. It includes the centres of Moe, Morwell and Traralgon; and the towns of Boolarra, Churchill, Tyers, Yallourn North...
local government area
Local government
Local government refers collectively to administrative authorities over areas that are smaller than a state.The term is used to contrast with offices at nation-state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or federal government...
. The town was named in honour of former British leader Sir Winston Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
.
Town history
Churchill was formerly known as Hazelwood, VictoriaHazelwood, Victoria
Hazelwood is an area of Gippsland at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges in Victoria, Australia. In the beginning the area acted as a service centre for the Hazelwood Power Station....
and began as a service centre for the Hazelwood Power Station
Hazelwood Power Station, Victoria
Hazelwood Power Station, in the Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia is a brown coal fueled base-load power station built between 1964 and 1971. The power station is of 1,600 megawatt capacity, and supplies up to 25% of Victoria's base load electricity and more than 5% of Australia's total energy...
and future replacement for Yallourn
Yallourn, Victoria
Yallourn, Victoria was a company town in Victoria, Australia built between the 1920s and 1950s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. However, expansion of the adjacent open-cut brown coal mine led to the closure...
and Morwell
Morwell, Victoria
-Transport:The main form of transport in Morwell is the automobile. The Princes Freeway now bypasses the town to the south while the old Princes Highway which once passed through east-west through its centre is now Princes Drive and Commercial Road. The highway connects Morwell with other...
townships. The site was chosen for its pleasant location at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges, overlooking Hazelwood pondage. It was relatively free from air pollution, is not above rich coalfields and is in close proximity to the larger towns and power stations in the Latrobe Valley.
Construction of Churchill began in 1965. In that year the first two houses in Churchill were completed
and occupied by the Arch and Ayers families who received morning paper deliveries from Yinnar General Store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
, and milk delivery from John Koedijk. Within a week five more families arrived and so the town began to grow street by street.
The town was sufficiently advanced for the Post Office to open on 11 April 1966.
The shopping centre in Churchill was officially opened on July 1967, the first two shops (butcher and pharmacy) having opened 19 May 1967. In that year many new traders opened for business. All the shop keepers were offered a commission house in Churchill for their use. The Churchill Newsagency opened in 1967 and was run by Ian and Winifred Jones who had previously run the Yinnar General Store
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
. A Tattersalls agency was established in 1975. The Churchill Newsagency business was later purchased in April 1978 by Jack and Olive Robson
The town was planned with a well-defined commercial centre, expansive parklands, a mix of government and privately owned quarter-acre (1,000 m²) town blocks and light industrial estates spaced from residential areas by a belt of parkland. The transport system was to be a network of restricted-access highways and a ring road fully encircling the town. Population was planned to reach 6,000 by 1971, and eventually 40,000 by 2000. However slow development of services and a slowdown of the state of Victoria's power station construction program meant that Churchill was to never realise its potential, and population reached a modest level of 5500 by the 1991 census, before stabilising at around 5,000. Signs of renewed growth are appearing, with a new housing estate development opening in 2005, the first for some years.
During 2009, the town's retail precinct was refurbished, with the Richies IGA
IGA
Iga or IGA may stand for:-Given name:* a female given name of Polish origin. The name originates from the female given name Jadwiga and stands for gia,or gina in the USA....
supermarket expanded, and a new mall constructed, containing a new Woolworths supermarket, KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
outlet and other shops. After closing in 2006 the hotel was remodeled and reopened in January 2011.
In 2009 Churchill also suffered the shock of the Black Saturday bush fires. Lit deliberately on Glendonald Rd, these fires burnt the surrounding hills of Churchill through to Yarram and killed 11 people.
Names
The area now known as Churchill was originally named HazelwoodHazelwood, Victoria
Hazelwood is an area of Gippsland at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges in Victoria, Australia. In the beginning the area acted as a service centre for the Hazelwood Power Station....
