Wallaville is a rural town and locality in the Bundaberg Region, Queensland, Australia.[2][3] It is 372 kilometres (231 mi) north of the state capital, Brisbane and 43 kilometres (27 mi) south west of the regional centre of Bundaberg. In the 2021 census, the locality of Wallaville had a population of 363 people.[1]
Geography
Currajong Creek runs through the town, flowing into the Burnett River, which forms most of the eastern boundary of the locality.[4] The creek is also known for the Ceratoduslung fish found in quite large numbers.[5]
The Bruce Highway passes from south to north through Wallaville.[4]
History
Boundary Creek Bridge on the Wallaville railway line, 1920
Walla Provisional School opened circa 1883 and closed circa 1893.[6]
In 1887, 39,000 acres (16,000 ha) of land were resumed from the Walla pastoral run. The land was offered for selection for the establishment of small farms on 17 April 1887.[8]
In 1896, the Gin Gin co-operative sugar mill opened at Wallaville.[9] During the cane crushing season from July to December the population of the town doubled with an influx of mill workers and cane cutters.
In 1929, an existing cane train bridge over the Burnett River was converted to be suitable for use by cars. As well as being convenient for local use, it also allowed those travelling between Brisbane and Rockhampton to bypass Bundaberg, which shortened the journey by 80 miles (130 km). It was funded by a local committee and was officially opened on 12 October 1929 by the Member for BurrumWilliam Brand.[12][13] The bridge proved popular but soon the maintenance costs become too much for the local volunteers to fund so in 1934 they sought financial assistance from the local Isis Shire Council. However, as the other side of the Burnett River was in the Kolan Shire, the Isis Shire Council sought to spread the cost across both shires.[14] This lead in 1934 to a request to the Queensland Government to fund a new more permanent road bridge.[15] While the issue of funding remained unresolved, the lack of maintenance was taking its toll with the bridge and its approaches being described as "a bit of a nightmare" with recommendations to drive via Bundaberg instead.[16] The Queensland Government approved £11,825 for the construction of a new bridge in September 1938;[17] however, construction was delayed due to a shortage of steel.[18] The bridge was finally opened on Saturday 11 May 1940 by Harry Bruce, the Queensland Minister for Public Works, who outlined his vision for a highway from Coolangatta to Cooktown (of which the present day Bruce Highway from Brisbane to Cairns forms the major part). The new Wallaville bridge was a low-level concrete bridge 690 feet (210 m) long (25°05′07″S151°59′42″E / 25.0853°S 151.9949°E / -25.0853; 151.9949 (Wallaville Bridge)).[19]
In the 1950s, a new bulk sugar terminal was built without a rail link so sugar was transported from Wallaville by road instead of rail, leading to the closure of the railway in June 1964. The railway track was sold to the sugar mill to build cane tramways around Wallaville.[9][11]
The sugar mill closed in 1974 but the sugar cane was transported by rail to the Bingera sugar mill north of Bundaberg by connecting the Wallaville tramway network with those in the Bingera and Fairymead districts.[9]
Wallaville Bridge 1999
In the mid-1990s, a weir was proposed for the Burnett River approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) downstream of the Wallaville Bridge. Being a low-level bridge, the flooding of the Burnett River was already resulting in bridge closures of 2–3 days every 2–3 years and the higher river levels created by the weir would raise the river level to within a metre of the bridge deck, increasing the likelihood of closures due to flooding as well as accelerating the deterioration of the bridge itself due to the higher humidity levels under the bridge. If the proposed stage 2 of the weir proceeded (increasing the height of the weir by a further 2 metres), the bridge would be permanently underwater. Additionally the existing bridge was old and the geometry of its alignments were not of an acceptable standard for a major highway (there was a sharp bend on the southern side approach). The outcome was to recommend that a new high-level bridge be constructed 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) upstream of the existing bridge. Construction commenced in December 1997. On 5 July 1999, the Tim Fischer Bridge was opened by the Deputy Prime MinisterTim Fischer. The bridge (25°07′31″S151°59′03″E / 25.1252°S 151.9842°E / -25.1252; 151.9842 (Tim Fischer Bridge)) and the associated new 8.3 kilometres (5.2 mi) section of highway to access it cost $28 million.[24]
Wallaville State School celebrated its 100th anniversary in November 2009.[25]
Demographics
At the 2006 census, the locality of Wallaville had a population of 182.[26]
At the 2011 census, the locality of Wallaville had a population of 392.[27]
In the 2016 census, the locality of Wallaville had a population of 410 people.[28]
In the 2021 census, the locality of Wallaville had a population of 363 people.[1]
^ abcdZelmer, Lynn (2006). "The Wallaville Out-Depot"(PDF). Narrow Gauge Downunder (26). Archived(PDF) from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
^"Purely Personal". The Southern Cross. Vol. XLIII, no. 2166. South Australia. 25 September 1931. p. 6. Retrieved 23 January 2021 – via National Library of Australia.
