Everything about Portland Victoria totally explained
The city of
Portland is the oldest European settlement in what is now the state of
Victoria,
Australia. It is the main urban centre of the
Shire of Glenelg. It is located on
Portland Bay.
History
The bay was named in 1800 by the British navigator
James Grant, who sailed in the
Lady Nelson along the Victorian coast. "I also distinguished the Bay by the name of Portland Bay, in honour of His Grace the
Duke of Portland," wrote Grant. The bay, the only deep sea port between Adelaide and Melbourne, offers a sheltered anchorage against the often wild weather of
Bass Strait.
By the early 1800s, whalers and sealers were working the treacherous waters of Bass Stait and Portland Bay provided good shelter and fresh water which enabled them to establish the first white settlement in the area. Whaling captain
William Dutton is known to have been resident in the Portland Bay area when the Henty clan arrived and is said to have provided seed potatoes for the Henty garden.
In 1834
Edward Henty and his family, who had migrated from England to
Western Australia in 1829, then moved to
Van Diemen's Land, ferried some of their stock across the Strait in search of the fine grazing land of the
Western District.
After a voyage of 34 days the Thistle arrived at Portland Bay on
November 19,
1834. Edward Henty was only 24 years old and early in December, using a plough he'd made himself, he turned the first sod in Victoria. The next voyage of the Thistle brought his brother Francis with additional stock and supplies, and in a short time houses were erected and fences put up.
They established a landing place at Portland Bay which eventually became the town of Portland. There they were "discovered" by the explorer
Thomas Mitchell in 1836. The settlement was illegal since Victoria hadn't yet been opened for settlement. The Hentys also farmed in areas known as
"Australia Felix", around
Casterton.
By 1838, land auctions had been authorised from
Sydney and
Charles Tyers surveyed the Portland township in 1839. A Post Office was opened on
December 4,
1841.
Gunditjmara
The
Gunditjmara are the traditional inhabitants of the south west, taking in what is now Portland. They were present when the early commercial sealers like William Dutton arrived and when the Henty family created what would become Victoria’s first permanent European settlement. It has been argued whether Dutton was first, but he was considered to be somewhat itinerant by the establishment of the era and not the discoverer of this deepwater bay and fertile hinterland. Henty sowed the first Victorian wheat crop on cliff top land, known today as ‘The Ploughed Field’. Footnote: Victoria wasn't proclaimed a colony until 1851.
While the Hentys landed ashore in Portland on
November 19 1834. Melbourne was founded in 1835 by John Batman. From settlement the region around Melbourne was known as the Port Phillip District, and this gained some administrative status prior to separation from New South Wales and declaration as the Colony of Victoria in 1851.
Gunditjmara still reside in and around the district; they're renowned in scientific circles for their early aquaculture development at nearby Lake Condah. Physical remains such as the weirs and fish traps are to be found in Lake Condah, which is to the south of Hamilton.
The
Gunditjmara were the only settled Aboriginal people in Australia, living in small circular stone huts.
Many coastal towns have majestic
Norfolk Pine trees planted and Portland is proudly among them.
Proclaimed a city
Portland was proclaimed a city on Monday
October 28,
1985, in the presence of Their Royal Highnesses, The Prince and Princess of Wales. Today, Portland is a town of 9,820 residents.
Portland is in the
Victorian Legislative Assembly South-West Coast electoral district, the Western Province of the
Victorian Legislative Council and the
federal Division of Wannon. Its postcode is 3305.
Economy
Port
Through the 19th century Portland developed to become an important fishing port providing for the town and later, with the connection of the railway, to the region as far afield as Ballarat and eventually Melbourne.
"Couta",
Australian salmon and crayfish (now
southern rock lobster) were the main catches with many fishermen working the bay, around the Lawrence Rocks and in the season,
Bridgewater Bay.
Portland harbour enabled the development of the woolgrowing industry of the Western District, but has eventually it lost its primacy to facilities
at
Geelong. Even in western Victoria, Portland fell behind
Warrnambool as the main commercial centre. In the 20th century Portland's role as a port revived, and its economy was also boosted by the tourism industry and an
aluminium smelter.
The port of Portland was sold in 1996 by the State Government to a group including the listed New Zealand company Infratil & the Scott Corporation (owned by
Allan Scott), the first privatisation of port facilities in Australia. Since then, it has been traded a number of times and is now owned by two institutional investors - the publicly listed Australian Infrastructure Fund and Utilities Trust of Australia, a private infrastructure fund - both of which are managed by Hastings Funds Management.
