Central West (New South Wales)

The Central West is a region of New South Wales, Australia. The region is geographically in central and eastern New South Wales, in the area west of the Blue Mountains, which are west of Sydney. It has an area of 63,262 square kilometres (24,426 sq mi).[2] The region includes the area meteorologically defined as the Central Tablelands, located in the eastern part of the region.

Central West
New South Wales
The CSIRO Radio Telescope at Parkes
Population209,810 (30 June 2016)[1]
LGA(s)Bathurst Region, City of Orange, Cowra Shire, Parkes Shire, City of Lithgow, Oberon Shire, Mid-Western Regional Council, Forbes Shire, Cabonne Shire, Weddin Shire, Lachlan Shire
State electorate(s)
Federal Division(s)Calare

Riverina

Parkes
Localities around Central West:
Orana Upper Hunter Hunter
Orana Central West Greater Blue Mountains Area
South West Slopes Riverina Southern Tablelands

Major population and service centres in the Central West include Bathurst, Orange, Lithgow, Cowra, Mudgee and Parkes. Bathurst and Orange are home to campuses of Charles Sturt University, and Lithgow housing the University of Notre Dame Regional Clinical School.

Cities and towns

The Central West includes the large regional centres of Bathurst and Orange; the towns of Cowra, Mudgee, Parkes and Lithgow; and smaller centres, such as Oberon, Blayney, Forbes, Canowindra, Cudal, Molong, Lake Cargelligo, Grenfell, Portland, Wallerawang, Condobolin, Rylstone, Kandos, Gulgong, Peak Hill and Eugowra.

Demography and area

The following local government areas are contained within the region:

Population by Local Government Area
Central West rank Local Government Area Population 30 June 2016[3] 10 year growth rate Population density (people/km2)
1 Bathurst Regional Council 42,389 14.8 11.1
2 Orange City 41,384 13.8 145.6
3 Mid-Western Regional Council 24,569 13.5 2.8
4 City of Lithgow Council 21,524 6.6 4.8
7 Parkes Shire Council 14,946 2.4 2.5
8 Cabonne Shire 13,625 7.8 2.3
9 Cowra Shire 12,673 -0.6 4.5
10 Forbes Shire 9,808 2.8 2.1
11 Blayney Shire 7,418 10.0 4.9
12 Lachlan Shire 6,352 -7.0 0.4
14 Oberon Shire 5,399 4.2 1.5
15 Weddin Shire 3,692 -0.8 1.1
Central West 209,810 8.5 3.0

Terrain

The Central West's east is higher, wetter and hillier and supports orchards, vineyards, vegetable-growing and pastoralism. The west is flatter and drier and supports grain crops and pastoralism.

Major highways

The Central West region is traversed by the Great Western Highway, the Mid-Western Highway, the Mitchell Highway, the Newell Highway and the Castlereagh Highway.

Media

The Central West has several radio stations, including 97.9 2LVR (a community radio station), 105.1 2GZFM, 105.9 Star FM, 107.9 Move FM, 95.5 ROK FM, 107.5 Community Radio, 103.5 Rhema FM and 1089AM — a commercial station that gets most of its programming from 2SM in Sydney. Other electronic media are represented by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation with both television and radio broadcasting; and by television stations Prime7, WIN, and Southern Cross Nine.

Two major newspapers are published in the region, the Central Western Daily newspaper is published in Orange and the Western Advocate in Bathurst. Numerous other local papers serve the remaining large towns.

History

The Central West area was originally inhabited by the Wiradjuri people. The first white explorer, George Wilson Evans, entered the Lachlan Valley in 1815. He named the area the Oxley Plains after his superior the surveyor-general, John Oxley. In 1817 he deemed the area unfit for white settlement. A Military Depot was established not long after at Soldiers Flat near present-day Billimari. Arthur Ranken and James Sloan, from Bathurst, were amongst the first white settlers on the Lachlan. They moved to the area in 1831.

In the 1850s many gold prospectors passed through headed for gold fields at Lambing Flat (Young) and Grenfell.

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References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. Central West Region - the agricultural heart of New South Wales website of New South Wales Department of State and Regional Development, accessed 12 November 2006
  3. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2016". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
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