Yeppoon


Yeppoon is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia. Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Twenty-five minutes from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the principal town on the Capricorn Coast, a string of seaside communities stretching more than from north to south. The beaches and shallow coves provide a destination both for tourists and retirees settling down in Central Queensland. Offshore, there are 27 islands including Great Keppel Island which is from Yeppoon.

Geography

Yeppoon is located on Keppel Bay which opens to the Coral Sea, around north of the state capital, Brisbane, and from Rockhampton City. It is Central Queensland.

History

The Capricorn Coast was part of the traditional lands of the Darumbal Aboriginal people. Yeppoon was first settled by the Ross family in 1865 who took up large landholding along the length of the Capricorn Coast. Fruit crops, cattle, and wool were the major industries of the early town. A short-lived period of sugar cane growing followed from 1883 to 1903, which failed due to unseasonal rains and lack of financial backing. Along with other sugar growing areas of Australia, South Sea Islanders were used as labourers on the sugar plantations, often without their consent. Pineapples, mangoes, and other tropical fruit became the mainstay of local agriculture in the new century, with cattle grazing and fishing also contributing to the local economy.
Yeppoon Provisional School opened on 4 May 1885 and became Yeppoon State School on 1 October 1889.
St Ursula's College, a day and boarding school for girls, opened on 12 March 1918.
St Brendan's College, a day and boarding school for boys, opened on 8 October 1939.
Yeppoon Infants State School opened on 24 January 1955, but closed in 1968.
Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School opened in 1958.
Yeppoon State High School opened on 28 January 1969.
The Bay View Tower motel and restaurant become Yeppoon first high rise in 1986.
On 20 February 2015, severe tropical cyclone Marcia crossed the Capricorn Coast near Shoalwater Bay as a category 5 Cyclone. The storm destroyed more than 150 houses in Yeppoon and left more than 13,500 residents without power.
The Yeppoon Public Library was opened in 1990 and went through a major refurbishment in 2017.
Yeppoon is within the local government area of Shire of Livingstone.

Heritage listings

Yeppoon has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
In 1879, the Gogango Division was established as one of 74 divisions in Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879. The Gogango Divisional Board's scope of authority comprised a large area north and east of Rockhampton. While the Division was administered in Rockhampton, a locally appointed body, the Yeppoon Progress Association, met once a month to look after the minor requirements of the town.
The discovery of gold brought a huge influx of people to the region, and the various Boards broke up into smaller administrative bodies to better service the growing population. In 1903, the Gogango Divisional Board was renamed Shire of Livingstone.
The boundaries of the new shire remained largely unchanged until 1984, when outlying districts including the suburbs of Nerimbera and Parkhurst were ceded to Livingstone's larger neighbour, City of Rockhampton. Continued growth in both Local Government Authorities became a contentious subject from then on, which caused much political tension, until finally in 2007, local conflicts came to a head with the tabling before the Parliament of Queensland of the proposed Local Government Act 2007.
The Act passed, and on 15 March 2008, Livingstone Shire merged with Fitzroy Shire, Mount Morgan Shire, and Rockhampton City to form the new local government area, Rockhampton Region. This forced amalgamation has caused political tension, but a heated and public campaign for the reinstatement of Livingstone Shire as a separate LGA has had little impact or interest from the general public. Particularly in localities in outlying areas, there is an equal and perhaps more vocal argument that the old LGA was too "Yeppoon-centric". On 1 January 2014 the Shire of Livingstone was re-established with its 2008 boundaries with its seat at Yeppoon.

Climate

The Capricorn Coast experiences a humid subtropical climate.
Due to its location in the southern tropics, the Capricorn Coast experiences hot summers without the extreme humidity of Far North Queensland, and mild winters

Shopping

Yeppoon has a number of shopping centres.
The Livingstone Shire Council operates the Yeppoon Library on 84 John Street, Yeppoon.
The Yeppoon branch of the Queensland Country Women's Association meets at the RSL Hall at 5 Normanby Street.
The Livingstone Shire council has also installed a waterpark on the foreshore called the Keppel Kraken, which features interactive water features and play areas for children. The shire also operates The Yeppoon Lagoon, a resort style lagoon pool located in the old council building site, right on the water front. The lagoon includes a shallow childrens play area, and informal lap pool and an infinity edge with views over the Keppel islands.

Media

Although mainly served by media from nearby Rockhampton, there is a small selection of local media based on the Capricorn Coast.
Yeppoon has its own weekly newspaper called The Capricorn Coast Mirror, which was started by locals John and Suzy Watson in 1983. The Capricorn Coast Mirror is an offshoot to the region's daily newspaper The Morning Bulletin, focusing on news and issues directly relevant to communities throughout Livingstone Shire and the Capricorn Coast.
An independent news magazine called The Spectator is also published locally on the Capricorn Coast and issued fortnightly. It was also established by Suzy and John Watson as an independent alternative for news in the Livingstone Shire.
4NAG is Yeppoon's local community radio station which has locally based on-air presenters hosting a variety of special interest programming each day from a studio in Yeppoon. The station was founded in 1998 and broadcasts to the Livingstone Shire on 91.3 FM.

Sport

Yeppoon is home to prominent Rugby league breeding ground St. Brendan's College. Professional players Paul Bowman, Casey Conway, Tom Hewitt, PJ Marsh, Shane Marteene, Julian O'Neill, Matthew Scott, Jake Granville, Corey Oates, Dave Taylor and Harry Grant are all St. Brendan's alumni.

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