Yeppoon

Yeppoon ( ) is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia, situated on the traditional lands of the Darumbal people, who are the Indigenous custodians and Native Title holders of the Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast region. The town name "Yeppoon" derives from a Darumbal word yappun, meaning "place where the waters meet". Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of the Shire of Livingstone and 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. In the , the locality of Yeppoon had a population of 7,037 people¹; this does not include any neighbouring suburbs.

Yeppoon ( ) is a coastal town and locality in the Shire of Livingstone, Queensland, Australia, situated on the traditional lands of the Darumbal people, who are the Indigenous custodians and Native Title holders of the Rockhampton and Capricorn Coast region. The town name "Yeppoon" derives from a Darumbal word yappun, meaning "place where the waters meet". Yeppoon is renowned for its beaches, tropical climate, and the islands out on the bay. Located from the city of Rockhampton, Yeppoon is the seat of the Shire of Livingstone and 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. In the , the locality of Yeppoon had a population of 7,037 people; this does not include any neighbouring suburbs.

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 located within the local government area of Shire of Livingstone in Central Queensland. Between 2008¹ and 2013, it was within the Rockhampton Region). The Rockhampton–Yeppoon Road (as Yeppoon Road) runs along part of the southern boundary.

History

Heritage listings

Yeppoon has a number of heritage-listed buildings, including: Yeppoon railway station, James Street ( ) Yeppoon War Memorial, Normanby Street ( ) former Yeppoon State School building, 29 Queen Street ( ) current Yeppoon State School, Tucker Street ( ) Aboriginal heritage sites include: Gai-i (mountain), formerly Mt Wheeler, and Gawula (surrounding land)

Governance

In 1879¹, 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 (Reform Implementation) 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 caused political tension. Following a majority vote by residents to restore the Shire of Livingstone, on 1 January 2014, the Shire of Livingstone was re-established with its 2008 boundaries with its seat at Yeppoon.

Media

Although mainly served by media from nearby Rockhampton, there is a small selection of local media based on the Capricorn Coast. Until 2020, Yeppoon had its own weekly newspaper called The Capricorn Coast Mirror, which was started by locals John and Suzy Watson in 1983. The Capricorn Coast Mirror was 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. However, in 2020, The Mirror was one of 36 small newspapers in Australia which were closed entirely by News Corp Australia. An independent news magazine called The Spectator is 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. Keppel FM (formerly 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 1998¹ and broadcasts to the Livingstone Shire on 91.3 FM.

Sport

The local rugby league team is the Yeppoon Seagulls, established 1968¹. The club competes in the Rockhampton District Rugby League competition. 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, Ben Hunt and Harry Grant are all St. Brendan's alumni. The Capricorn Coast Football Club founded in 1972¹ competes in the local soccer competition. The Yepoon Swans, established in 1981¹ as Cap Coast, play out of Swan Park and compete in AFL Capricornia. The senior men's team set the record for the most consecutive wins in an Australian rules football competition, remaining undefeated for 8 years and 128 matches achieving 8 straight premierships.

See also

Cooee Bay Taranganba Ross Creek Lammermoor Emu Park

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1359246556 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.