Tarago, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = town
name = Tarago
state = nsw


caption = Railway Station
lga = Goulburn Mulwaree Council
county = Argyle
postcode = 2580
pop = 531 [Census 2006 AUS | id = SSC18965 | name = Tarago (State Suburb)|quick=on|accessdate=2007-10-12] (2006 Census)
est = 1827
elevation= 703
stategov = Goulburn
fedgov = Hume
dist1 = 222
location1= Sydney
dist2 = 32
location2= Goulburn

Tarago (postcode 2580) is a town in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales. It is situated 39 kilometres south of the city of Goulburn and 69 kilometres northeast of Canberra, the capital of Australia,. It is located on the Goulburn-Braidwood road.

Originally known as "Sherwin's Flats", the town took the name "Tarago", possibly an Aboriginal word meaning "country", [http://www.smh.com.au/news/New-South-Wales/Lake-Bathurst/2005/02/17/1108500197521.html "SMH Travel: Lake Bathurst"] , "Sydney Morning Herald", 8 February, 2004. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] from the town presently known as Lake Bathurst, which is located 7 km north of Tarago. The name change coincided with the railway line's arrival and the opening of the station on 3 January, 1884.Bozier, Rolfe, " [http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Tarago "NSWRail.Net: Tarago Railway Station"] ". Accessed 12 October, 2007.]

Within the town there are several historic buildings remaining, among them the original 1884 railway station, the St Josephs Catholic Church, and the Loaded Dog Hotel, which dates from 1848.

Woodlawn Mine

The town of Tarago serves the adjoining large "Woodlawn Mine". The mine originally contained gold, copper, lead and zinc deposits [ [http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:gJ2fUKlcihoJ:www.ame.com.au/mines/au/Woodlawn.htm+Woodlawn+mine+copper&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=au "AME Mineral Economics: Woodlawn, Australia"] , 2001 (Google Cache). Accessed 12 October, 2007.] until it was suddenly closed down in 1998. During the period of mining operations, goods sidings were added at the town's railway station to facilitate the transfer of minerals to and from the site. The closure of the mine sparked controversy when the pay entitlements of the 160 former miners, totalling $6.5 million, were not paid.Lewis, Daniel, [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/08/01/1091298577063.html "A complete space of waste"] , "Sydney Morning Herald", August 2, 2004. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] Waste company Collex (now Veolia) had examined both the Woodlawn site and others during the 1990s as a new site to house Sydney's waste, and eventually were given approval to use the site in 2002. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200208/s662952.htm "Mayor talks up waste site benefits"] , "ABC News", August 30, 2002. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] . As part of their agreement, Collex promised to pay out the workers' entitlements. They planned to run six 55-car trains a week between a waste transfer station in the Sydney suburb of Clyde and sidings off the Bombala Railway Line near the mine. These would take, at full capacity, 400,000 tonnes of putrescible waste a year, up to 20% of Sydney's waste.

The project was highly controversial, especially in regard to the shipping of waste by train. Residents of Clyde and neighbouring Auburn in Sydney opposed the mine's approval on environmental grounds and took the company to court to try to stop the project. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2003/12/01/1000570.htm "Sydney residents rally against waste station"] , "ABC News", 1 December, 2003. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] The New South Wales Land and Environment Court ruled in their favour, finding that the transfer station would cause significant air pollution problems. [" [http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/sinodisp/au/cases/nsw/NSWLEC/2004/618.html No Dump Residents Association Incorporated v Collex Pty Limited] " [2004] NSWLEC 618 (5 November, 2004). Accessed 12 October, 2007.] However, the court's decision was overturned by the New South Wales Government, led by Bob Carr, with bipartisan agreement by special legislation [" [http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/nsw/consol_act/cwttpa2003509/ Clyde Waste Transfer Terminal (Special Provisions) Act 2003] ". Accessed 12 October, 2007.] The Government, in doing this, stressed the need for a new waste site for Sydney and the need to pay the mine workers' entitlements. [Peatling, Stephanie & Nicholls, Sean, [http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/11/18/1069027128112.html "Parliament rolls court on waste"] , "Sydney Morning Herald", 19 November, 2003. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] The mine finally reopened on 7 September, 2004, [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2004/09/07/1193766.htm "Former mine site reopened as 'bio-reactor'"] , "ABC News", 7 September, 2004. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] with mine workers receiving their entitlements shortly afterwards. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2004/10/22/1226030.htm "6 years on, Woodlawn workers collect entitlements"] , "ABC News", 22 October, 2004. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] An intermodal transfer station was built just outside of the township of Tarago, at "Crisps Creek". [Bozier, Rolfe, " [http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Crisps+Creek "NSWRail.net: Crisps Creek"] ". Accessed 12 October,2007 to facilitate waste transfer.]

Today, the mine site is being used for developments in green energy while still providing Sydney's waste. The owners of the mine, Veolia, plan to begin using the mine in late 2007 to harvest methane gas and use it for electricity to cut down the greenhouse gas emissions from the mine. The company also plans to use the organic waste in the site, once broken down, for fertiliser. [Frew, Wendy, [http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/all-power-to-the-super-dumps-stench/2007/04/16/1176696757594.html "All power to the super dump's stench"] , "Sydney Morning Herald", 17 April, 2007. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] In 2005, the Government also gave approval to Veolia to build a $96 million, 25-tower wind farm at the site, which would generate enough electricity to power 22,000 homes. [ [http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/96-million-wind-farm-for-nsw/2005/10/11/1128796514803.html "$96 million wind farm for NSW"] , "Sydney Morning Herald", 11 October, 2005. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] However, as existing quotas on greenhouse gases at State and Commonwealth levels were being fulfilled at that time, the project was postponed in July 2006 until renewable energy targets were raised. [ [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1692465.htm "Wind farm postponed until renewable energy targets rise"] , "ABC News", 20 July, 2006. Accessed 12 October, 2007.]

Transport

Tarago is located on the Bombala branch railway line from Goulburn and as such is served by a twice-daily Countrylink Xplorer service from Sydney to Canberra. [Rail Corporation New South Wales, [http://www.countrylink.info/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/6134/SouthernRegion.pdf "CountryLink: Timetables: Southern Region"] , effective 4 September, 2005. Accessed 12 October, 2007.] The rail service is the only public transport that serves Tarago.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.veoliaes.com.au/resource-recovery/resource-recovery-facilities/bioreactor-landfills.asp Veolia: Woodlawn Bioreactor] - official site about Woodlawn bioreactor site.
* [http://www.woodlawnwind.com.au/ Woodlawn Wind Farm] - proposed wind farm.