Blayney, New South Wales

Blayney is a farming town and administrative centre with a population of 2,997 in 2021, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Mid-Western Highway about 240 km west of Sydney, 35 km west of Bathurst and 863 m above sea-level, Blayney is the seat of Blayney Shire Council.

History
Prior to European settlement the area was occupied by the Aboriginal Wiradjuri and, or, Gundungara peoples.

The first European to travel through area was surveyor George Evans, in 1815 and unofficial occupation of the district began in 1821. The first land grant in the general area known as Coombing Park was issued to Thomas Icely in 1829.

In 1836 the locality was known as King's Plains, with Doyle's inn being the only public-house. There was also a mill worked by a man called Lambert.

In 1842 Governor Gipps proposed the creation of a village to be named 'Blayney'. His proposed site, however, was about 9 km north-east of the present site in the Kings Plains area, but once that spot proved unsuitable the Blayney village location was established on its present site in 1843.

A train line used to run from Blayney to the Lime Kilns, transporting lime. This is situated on land adjoining the Blayney Cemetery and is heritage listed. Remnants of the lime kilns can still be seen today.

Heritage listings
Blayney has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
 * Adelaide Street: Blayney Uniting Church
 * Main Western railway: Blayney railway station

Facilities and services
Blayney has three hotels: The Exchange, the Royal, and Tattersalls, all in Adelaide Street. A fourth, the Club House, has been converted to a Baptist church. There are six churches in all, the other five being Catholic, Uniting, Anglican, Presbyterian and Pentecostal.

There are three service stations, one offering unmanned 24-hour service for credit card purchases, one supermarket (IGA/Discount Daves), and various retail shops. A multi-purpose Community Centre with a large auditorium and a commercial standard kitchen is adjacent to the Council Chambers, and council also operate an aquatic centre with a large indoor swimming pool and other exercise facilities, and a public library. There are State Government run primary and high schools, with pupils arriving by school bus from surrounding rural areas, and a Catholic run primary school. The hospital offers emergency and medical care and limited surgical services, with more serious cases being transferred to Orange Base Hospital.

There is a 24-hour public toilet in Adelaide Street (the Mid-Western Highway) just before leaving the town heading west.

Industry


The arrival of the railway in 1874 boosted development and Blayney replaced Carcoar as the major service centre to local farmlands. Blayney then became a municipality in 1882 and by 1900 a butter factory and freezing works employed many within the town. An abattoir opened in 1957 and this industry was later supplemented with tanneries and a pet food plant. The abattoirs closed in 1999.

In the late 1970s or early '80s a meat canning factory was built on farmland land East of Blayney. This produced Spam and other canned meats. This was later turned into an export meat boning facility run by Ron Jones Exports and then a pet food factory. Prior to this, the dam on the land was famous for yabbies, with Sunday school excursions frequenting there.

In 1989, Nestlé built a new pet food plant, Nestlé Purina, and purchased adjoining land including Blayney Foods. The Nestlé factory exports pet food to Asia and the Pacific.

The Cadia-Ridgeway Mine is a major employer in the area.

In 1994, Blayney became home to Australia's largest inland container terminal, which is situated beside the railway station.

The Blayney Wind Farm, launched in 2000, is the largest of its type in Australia. It consists of 15 wind turbine generators on elevated ridges between Carcoar Dam and Mount Macquarie. Capacity is 10 megawatts, sufficient energy to supply 3,500 Australian homes.

Climate
Due to its deep valley location, Blayney shows a greater diurnal range but narrower seasonal range throughout the year compared to nearby Millthorpe which is more exposed. On account of this geographical setup (jointly with its altitude), Blayney's absolute minimum of -10.6 C is by far the lowest recorded in the Central West Slopes region. Summers are warm and dry with severe thunderstorms; winters are cool and partly cloudy, with some occurrences of snowfall.

Transportation
The town's railway station is served by the daily NSW TrainLink XPT service between Sydney and Dubbo and the weekly Outback Xplorer to Broken Hill, as well as several NSW TrainLink Coach and private company bus services connecting with Bathurst and Orange.

Notable citizens

 * Nathan Burns, professional football player with A-League club Wellington Phoenix and the Australian national team.
 * Frank Cooper, Premier of Queensland from 1942 to 1946.
 * Liam Henry, rugby league player for the Penrith Panthers.
 * Peter Toohey, Australian Test cricketer of the late 1970s