Roma, Queensland

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Roma
state = qld


caption = Location of Roma in Queensland (red)
lga = Roma
postcode = 4455
pop = 6,763 (2004)
est =
elevation= 299.4
maxtemp = 27.9
mintemp = 12.8
rainfall = 599.4
stategov = Warrego
fedgov = Maranoa
dist1 = 479
location1= Brisbane
dist2 = 355
location2= Toowoomba

Roma (coord|26|33|S|148|48|E|region:AU-QLD_type:city(7000)) is a town in the western Darling Downs area of Queensland, Australia, 515 km (318 miles) by rail WNW of Brisbane. It is situated at the junction of the Warrego and Carnarvon highways. It is the centre of a rich pastoral and wheat-growing district, in which oranges and vines are grown and much wine is produced. Fact|date=July 2007 The town was incorporated in 1867 and is named after Lady Diamantina Roma Bowen, the wife of Sir George Ferguson Bowen, the Governor of Queensland at the time. Beef, grain and wool are its chief industries. Fact|date=July 2007 It has a population of 6763 [http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/LGA36400Population/People12000-2004?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=LGA36400&issue=2000-2004&num=&view= 2004 ABS figure] ] and is in the Maranoa electoral district. It also serves as a centre for the larger Roma Regional Council area.

Industry and Economy

Agriculture

* The Maranoa's agriculture industry is worth approximately $620 million annually, 64.3% being generated from crops. 58.7% of businesses in the Maranoa are in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector, which employs 32.7% of the region's workforce [ [http://www.sdi.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v3/guis/templates/content/gui_cue_cntnhtml.cfm?id=21072 Maranoa ] ] .
* Beef. 2005 was a record year for Roma saleyards processing 380,000 head of cattle. Roma is home to Australia's largest cattle saleyards. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/rural/content/2005/s1376748.htm Record year for Roma saleyards] ]
* Forestry (Hardwood and Cypress Pine).
** Roma and the Maranoa region is home to Australia's most active native Cypress Pine sawmilling [ [http://www2.dpi.qld.gov.au/forestrybook/16610.html Future challenges ] ] .
* Wool

Oil and Gas

In 1906 natural gas was used for lighting in Roma. The industry has expanded as more reserves were discovered.

* Origin Energy's [http://www.originenergy.com.au/about/subnav_section.php?pageid=1511 Spring Gully Coal Seam Gas Development] is located about 80km north of Roma and its projects include an 87km gas pipeline to Roma's neighbour town of Wallumbilla, Queensland to connect with the 434km Roma-to-Brisbane gas pipeline hub there [http://www.accc.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/87958] , [http://www.coderegistrar.sa.gov.au/pipe_qld/qld_trans.pdf] (see [http://www.originenergy.com.au/about/subnav_section.php?pageid=1147 portfolio] map of Queensland projects).
* The Proposed Spring Gully Power Station is an $870 Million, 1000MW power station that will provide electricity to South-East Queensland. [ [http://www.originenergy.com.au/about/about_subnav.php?pageid=1510 Proposed Spring Gully Power Station] ] Being based at the Spring Gully CSG site, the power station will have the benefit of being close to the source of gas and will also be able to use the waste-water left over from the other CSG operations. [ [http://www.sdi.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v3/guis/templates/content/gui_cue_cntnhtml.cfm?id=19233 Resource not found ] ]

Employment

Roma has a relatively low unemployment rate of 2.9% in 2004. [ [http://abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/LGA36400Economy12000-2004?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=LGA36400&issue=2000-2004&num=&view= ABS employment figure] ]

Notable People from Roma

* Peter "Black Prince" Jackson, legendary boxer
* Darren Lockyer, Australian rugby league captain
* Arthur Beetson, Australian rugby league captain
* Willie Carne, Australian rugby league international
* Brent Tate, Australian rugby league international
* Ray Higgs, Australian rugby league international
* Wally Fullerton-Smith, Australian rugby league international
* Darren Thrupp, Gold-medal-winning Paralympian

Tourist attractions

* The Big Rig and Oil and Gas museum
* Carnarvon Gorge and Mount Moffatt National Park
* Roma Villa Winery
*

Trivia

* The Sports Field where the footballers played was called the REC for Recreation Reserve. The surface was hard clay. Two ambulances were needed to deal with the injuries occurring in the Sunday Football Matches. The REC is no longer in use as a sport field.
* Captain Starlight, [ [http://scs.une.edu.au/Bushrangers/faq.htm Bushrangers FAQ ] ] cattle rustler was tried and acquitted in the Roma Courthouse. No successful conviction for cattle rustling has been made in Roma.
* Bore water is obtained from the Artesian Basin [ [http://www.nrw.qld.gov.au/water/gab/ The Great Artesian Basin ] ] . Many homes have a tank for rainwater delivered by a third tap at the kitchen sink as the town water has a strong taste.
* Hotels, Pubs, after Public Bar, and Churches feature promanently near the centre of town. The ten hotels are within easy walking distance with most adjacent to another hotel [ [http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-HTTP%253A%252F%252FENC.SLQ.QLD.GOV.AU%252FLOGICROUTER%252FSERVLET%252FLOGICROUTER%253FPAGE%253DOBJECT%2526OUTPUTXSL%253DOBJECT_ENC36UI.XSLT%2526PM_RC%253DPICTQLD%2526PM_OI%253D37496%2526API_1%253DGET_OBJECT_XML%2526NUM_RESULT%253D0 School of Arts Hotel, Roma ] ] . St Paul's Church of England [ [http://nla.gov.au/nla.cs-pa-HTTP%253A%252F%252FENC.SLQ.QLD.GOV.AU%252FLOGICROUTER%252FSERVLET%252FLOGICROUTER%253FPAGE%253DOBJECT%2526OUTPUTXSL%253DOBJECT_ENC36UI.XSLT%2526PM_RC%253DPICTQLD%2526PM_OI%253D10241%2526API_1%253DGET_OBJECT_XML%2526NUM_RESULT%253D0 St. Paul's Church of England in Roma ] ] is a copy of a 13th Century English Church in the shape of crucifix.
* Campbells Park and Campbells Lake were two projects initiated by a local engineer. Campbells Park featured a waterfall which operated every seven minutes. Campbells Lake was built using volunteer labour as a community project. This remained dry for several years due to the intermittent rainfall but eventually filled.
* 4ZR Roma is the local radio station. The Western Star is the local paper. [http://www.apnap.com.au/products/newspaper.cfm?newspaperid=58]

ee also

*Roma Airport

References

External links

* [http://www.maranoa.org.au/ Maranoa Online]
* [http://www.coderegistrar.sa.gov.au/pipe_qld/qld_trans.pdf Queensland Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines] (map)
* [http://www.energy.qld.gov.au/gas_transmission_and_distribution.cfm Queensland Gas Transmission and Distribution] (government department of energy)