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The City of Thuringowa is a city (Local Government Area) in northern Queensland, Australia with a population of 59,164 people and covers the northern and western parts of the urban area usually referred to locally as "the Twin Cities". Prior to its proclamation as a city on 1 January 1986, Thuringowa was a large rural shire, almost surrounding the city of Townsville. Thuringowa was named after the German region of Thuringia where the shire's first chairman, John von Stieglitz originated.

Thuringowa CBD is situated at latitude and longitude of 19°19′04S 146°44′32E.

Thuringowa is not, as is often assumed, part of Townsville and has a separate identity, history and rateable area. Thuringowa Council is trying to educate residents on the difference between the two cities as when people move from Townsville to Thuringowa some don't realise that it is a different city with different laws and rates etc.

Brief History
What is now the Thuringowa City Council started as the Thuringowa Divisional Board in 1879.

Prior to European settlement, the Nyawaygi Aboriginal people lived in the area around Thuringowa, Townsville and the Burdekin. The earliest European on record to live in Thuringowa was James Morrill whose boat washed ashore in 1846.

In 1860 the newly formed Queensland Government passed an act opening up the area to pastoral leases, and by 1861 there were many runs in Thuringowa. By 1865, Robert Towns and John Melton Black had purchased a number of properties throughout Thuringowa. In 1865 Robert Towns built a boiling down works - at the time, there was no facilities for shipping cattle or sheep, so in 1865 Andrew Ball and Mark Reid left Woodstock Station to find a harbour around the Cleveland Bay shores and the Town and port of Townsville was established at the mouth of Ross Creek.

In 1879, the Division was formed and considerable progress ensued over the following decades - by 1902, Thuringowa had 1,020 dwellings listed on its ratebooks. Early chairmen Arthur Bundock and Joseph Hodel were involved in construction of key architecture such as the Ross River Bridge, the bridge at the Causeway and the Stuart Creek Bridge. These roads and bridges were constructed to serve not only Thuringowa's rural base but also the residential subdivisions of Hermit Park, Mundingburra and Rosslea. Water reticulation and sanitary services were established in these suburbs and street lighting and beautification work carried out along Charters Towers Road. Also during this period the Council's first administration building was constructed at the Causeway, near the intersection of Flinders Street West and Ingham Road, which are now part of Townsville.

Under the 1902 Local Authorities Act, divisional areas were renamed shires, and on 31 March 1903, Thuringowa Shire Council came into being. The period up to 1918 was one of consolidation and minor works, not major projects.

In 1918, much of Thuringowa's urban area was transferred to Townsville. This initially caused great hardship for the Shire, as its rate base had been reduced to 2,500 ratepayers and its council headquarters was based outside the shire. The Council adopted a conservative approach to policy during this period that included not only the depression years of the 1930s but also during World War II, when the area became an important staging point and was host to significant numbers of military personnel.

From the 1960s onwards, significant suburban development and growth took place in the area and Council business was preoccupied with providing new facilities and infrastructure. In 1979, a new Shire administration centre was constructed, moving it back into the local area, and on 1 January 1986, the Shire became a City. Thuringowa Celebrated its 125th birthday in 2004.

Demographics
Thuringowa has grown in population rapidly, becoming the fastest growing local region in Australia at the last census. The population has increased from 26,000 in 1986 to over 63,000 as of 2006.

Suburbs of Thuringowa 4815 (Urban): Condon , Kelso , Pinnacles , Rasmussen.

4816 (Rural): Balgal Beach , Mutarnee , Pamula , Rollingstone , Toomulla.

4817 (Urban and Rural): Alice River , Bohle Plains , Kirwan, Thuringowa CBD.

4818 (rural): Black River , Bluewater , Bohle , Burdell , Bushland Beach , Deeragun , Jensen , Mount Low , Saunders Beach , Shaw , Toolakea , Yabulu.

see also Halifax Bay

Economy
Recently a new $1 billion 5,000-lot housing estate was announced for the northern part of the city, just off the Bruce Highway. It is the biggest ever planned housing estate in North Queensland. Although primarily a residential area, Thuringowa does include several significant industrial and commercial enterprises, notably the Yabulu nickel refinery.

Thuringowa City Council recently gave approval to a new 10-storey hotel complex across the road from the Riverway Complex, stage one of Riverway was opened to the public on 8 July 2006 during the river festival. Thuringowa was named the North Queensland tidiest town for 2005-06.

