Huon Valley

The Huon Valley, or simply the Huon,[1] is a valley and geographic area located in southern Tasmania, Australia. The largest town is Huonville, with other smaller towns spread across the area. It includes Australia's most southern permanent settlement at Southport. The Huon Valley Council area had a population of 15,140 in 2011.[2] Famed for its apple growing, the Valley was first settled by British colonists in the 1820s;[3] prior to settlement the Huon Valley area was inhabited by the Mouheneenner, Nuenonne, Mellukerdee and Lyluequonny people.[4]

This article is about the geographic area. For the local government area, see Huon Valley Council.

Huon Valley
Apple Valley, Huon
Huon River in summer, located on the valley floor.
Huon Valley is located in Tasmania
Huon Valley
Huon Valley
Location of the Huon Valley in Tasmania
Area5,500 km2 (2,100 sq mi)
Geography
LocationTasmania, Australia
Population centersHuonville, Geeveston, Franklin, Cygnet, Southport
Coordinates43.12°S 147.16°E / -43.12; 147.16 
RiversHuon River, Arve River

The area it is sometimes combined as the Huon-Channel area with the areas around D'Entrecasteaux Channel.[1]

Etymology

The Huon Valley, along with its local government authority, several towns, the Huon River and the Huon Pine, were named after Jean-Michel Huon de Kermadec.[5]

Economy

The Huon is both a major agricultural area, particularly famous for growing apples (83% of Tasmanian apples originate in the Valley),[6] but also producing cherries, berries and stone fruit, and is home to many commuter workers who work in Hobart or Kingston and prefer to live in a more rural setting.[7] It is also a major source of seafood; the Valley hosts the headquarters of Huon Aquaculture and the major processing plants for Tassal.[8] The Valley had a gross regional product of $0.71 billion in 2020; the largest employers are agriculture, forestry and aquaculture, followed by healthcare and retail.[9] Tourism is a growing industry in the Huon Valley, and the valley attracts around 25% of Tasmania's tourist visitors.[10]

History

The area was first settled by Europeans in the early 1820s. In 1843 Thomas Judd planted the first apple trees, founding the industry that made the Huon famous. He was followed by Silas Parsons, founder of Grove and then Wm. Barnett, Wm. Cuthbert and then William Geeves, namesake of Geeveston.[11]

Government

The valley falls entirely into the Commonwealth Division of Franklin and the Tasmanian House of Assembly State Division of Franklin.[12] The Huon Valley Council is the local government authority. It was previously divided among the Municipalities of Port Cygnet, Esperance and Huon, which merged in 1993 to form the Huon Valley Council.[13]

Localities in the local government area of the Huon Valley include:[14]

Postcode Locality
7109 Brooks Bay
7109 Cairns Bay
7109 Crabtree
7109 Cradoc
7109 Glaziers Bay
7109 Glen Huon
7109 Glendevie
7109 Grove
7109 Hastings
7109 Huonville
7109 Ida Bay
7109 Judbury
7109 Lonnavale
7109 Lower Longley
7109 Lucaston
7109 Lune River
7109 Lymington
7109 Mountain River
7109 Raminea
7109 Ranelagh
7109 Recherche
7109 Strathblane
7109 Wattle Grove
7109 Woodstock
7112 Charlotte Cove
7112 Cygnet
7112 Deep Bay
7112 Eggs and Bacon Bay
7112 Garden Island Creek
7112 Garden Island Sands
7112 Gardners Bay
7112 Golden Valley
7112 Lower Wattle Grove
7112 Nicholls Rivulet
7112 Petcheys Bay
7112 Randalls Bay
7112 Verona Sands
7113 Franklin
7116 Barretts Bay
7116 Castle Forbes Bay
7116 Geeveston
7116 Police Point
7116 Port Huon
7116 Surges Bay
7116 Surveyors Bay
7117 Dover
7150 Pelverata
7150 Upper Woodstock

Media

The Huon Valley hosts the Huon News, a weekly local newspaper, and the Cygnet & Channel Classifieds, a small local newsletter. Pulse FM Kingborough and Huon is the local youth radio station,[15] and Geeveston is the headquarters of Huon & Kingston FM, a community radio station. It was historically served by the Huon Times, which closed in 1942.

See also

References
  1. Brooks, comp. by Maureen; Centre, Joan Ritchie at the Australian National Dictionary (1995). Oxford Tassie terms : a glossary of Tasmanian words. Melbourne [u.a.]: Oxford Univ. Pr. ISBN 0195538129.
  2. "2011 Census QuickStats - Huon Valley (M)". censusdata.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  3. Stevens, Paul; et al. (2004). Heroes of the Huon. Libraries Tasmania: Huon Eldercare Foundation. p. 14. ISBN 064644039X.
  4. "Heritage of the Huon Valley" (PDF). huonvalley.tas.gov.a. Huon Valley Council. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  5. "Huon". electoral.tas.gov.au. Electoral Council of Tasmania. Archived from the original on 21 March 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  6. "Fruit Growers Tasmania – INDUSTRY INFORMATION". fruitgrowerstas.com.au. Fruit Growers Tasmania Inc. Archived from the original on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  7. Landis, Wayne G., ed. (2005). Regional scale ecological risk assessment using the relative risk model. Boca Raton: CRC Press. p. 161. ISBN 9780203498354. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  8. "How Huon Aquaculture netted a fortune from salmon". Financial Review. 17 October 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  9. "Huon Valley Council Area". economy.id.com.au. State Growth Tasmania. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  10. "Huon Valley Regional Tourism Strategy 2009 – 2012" (PDF). huonvalley.tas.gov.au. Huon Valley Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  11. "THE WONDERFUL HUON". The Mercury. Hobart, Tasmania. 12 March 1930. p. 8. Retrieved 23 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "TASMANIAN HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY DIVISIONS" (PDF). Electoral Commission of Tasmania. Electoral Commission of Tasmania. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  13. "ESPERANCE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL". archives.tas.gov.au. Archives Tasmania. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  14. "Council Map & Contacts - Localities by Postcode". Local Government Association Tasmania. 17 September 2019.
  15. Agnew, Joshua. "Pulse FM Tasmania". Pulse FM Tasmania. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
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