As new
supertankers have emerged, Portland, along with
Hastings in
Western Port Bay have become proposed alternatives to the controversial plans for deepening of Melbourne's shallower
Port Phillip. The plans are aimed at maintaining Victoria's shipping status (since Melbourne has become Australia' busiest port, the Victorian economy relies heavily on the import and export of goods). Due to environmental reasons, the plan to deepen Port Phillip has been heavily criticised, whereas Portland offers some of the necessary infrastructure with minimum environmental impact.
NOTE: The Port of Portland has received major assistance through public funding of an $A18million overpass which gives better access to the port for heavy
traffic The Glenelg Shire Council has recently adopted (http://www.glenelg.vic.gov.au/Files/FinalReportPortlandCoastalInfrastructurePlan.pdf]a plan for the redesign and development of the foreshore precinct including a new multi purpose marina in the north-west corner of the harbour.
Portland Aluminium
Alcoa is Victoria's largest exporter. The
Portland aluminium smelter is located in Portland in South West Victoria. The smelter was commissioned in 1987 and is managed by
Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals for Portland Aluminium (a joint venture project between Alcoa, CITIC and Marubeni).
Portland is Australia's third largest aluminium smelter, with a capacity of around 352,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum. The majority of Portland's production is supplied to the export market.
The Portland Aluminium smelter, in conjunction with Alcoa's
Point Henry smelter, produce about 30% of Australia's total aluminium.
Portland Aluminium partners:
The Fishing Industry Today
Portland today is the home of a varied professional fishing fleet of approximately 60 vessels, harvesting a wide variety of sustainable, commercial species.
Trawlers target deepsea finfish such as Rockling, Hoki, BlueEye Trevalla and more, while Southern Rock Lobster, Giant Crab, Abalone, Squid, Wrasse and others are also landed in significant quantities. The industry is a significant employer and directly generates approx. $A30+million in export and domestic earnings for the town with major flow-on benefits through local seafood processing (both export and domestic), transport & engineering services, fuel supplies and other ancillary industries. An abalone hatchery has been established on the shores of Portland Bay and apart from some current difficulties, is likely to be an indicator of future seafood production. Easy access to prime locations supports a flourishing amateur angling fraternity, with many locals and tourists regularly enjoying a fresh catch of King George Whiting, Snapper, Kingfish, Flathead, Morwong and in recent times, Bluefin Tuna.
Vestas Portland
The first blades from the
Vestas Portland plant were produced in July 2005 and the plant was officially commissioned in August 2005. The facility cost $9 million, and has a capacity of 225 blades (75 blade sets) per annum.
Vestas began manufacturing wind turbines in 1979. Their core business comprises the development, manufacture, sale, marketing and maintenance of wind power systems. The blade manufacturing facility in Portland worked in conjunction with their assembly plant in
Tasmania which has since been closed down. In August 2007, Vestas announced it'll close its near new Portland blade manufacturing plant with the loss of 130 jobs.
Portland Wind Project
The Portland Wind Energy Project,
PWEP involves the development of four wind farms at Cape Bridgewater, Cape Nelson, Cape Sir William Grant and Yambuk in south-west Victoria. As one of the biggest wind farm developments in the Southern Hemisphere, the 195MW project proponents claimed that it'll deliver major environmental, economic and social benefits.
The four Portland sites are considered by the proponents of the project to be ideal wind farm locations, with consistently strong winds, access for construction vehicles and machinery, a nearby connection to the National Electricity Grid, compatible farming activities and a large land area. By August 2007 construction
was underway but there's still ongoing substantial resident opposition to the project regarding the planning process enabling this development and the visual impact of towers and the power lines.
The 195MW project will produce enough clean electricity to power about 125,000 homes each year, equal to more than 7 per cent of Victoria’s residential electricity demand, or powering a city the size of Geelong. The project is being developed by
Pacific Hydro.
Geothermal Power
Geothermal heating was used to heat more than 19,000 square metres of municipal buildings, a motel and the town 2000m³ swimming pool in Portland. Commissioned in 1983, naturally hot groundwater (58°C) was extracted from a bore (1400m deep) at a rate of 90 litres/second. The total capacity of the Portland facility, operated by the Glenelg Shire was 10.4 MW before being closed down in April 2006.
Tourism
The
Great South West Walk is a 250 km walking track that begins at the Visitor Information Centre, Portland. Designed as a long distance walking track, it's also ideal for short walks and day walks. The walk travels though forests, river gorges, cliff tops and sublime bays. Established in 1981 the walk is administered, maintained and promoted by 'The Friends of the Great South West Walk Inc', a wholly volunteer organisation, in partnership with
Parks Victoria.