Tourism and recreation

 * For Further tourist infomation please see: The Thuringowa page in Wikitravel

Riverway is 11 km of river side beauty for public access, the main part of Riverway is Pioneer Park, at this location there is two huge lagoons and a beach all looking over the Ross River. This area also has a start-of-the-art cultural centre, Art gallery, amphitheatre, cafés and restaurant, plus a skate park and the new stadium (due for completion in early 2007). Other parts of the Riverway include Loam island, this area has a boat ramp and the rowing club’s main clubhouse, Riverway also includes Apex park, Ross Park and the Ross River Dam.

Thuringowa City Council achievements and Awards
EPA Sustainable Industries Awards – QNI Eco Active Centre 2007 RAIA award – Thuringowa Riverway 2007 Queensland Local Government Managers Australia Management Challenge, 1st in 2005,2006 and 3rd 2007 Australasian Reporting Awards 2007 – Silver recognition for excellence in governance. North Queensland Tidy Towns Heritage Award 2006/2007 Public Service Medal 2006 Cities for Climate Protection – achievement of 5 in 2006 Rotary Pride of Workmanship Awards 2006 Queensland Library Achiever of the Year Award 2006 Gold award for excellence in Heritage Conservation 2006 NQ Tidy Town 2005/2006 Best Queensland Local Government Award for Customer Service 2005/2006 Finalist Australian Service Excellence Awards 2005/2006 Queensland Customer Service Professional of the Year 2005 Public Library of the Year 2005 Commendation Award National Awards for Local Government 2005 North Queensland Community Sun Safety Awards 2005 Cities for Climate Protection – Milestone Four Award 2005 Rotary “Pride in Workmanship” award 2004 National Trust Heritage High Commendation Award 2004 National Planning Institute of Australia Award for Town Planning Scheme 2003/2004 Australasian Reporting Award – Bronze award 2003/2004 Institute of internal Auditors – Award of Commendation for Annual Report 2003/2004 Centenary Medal 2003 Silver Award in Heritage Conservation works 2003 Australian Institute of Landscape Architects commendation award 2003.

Education

 * See List of schools in the City of Thuringowa.

Kirwan State High School and Thuringowa State High School are the two largest Schools in Thuringowa and both have won many awards.

In April 2005, the Thuringowa Library was named the 'Queensland Public Library of the Year' by the Queensland Public Libraries Association. The Libaray is undergoing a large revamp with more computers and interactive areas.

Health Services
Due to Thuringowa losing it's only hospital in 2002 when it was incorporated into the new Townsville Hospital that the Queensland Government built, Thuringowa now relies on the 3 hospitals based in Townsville. Thuringowa does have a number of medical centres and doctor surgery’s within the city and the out lying areas, The largest is the Kirwan Health Campus located on Thuringowa drive, this used to be the Woman and Children’s Hospital and was Thuringowa’s only Hospital.

The old Kirwan Woman And Children Hospital is now the state of the art Kirwan Health Campus and is one of the largest in Queensland. This facility can treat 34 different types of patients and medical conditions. The Thuringowa City Council found that with the increasing number of people moving to the northern beaches area a medial centre was need in that area, so the Bluewater Medical Practice was built, the practice offers a large range of services such as full check ups, family planning, pap smears, pregnancy tests, antenatal care, ECG heart check, spirometry lung test, childhood immunisation, vaccinations, blood tests, minor surgery, acupuncture, hearing tests, small surgical procedures, pharmacy, psychologist, pathologist, physiotherapist, cosmetic injections. The beachside community of Bushland Beach has also seen a large increase of residents so this medical centre opened on January 23, 2006 and the following procedures can be carried out here, full check ups, family planning, pap smears, pregnancy pests, antenatal care, ECG heart check, lung test, immunisations, vaccinations, blood tests, minor surgery and insurance medicals, there is also a pharmacy, psychologist and pathologist.

Sport
The Dairy Farmers Stadium, located in the suburb of Kirwan, was constructed in 1995 with a seating capacity of 30,000 after it was announced that the Twin Cities would be home to an Australian Rugby League team. The stadium is today the home ground for the North Queensland Cowboys. The stadium was previously known as Stockland Stadium and Malanda Stadium in the past.

