Cooma


Cooma is a town in the south of New South Wales, Australia. It is located south of the national capital, Canberra, via the Monaro Highway. It is also on the Snowy Mountains Highway, connecting Bega with the Riverina.
At the, Cooma had a population of 6,742. Cooma is the main town of the Monaro region. It is above sea level. The name could have derived from an Aboriginal word Coombah, meaning 'big lake' or 'open country'.
Cooma was explored by Captain J. M. Currie in 1823. It was first surveyed in 1840, and was gazetted in 1849. Cooma was proclaimed a municipality in 1879. Cooma is south of the banks of the Murrumbidgee River, a main tributary of the Murray–Darling basin. Cooma sources its water from the river.

History

The railway from Sydney was extended from Royalla to Cooma in 1889 under the supervision of John Whitton. The line was closed to rail passenger traffic in 1989. The estimated population of Cooma was 47 in 1851 and it grew to 2330, 1969, 2249, 9103, 7353 and 7978.
In 1949, the town became the headquarters of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and grew rapidly. Those working on the Snowy Scheme depended on the railway and during construction of the scheme, the railways were one of the largest employers in the region. In 1959 the tenth anniversary of the scheme was celebrated with the erection of an avenue of flags representing the 27 nationalities of people working on the scheme.
Cooma has developed a growing tourism industry as it became the main rest stop for many travellers heading to the NSW snow fields during the winter months. As a result, the town nicknamed itself the 'Gateway to the Snowy Mountains'.
The Aviation Pioneers' Memorial at Cooma contains artifacts recovered from the Avro 618 Ten aircraft Southern Cloud, which crashed on 21 March 1931 in the Toolong range of the Australian Alps. The wreck was not found until 26 October 1958.

Heritage listings

Cooma has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 6,742 people in Cooma.
Government schools include Monaro High School, a high school that serves the town and seven of the neighboring rural towns and villages including Peak View,,,, Bredbo and. The other two government schools support primary education and are Cooma Public School and Cooma North Public School, both providing education for students in kindergarten to year 6.
The Roman Catholic school is called St Patrick's Parish School and provides education from kindergarten to year 10. The Snowy Mountains Christian School, an independent Christian school provides education from kindergarten to year 10.
Tertiary education is provided by TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute Cooma campus.
Another Tertiary Education centre is the newly opened Cooma Universities Centre.

Climate

Cooma has an oceanic climate ; however, it is warmer than would be expected for its altitude and latitude due to being on the leeward side of the ranges; this is evident when compared to Batlow on the windward side of the ranges, which averages 3 °C cooler in winter maxima. Summers are warm with cool nights, and winters are chilly with freezing nighttime lows. The area is relatively dry, as it falls in a rain shadow. Despite its dryness, it only has 90.1 clear days annually, lower than the adjacent coastal areas of Wollongong and Sydney.
Strong cold fronts often push through the region in winter and snow is not uncommon in Cooma from June to August, however is generally light and rarely settles for more than 24 hours. Severe thunderstorms are semi-frequent in summer and due to the towns elevation can carry large quantities of hail.
Mean daily minimum temperatures range from to , with an annual mean daily minimum of. Mean daily maximum temperatures range from to , with an annual mean daily maximum of.

[Berridale] (nearby town)

Media

Newspapers

One newspaper operates in Cooma, The Monaro Post, which began in 2006, and is independently owned by Gail Eastaway, Tracy Frazer and Louise Platts.

Radio stations

Note: transmitters for XLFM and Snow FM, as well as some ABC services, are in place throughout the Snowy Mountains.

Television

Cooma receives five free-to-air television networks including all the digital free-to-air channels relayed from Canberra, broadcast from the Telstra site Radio Hill translator in Cooma Common, off Polo Flat Road.
Stations available include:
Another transmitter for the Cooma and surrounding Monaro region is located at Mount Roberts approximately 30 km NNE of the town, broadcasting The Three Commercial Networks and the ABC services, but not SBS Television Services.

Transport

Cooma is serviced by Cooma - Snowy Mountains Airport which is 15 kilometres from the CBD. Cooma has a bus service connecting various areas of town three times a day run by Cooma Coaches. Snowliner Coaches also operate services. Cooma has a taxi service run by Cooma Radio Taxis.
NSW TrainLink operate road coach services from Canberra to Bombala and Eden. Cooma was served by the Cooma Mail until May 1986 and the Canberra Monaro Express until September 1988.
The Cooma Monaro Railway is a heritage railway using CPH railmotors built in the 1920s. Until operations were suspended in January 2014, the railway operated a weekend and public holiday service on an 18 kilometre section of the Bombala railway line north to Bunyan and Chakola.

People associated with Cooma

People born in Cooma include: