Parkes, New South Wales

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


caption = Location of Parkes in New South Wales (red)
lga = Parkes Shire Council
postcode = 2870
est = 1893
pop = 11,700
elevation= 324
maxtemp = 23.4
mintemp = 10.9
rainfall = 585.2
stategov = Dubbo
fedgov = Calare
dist1 =
location1=

Parkes is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It has a population of approximately 11,700 (as of 2006). It is the main settlement in the Local Government Area of Parkes Shire. Parkes is located on the Australian transcontinental railway line, and the Newell Highway linking Victoria to Queensland.

Parkes today

With the presence of the nearby Parkes Observatory, Parkes has had an important role in the scientific community. In addition to local research conducted at the radio telescope, Parkes scientists have assisted NASA for several missions as a Southern Hemisphere relay and communications station. (The movie "The Dish" was based somewhat loosely on the role the telescope played during the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing.)

A rich variety of farming is conducted in the region immediately surrounding Parkes, although the staple farming is wheat and wool.

Parkes is also supported by a gold and copper mine, Northparkes, north of the town.

Parkes became a key country location after the completion of the railway in 1893, serving as a hub for a great deal of passenger and freight transport up until the 1980s. Unfortunately as successive governments reduced the NSW country rail systems, this part of the economy was largely lost to the community. Nevertheless, FCL runs a significant intermodal operation at Gooobang Junction on Parkes' western outskirts. [cite web

title = Parkes Hub - Hub of the Nation
publisher = FCL
url = http://www.fcl.com.au/fcl/home/parkeshub.sok
accessdate = 2006-11-06 ] On 20 October 2006, Premier Morris Iemma opened Specialised Container Transport's intermodal terminal nearby on a 296 hectare site. It has 5km of rail sidings, a 7,400 square metre warehouse and about 40 staff. [cite journal
title = SCT opens Parkes terminal
journal = Railway Digest
publisher = Australian Railway Historical Society
volume = 44
issue = 12
month = December | year = 2006 ] An even larger terminal to be sited nearby is also being promoted.

Periodically governments and businesses have raised the topic of an "inland port" whereby Parkes Regional Airport would be expanded considerably to serve as a starting point for domestic and international freight destined for areas in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. Environmental studies are complete, development consents are in place, contracts have been exchanged, some properties have changed hands and studies are continuing.

The Roads and Traffic Authority of NSW has the Western Regional Office located in Parkes. Country Energy also is represented by a training and maintenance centre.

Main tourist attractions are the CSIRO Telescope 20km North of town on the Newell Highway, Bushmans Hill, and the War Memorial Lookout. Nearby there is the Goobang National Park, and Peak Hill which features an Open Cut Mine that can be toured during holidays. There are also many great parks.

History

Parkes was originally founded in 1853 as the settlement Currajong, named for the abundance of kurrajong trees in the local area by the settlers, but was then known as Bushman's (from the local mine named Bushman's Lead). [cite web
title = Early History of Parkes
publisher = Parkes Shire Library
url = http://library.parkes.nsw.gov.au/history
accessdate = 2006-11-06 ]

In 1873 [cite web
title = About Sir Henry Parkes
publisher = Parkes Shire Council
url = http://www.parkes.nsw.gov.au/about/1007.html
accessdate = 2006-11-06 ] the town was renamed to Parkes in honour of Sir Henry Parkes, otherwise known as the "Father of the Federation". (Sir Henry Parkes is recognised in Australia as having played an instrumental role in Australia becoming a unified country.)

Parkes attracted significant attention during the gold rush of the 1870s onwards, and even to this day modern mining companies still have sites in the nearby region.

Geography

Parkes typically has a reasonably dry climate, with winter temperatures rarely lower than 0 degrees Celsius overnight. During summer however daytime temperatures can soar to as high as 40 to 45 degrees Celsius, although temperatures in the low to mid-30s can be considered more the norm.

Transport

Parkes has a local bus service provided by Western Road Liners, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The Indian Pacific also stops twice a week, as well as the Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by CountryLink, which heads to Broken Hill on Mondays and Sydney on Tuesdays. Parkes railway station is situated on the Broken Hill railway line, and opened in 1893. [cite web | title = Parkes Railway Station| url = http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Parkes&line=NSW:broken_hill:0 | publisher= www.nswrail.net | accessdate = 2008-04-07 ] A smaller station served Parkes Racecourse between 1923 and 1937. [cite web | title = Parkes Racecourse Railway Station| url = http://www.nswrail.net/locations/show.php?name=NSW:Parkes+Racecourse&line=NSW:broken_hill:0 | publisher= www.nswrail.net | accessdate = 2008-04-07 ]

Born in Parkes District, NSW

* Stephen Davies (b. 1969), Australian field hockey player
* David Nash, linguist
* Scott Westcott, Commonwealth Marathon Runner
* James Pritchard, International Rugby Player
* George Wright, Superstar

Festivals

Parkes hosts an annual [http://www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au Elvis Presley Festival] in early January to celebrate Presley's birthday and to boost tourism. The first festival, held in 1993, was a one night event attracting 200 people. Over the next few years more events were added and the festival was extended to two days with a few hundred people attending. By January 2005 the attendance had increased to 3,500 people. In January 2006 there was a 40 per cent increase with 5,000 seeing the festival and it injected an estimated $8 million into the Parkes economy. [See [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1824246.htm "Parkes all shook up over Elvis festival"] ]

The 2007 festival had over 60 events and was held over five days. More than 6,000 visitors were estimated to have attended. A new world record was set for the most Elvis impersonators in one location. [See [http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200701/s1826971.htm "Parkes in spin-out over Elvis world record"] ] SBS Independent commissioned a half-hour documentary on the festival, "Elvis Lives in Parkes", which was shown on Australian television on 10 January 2007. [See media release [http://www.parkeselvisfestival.com.au/Attachments/Media/The%20Festival%20Story%20-%20ClubsNSW%20Parkes%20Elvis%20Festival.pdf ClubsNSW Parkes Elvis Festival - background information] ]

References

The 2008 Festival (9-13 January 2008) attracted 8,000 people - testament to the fact that the event continues to grow.