In 2003, Dairy Farmers Stadium was chosen to host three games for the 2003 Rugby World Cup, and hosted the Japanese team. On 12 May 2006, the final season match of the Super 14 between Queensland Reds and the Highlanders was played at the stadium

The Riverway is a major urban and recreational development that will have a new cricket and Australian rules football stadium. On New Years Eve 2008, the new 10,000 capacity Riverway Stadium will see the Queensland Bulls play against the Victorian Bushrangers. This will be the first match in the expanded Twenty20 competition as part of the 2007-08 interstate program. Greenwood Park Sporting complex was officially opened on February 15, 2007. It features 8 fully lit Touch Football fields as well as carparking and a fully licenced clubhouse which is home to Redskins Touch Club and Thuringowa Touch Association.

The Willows Golf Club, an international-standard golf course with a 72-hectare (180-acre) golf wildlife sanctuary, is home to the Queensland Masters, an annual tournament which is a joint initiative between the PGA Tour of Australasia and the PGA Tour. The area is also home to a residential estate.

Thuringowa has a 1/4 mile drag strip, a dirt track speedway, sealed go-cart track, motocross training track, fishing farm, rodeo and a gun club.

Media
Most of Thuringowa Media services are Townsville-based such as TV, Radio and Newspaper however Thuringowa does have several small publications.

Newspapers
The Sun Newspaper is a free weekly publication distributed to 52,713 homes in the urban and rural suburbs of Thuringowa and Townsville, it is published by News Limited and printed with the Townsville Bulletin's printer. It was Previously called the Twin cities advertiser before being split into The Thuringowa Sun and The Townsville Sun, but after a few years The Thuringowa Sun Merged with the Townsville Sun to form The Sun newspaper of today.

The Townsville Bulletin is a Townsville based daily newspaper that has a distribution covering a large number of towns and cities in North Queensland. the paper's main focus is news and events within the Thuringowa and Townsville area but also covers state, national and world news.

The Express started printing in 1996 and is delivered monthly to homes free in the Townsville and Thuringowa cities. The Express is published by Poinciana Publishing Thuringowa and printed by the North Queensland Newspaper Company. The Express promotes business thought-out the Thuringowa and Townsville region.

The Thuringowan is a monthly publication from the Thuringowa city council that first went to print in May 2005, it covers news and events within the city.

See Full Article Media in the City of Thuringowa

Transport
Thuringowa is serviced by many major arterial routes as well as numerous state routes. The Northern Beaches district is serviced by the A1 (Bruce Highway) or the National Highway 1.

Urban Thuringowa will become part of the A1 route, as the Townsville/Thuringowa Ring Road (known as The Ring Road) will become the new National Highway route through the city. The first stage, the 5.3 km Douglas Arterial Road, opened to traffic in April 2005.

Public transport in Thuringowa consists of bus services run by Sunbus. Sunbus provides services for most parts of the city with runs from the Thuringowa CBD to most suburbs and thought-out Townsville. there is also a bus service available from the Townsville's Hermit Park Bus Service, running from Bushland Beach to Townsville CBD.

Taxis operate 24 hours and service all parts of Thuringowa.

Thuringowa is serviced by the nearby Townsville International Airport.

Climate
The city of Thuringowa with its main suburbs lies (like its neighbour city Townsville) (see diagram) in the wet-dry tropics, which are characterized by hot and rainy summers (wet season) and warm and dry winters (dry season). However, to the area of the city which also belongs to the Paluma Range, which in its higher altitudes is characterized by a year-round relatively cool and moist climate, thus belonging to the Wet Tropics of Queensland and to the so-named World Heritage area.

In Novermber 2006 the Thuringowa City Council decided to install a WM20 weather station in Thuringowa this will provide Thuringowa residents with more accurate weather conditions and act as a marketing tool for the city. The station will cost between $12,500 and $26,500 depending on location, with possible locations including the Civic Centre, Mt Low or Deeragun. Although the data will not be officially recognised by the Bureau of Meteorology, it will be close to their standards and will be particularly useful for environmental, industrial, agricultural monitoring and research. the weather conditions will be published on the Council website to provide alternative and more accurate information than the Townsville based Mt Stuart Weather Station.

Culture
Thuringowa has a vibrant cultural life with numerous activities to keep the locals amused. Swimming, fishing, water skiing, movies, bird watching and Golf are popular.

