North Wagga Wagga (informally called North Wagga) is an inner northern suburb of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia, located on the floodplain[2] of the Murrumbidgee River, directly across from the city's Central Business District. North Wagga is one of Wagga's oldest suburbs, being settled at approximately the same time as Wagga. Two pubs are located within North Wagga - The Black Swan Hotel and the Palm and Pawn Hotel, as well as a public school, a public hall, a football/cricket ground and a scattering of business and churches.

North Wagga Wagga
Wagga WaggaNew South Wales
Aerial view of North Wagga
North Wagga Wagga is located in New South Wales
North Wagga Wagga
North Wagga Wagga
Map
Coordinates35°5′44.48″S 147°22′40.01″E / 35.0956889°S 147.3777806°E / -35.0956889; 147.3777806
Population720 (2016 census)[1]
Postcode(s)2650
LGA(s)City of Wagga Wagga
CountyClarendon
ParishNorth Wagga Wagga
State electorate(s)Wagga Wagga
Federal division(s)Riverina
Suburbs around North Wagga Wagga:
Estella Cartwrights Hill Bomen
North Wagga Wagga Eunanoreenya
Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga
North Wagga "We Shall Not Be Moved" sign

Due to its flood prone nature, Wagga Wagga City Council long sought to deter development in North Wagga and aimed for its residents to relocate. For many years the level of services provided in North Wagga was inferior to the rest of Wagga, and most alterations and additions to dwellings were prohibited. In 1960, a levee bank was built around Wagga to protect it from flood inundation, however, North Wagga was not included in this protection. It was during this time that North Wagga's slogan "We Shall Not Be Moved" first appeared.[3]

North Wagga Levee plaque

It was not until the late 1970s that the Council relented on its restrictions on development and built a levee around the suburb,[4] however to this day it is lower than the main city levee and only affords protection to flood events up to 9.9 metres (32 ft), approximately 5.8% Annual Exceedance Probability (AEP) or 1 in 17 year Average Recurrence Interval (ARI) flood level event. [5]

In March 2012, the suburb was inundated after the levee was over-topped after the Murrumbidgee River reached 10.56 metres (34.6 ft), 0.18 metres (0.59 ft) below the 1974 flood, after record rainfall fell over a large area of the Riverina and the Murrumbidgee River catchment.[6][7]

References

edit
  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "North Wagga Wagga (State Suburb)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 27 June 2017.  
  2. ^ "Wagga Wagga, Australia Flood Map: Elevation Map, Sea Level Rise Map".
  3. ^ Morris, S (1999). Wagga Wagga, a history. Bobby Graham Publishers, Wagga Wagga. ISBN 1-875247-12-2
  4. ^ "The levee bank flood protection system on Committee4Wagga".
  5. ^ "Wagga Wagga City Council Main City and North Wagga Levee Upgrade Project" (PDF).
  6. ^ Kwek, Glenda (7 March 2012). "Wagga 'dodges a bullet' as severe weather warning issued for Sydney". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
  7. ^ "Murrumbidgee peak falls short". The Daily Advertiser. 6 March 2012. Retrieved 11 March 2012.

Further reading

edit
  • Morris, S 1980, We Shall Not Be Moved: A History of North Wagga and its School 1880 – 1980.
edit

  Media related to North Wagga Wagga at Wikimedia Commons