The Portland Cable Trams was established as a community organisation in June 1996, with the view to laying light rail to carry refurbished diesel powered trams, as both an outlet for rail and heritage enthusiasts and a tourist venture. The tram is now on track and has carries passengers along the scenic route from Henty Park to the RSL Memorial Lookout, at the old North Portland Water Tower. The route takes in the natural wetlands (tidal) of Fawthrop Lagoon Park, the foreshore, cliff tops and botanic gardens. The Portland Cable Tram group is planning additional tram carriages and engines, for greater capacity and to provide more reliability and maintenance support options. Volunteer drivers and conductors provide a commentary about Portland's significant past and present day buildings, harbour and sights. Over 12,000 passengers were carried on the tram during the 2006-07 financial year.
Maritime Museum
The Portland Maritime Museum was developed to house the Portland Lifeboat built in 1858. The Lifeboat is one of the oldest lifeboats remaining in the world. Famous for rescuing 19 survivors of the Admella shipwreck in 1859, and the Julia shipwreck in 1863. The
Admella, a steamship of 392 tons, was sailing from Adelaide to Melbourne when it was smashed onto a reef off
Carpenter Rocks in South Australia with a loss of 89 lives. The Portland Lifeboat and crew were taken to the scene, and were pivotal in the rescue operations. On display is a real whale skeleton, and the famed 'Portland Lifeboat' used in the Admella rescue.
Transport
Road
Portland is 362 km west of
Melbourne via the
Princes Highway. It is connected to
Hamilton by the
Henty Highway.
Rail
Passenger rail and freight cartage: Portland was served by a
broad gauge branch railway, which has since been converted to
standard gauge. Passenger movements are by coach to Warrnambool where passengers transfer to rail. Grain is the most common commodity delivered by rail from the
Wimmera.
Minister for Sport & Recreation,
Justin Madden, opened a $15m overpass in Cliff Street constructed for
VicRoads in October 2006.
The government committed to the project in May 2003. The overpass allows road transports and trains continuous access to the port; moving commodities like grain, fertiliser, wind-farm blades, aluminium ingots and woodchips. Port activity is projected to increase significantly and the overpass, which had been discussed since 1991, was finally installed. The unnamed overpass will improve accessibility to the Port of Portland and road safety in the area. The project was completed three months ahead of schedule because of the drought and less than the expected delays due to rain.
Aviation
Portland is served by the
Portland Airport which is served by one commercial airline, Sharp Airlines. Sharp Airlines is a small charter company formed in Hamilton (1990), (ironically, where
Reginald Ansett and later Brian Grey
Compass Airlines started their respective businesses) and started flying regularly out of Portland to
Essendon Airport. They have flights from Hamilton and Warrnambool to Melbourne. Sharp Airlines started in Portland by flying staff and employees from Portland Aluminium to
Avalon Airport, so they could link to the Point Henry Smelter near Geelong. With significant demand and the support of the community, non-charter, passenger flights were also added. Sharp has established a maintenance hub at Portland Airport, so support staff could service the growing commuter and tourist airline.
Community
Radio
Community Radio station 3RPC-FM 99.3, is located opposite The Arts Company, on the corner of Richmond Street, and broadcasts to the majority of the Shire of Glenelg. This too lends itself to the promotion of the city's various performances, exhibitions and cultural events. Each week volunteer presenters write and produce many hours of on-air entertainment covering arts, culture, sport, community news and special interest programs.
Portland tourist radio station is WAVE-FM, broadcasting easy listening music, news and information about local attractions.
Arts & culture
Portland has a vibrant cultural diversity, with many potters, painters, musicians, quilters, lead lighters, wood-turners, photographers, cinematographers, multi-media artists, print-makers, jewellers, sculptors, actors and writers. Many of these talents come together under the banners of CEMA Inc (Council for Encouragement of Music and the Arts), or the associated The Arts Company.
The Portland Art Centre, on the corner of Glenelg and Bentinck Streets, incorporates a gallery and theatre, where local and visiting performances are regularly staged.
The Arts Company is located in the heritage precinct of Portland in refurbished old buildings in Julia Street. Along with community workshops and studios, local artists' works are also for sale. The Arts Company also has accommodation and studios for the
artist in residence programs.
Festivals
In November during the weekend preceding the
Melbourne Cup, the city comes alive with the Portland Bay Festival - featuring the 'Break Fest', a youth rock concert, a major annual
Rotary Art Show (in the Civic Hall) and the celebrated 3 Bays Marathon, Relay & Walk.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Portland Victoria'.
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