Volunteer Emergency Services
One of the major volunteer organisations represented in Thuringowa is the Rural Fire Service. Thuringowa Group Rural Fire Brigades provide bush fire mitigation and suppression services to the local communities. Funded by rural fire levies paid by landowners through their council rates, the volunteer fire brigades can respond any time day or night for any emergency situation within their scope. Primarily for bush fire suppression, the rural fire brigades also assist in other emergencies such as motor vehicle accidents, floods, storm, structural fire, cyclone, search and rescue. Thuringowa Group Brigades were among the first emergency responders into the devastated town of Innisfail following Severe Tropical Cyclone Larry in 2006 where they rapidly set up an incident command post at East Palmerston and assisted the community in their time of peril.

Arts and entertainment
The place to be now is the Riverway with is swimming lagoons, arts centre and shows but if that is not your style you can grab a movie at Reading Cinemas at Cannon Park, play some bingo at Brothers Leagues Club Thuringowa, go bowling at Kirwan Tenpin Bowling, play Squash maybe some Pool or even Slot cars. There is still Playworks911 or Mini Golf and Barra fishing at Thuringowa’s Barra Fishing Farm in Kelso. If you want a night out then you could catch a game of Rugby League at Dairy Farmers Stadium, home of the North Queensland Cowboys. Meals are available at one of the many food outlets and restaurants. The night life, including the Kirwan Tavern, is vibrant.

Beaches
Thuringowa has some of the nicest white sandy beaches in Queensland, the area is known as the Northern Beaches and includes Bushland Beach, Saunders Beach, Toolakea Beach, Toomulla Beach and Balgal Beach, these areas not only provide a great place for a family getaway but are also the perfect habitat for a number of seabirds.

This is the first of the five beaches and is home to a fast growing residential community,at Low tide you can walk to a wooden shipwreck and some fantastic ponds that are full of marine life that the whole family can enjoy. There is a boat ramp for public use at the beach plus BBQs and kids playgrounds, Bushland Beach also has a hotel, resort and a small shopping centre.
 * Bushland Beach

Is a sandy beach which stretches for kilometres, Saunders beach is one of Thuringowa's more popular beaches but you can often have this beach to yourself due to the long length. There is also a boat ramp.
 * Saunders Beach

Is a quiet beach, ideal for birdwatchers and fishing or a quite day on sand. This area has a picnic area as well as public toilets.
 * Toolakea Beach

A somewhat isolated beach, but boasts a great free camping area, picnic area, public toilets and a boat ramp for public use. This is also another great area for bird watching.
 * Toomulla Beach

The last of the five public beaches and is about 50 km north of Thuringowa City CBD. This is the most popular destination for locals and visitors of Thuringowa and Townsville. The beach has boat ramp and is well known as a destination for fishing trips. The Palm Islands are located nearby making Balgal Beach a perfect launching spot for anybody heading to the Islands. Nearby the townships of Balgal and Rollingstone have a nine hole golf course and a range of resort and holiday unit accommodation. There is also a stinger net at the beach.
 * Balgal Beach

Major Entertainment Venues

 * Riverway
 * Black River Stadium
 * Dairy Farmers Stadium
 * Mystic Sands Golf and Country Club
 * Pinnacles Gallery
 * Thuringowa Dragway
 * Willows Golf and Tourist Resort
 * Skate Parks

Major Dining Venues
Restaurants
 * Cactus Jacks Bar and Grill
 * Fasta Pasta
 * Hog's Breath Cafe
 * Giardini Pizza and Pasta Bar
 * La Cucina Pizza nad Pasta House
 * Joy Thai Restaurant
 * Tom Yum Thai Restaurant
 * Ocean Palms Bistro
 * Brothers Leagues Club
 * Hobbo's Hut (just opened in the old BJ's night club on Thuringowa Drv)
 * Chinese Tea House
 * Nanking Restaurant

Fast Food Restaurants
 * McDonald's family Restaurant
 * Eagle Boys Pizza
 * Hungry Jacks
 * Mount View Cafe and Takeaway
 * Pizza Hut
 * Red Rooster
 * Richshaw Chinese Takeaway and Noodle bar
 * Subway

Shopping Centres in Thuringowa

 * Willows Shoppingtown
 * Parkside Plaza
 * MountView Plaza
 * Sunland Plaza
 * Canon Park City Centre
 * Centro Deeragun (Woodlands)
 * Upper Ross Shopping centre