, but was renamed after Sir Winston Churchill's death. The change of name has not been without its critics, and residents who pushed hard to restore the Hazelwood
Hazelwood, Victoria
Hazelwood is an area of Gippsland at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges in Victoria, Australia. In the beginning the area acted as a service centre for the Hazelwood Power Station....
name were finally heard in 1989, when the town was asked to vote on whether the town would be renamed to Hazelwood or stay as Churchill. The name Churchill won by narrow vote.
Some of the names in Churchill have a distinctly local flavour. Estates in the town were named after various early settlers. These include Silcock, Medew, McMillan, Glendonald, and Northways. Roads have also been named after people (such as McDonald, Canterbury, Philip, and Manning), flora (Acacia, Hawthorn, Blackwood and Birch), and Aboriginal names (Amaroo, Gundaroo).
Landmarks
Churchill CigarChurchill has one defining and quite unique landmark, that being a huge replica of Winston Churchill's cigar (known locally as "the big cigar"). Originally it was anticipated that five of these would be built around points of the town centre's edge, but only one was actually ever built. Near the base of the cigar is a commemorative brick wall built by the Rotary Club of Hazelwood. It gives the names of the first families to move into the town.
Binishell
The Binishell located at the Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
campus was once a prominent feature visible from much of the eastern side of town, this has since been pulled down.
Mathison Park
Close to Churchill is Mathison Park, with walking tracks around Lake Hyland. Remote Control Model Power Boat Drivers Stand was built in 1996. A variety of trees and plants are being planted. This has now been enhanced with the walking path and fishing decks that were completed in 2005. The Lake continually has fish added to the eco-system for recreational fishing.
Education
Churchill has several education facilities. There are several primary schools within the town, as well as the Churchill and Precinct campuses of Kurnai College.Monash University
Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
's third largest campus
Monash University, Gippsland campus
The Gippsland campus of Monash University is located in the town of Churchill 142 km east of Melbourne. There are around 2,000 students studying on-campus and 5,000 students who study off-campus. The campus faculties include Business and Economics; Arts; IT; Medicine, Nursing & Health...
is located in the town.
Gippsland Education Precinct
Gippsland Education Precinct includes the colocation of Kurnai College's VCE
Victorian Certificate of Education
The Victorian Certificate of Education or VCE is the credential awarded to secondary school students who successfully complete high school level studies in the state of Victoria, Australia. Study for the VCE is usually completed over two years, but it can be spread over a longer period in some cases...
/senior Campus, Central Gippsland Institute of TAFE (aka. GippsTAFE) and Gippsland Group Training (Apprenticeships Victoria). The precinct aims to increase youth engagement in the transition from secondary school to tertiary education, training and employment.
Primary Schools
Sport
Australian Rules Football ClubThe town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the North Gippsland Football League
North Gippsland Football League
The North Gippsland Football League is an Australian rules football league in the Central Gippsland area of Victoria, Australia, formed in 1955 through the merger of the Cowwarr Football League and the Sale District Football League....
, known as the "Churchill Cougars". They have been the premiers of the North Gippsland Football League on three occasions. They have also won seven Mid Gippsland Premierships prior to joining the North Gippsland league. The town also has a junior team compeating in the Traralgon and District Junior Football League, under the same name, in the Under 10, Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16's divisions.
Soccer Club
Soccer is also very popular with the Churchill Rams catering for both sexes of all ages.
Hockey Club
Churchill is also home to a field hockey
Field hockey
Field Hockey, or Hockey, is a team sport in which a team of players attempts to score goals by hitting, pushing or flicking a ball into an opposing team's goal using sticks...
club, which reformed in 2009 to join the East Gippsland Hockey Association
East Gippsland Hockey Association
The East Gippsland Hockey Association is a field hockey league in the East Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The league features five divisions, Open , Women's, under 18s, under 15s and under 13s.-History:...
. The hockey team had been in recess after the collapse of hockey in the Latrobe Valley a few years previously.
Golf Club
The town also has a golf club, known as the "Churchill and Monash Golf Club".
Pony Club
On the banks of Hazelwood
Hazelwood, Victoria
Hazelwood is an area of Gippsland at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges in Victoria, Australia. In the beginning the area acted as a service centre for the Hazelwood Power Station....
Pondage can also be found the Jeeralang Pony Club grounds.