Lavington, New South Wales

Infobox Australian Place | type = suburb
name = Lavington
city = Albury
state = nsw


caption =
lga = City of Albury
postcode = 2641
est =
pop = 12477
pop_footnotes =
area = 20
propval =
stategov = Albury
fedgov = Farrer
near-nw = Table Top/Ettamogah
near-n = Springdale Heights
near-ne = Table Top/Ettamogah
near-w = Hamilton Valley
near-e = Thurgoona
near-sw = Glenroy
near-s = North Albury
near-se = East Albury
dist1 =
location1=

Lavington is a suburb of the city of Albury, New South Wales, located north of the Albury Central Business District. At the 2006 census, Lavington had a population of 12 477.Census 2006 AUS|id=SSC17821|name=Lavington (State Suburb)|accessdate=2008-04-14|quick=on] Lavington is a mostly flat area near Nail Can Hill to the west, and is bordered by Thurgoona to the east, Hamilton Valley to the west, Springdale Heights to the north, and North Albury to the south.Lavington is mostly residential, but has significant rural areas in the north-west and a commercial area. Features include Lavington Centro Shopping Centre, Lavington Swim Centre, Jelbart Park and 5 schools (Lavington East Public, Lavington Public, Hume Public, Holy Spirit School (Catholic) and Murray High School).Lavington is the second major centre of the City of Albury, with its own commercial CBD, and is also the biggest in population. Many people incorrectly view Springdale Heights, Hamilton Valley, Glenroy and sometimes North Albury as part of Lavington.

History

Before European settlement, Aboriginals who lived in the area were Wiradjuri. Once a prune-growing area, Lavington has slowly changed to become a locality with many shops and parks. Where once the township was centred around the Lavington Hall and the Lavington Public School, near where Urana Road crosses the Bungambrawartha Creek, as it became a suburb of Albury the shopping and business areas have concentrated around the junction of Griffith and Urana Roads.

The Indian traders that travelled through the Australian countryside often had their funeral pyres in the current location of Jelbart Park, which for this reason remains an open parkland with sporting fields. Later on, a misunderstanding during the housing development surrounding the Hume Public School resulted in many of the local streets being named after the nations of American "Indians", such as Cheyenne Crescent and Sioux Court, rather than those of the subcontinent.Fact|date=April 2008

Lavington was formerly part of the Greater Hume Shire but was added to the City of Albury during the 1950s, with the old boundary between the two local government areas being ascribed by Union Road. Much of Albury's subsequent residential and industrial expansion has occurred in the Lavington locality, particularly after the establishment of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation in the early 1970s.

The Springdale Heights, New South Wales estate just north of Lavington was built in the 1970s and the Hamilton Valley (a suburb west of Lavington) and Norris Park (a housing estate in western Lavington) were established in the 1990's.

Geography

Lavington is located in the flat floodplain of the Murray River, on an area crossed by the Bungambrawatha Creek, with Nail Can Hill to the west and the Black Range to the north. Lavington is bound by Union Road to the south, the railway/freeway line to the east, Kaitler Road to the north, and an extended Burrows Road, Reservoir Road and Urana Road to the west.

Lavington's shopping centre is called "Centro Lavington", after previously being named "Border Shoppingtown", "Lavington Square" and "Lavington Shopping Centre". It was originally a "Big W" complex when built in 1980 but was expanded in 2005 to include a variety of large business chains and a newly renovated food court.

Sport

There are many sporting groups in Lavington including ones for soccer, Australian rules football, cricket, netball, softball, water polo, swimming and tennis. There is a BMX and skate park. Lauren Jackson, considered one of the best female basketball players in the world, grew up in Thurgoona, near Lavington.

The Nail Can Hill Run is an annual fun run that has been going for around 30 years. The event is usually held in early May and covers a hilly cross-country course of 11.3 km starting at Lavington Panthers Club, following the ridge of hills west of Lavington, Glenroy and Albury, eventually finishing at riverside parkland in Albury. There is also a mountain bicycling race over the same course run on the same day.

The Lavington Sports Ground, located in the suburb's west, is the Albury-Wodonga region's prominent sporting venue. In addition to being the home ground of the Lavington Panthers (formerly Blues) Australian rules football club who play in the Ovens & Murray Football League, it has hosted many AFL practice matches, the England v Zimbabwe fixture in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, New South Wales v England Tour Match (cricket) in 1990, one Sheffield Shield match between NSW and Victoria in 1989, and a couple of Australian Rugby League preseason grand finals during the mid-1990s, as well as other preseason games for the ARL and NRL competitions. Up until the 1980s, the Lavington Sports Carnival, incorporating the Lavington Gift, was staged at the ground.

Residents

At the 2006 Census, the population of East Albury was 12 477, a decrease from 14 274 in 1996. The most common religion was Catholic, followed by Anglican, and the average weekly household income was $767, below the Australian average of $1027. The median age was 37.

References