Advancetown, Queensland
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Advancetown is a rural outer locality in the
City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the Local government in Australia, local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, Australia. In the , Advancetown had a population of 528 people.


Geography

Advancetown is situated in the Gold Coast hinterland. Its mountainous terrain facilated the construction of the Hinze Dam () which impounds the Nerang River () and Little Nerang Creek () to create Advancetown Lake (). The lake is the dominant feature in the south of the locality; it supplies water for most of the Gold Coast. Two named peaks within the locality are: * Mudgeeraba in the south-east of the locality () at above sea level * Pages Pinnacle in the south () at above The northern part of the locality, downstream from the dam, is lower and flatter and has mixed use with rural residential areas and rural areas (mostly
grazing In agriculture, grazing is a method of animal husbandry whereby domestic livestock are allowed outdoors to free range (roam around) and consume wild vegetations in order to feed conversion ratio, convert the otherwise indigestible (by human diges ...
on native vegetation). One landmark in this area is Latimers Crossing, a crossing point of the Nerang River between Advancetown and Gilston (). Nerang–Murwillumbah Road (State Route 97) runs through from north to south.


History

The mountain ''Mudgeeraba'' takes its name from the Bundjalung language words ''mudherri'' meaning ''sticky'' and ''ba'' meaning ''place'', that is, a muddy place. The mountain Pages Pinnacle is named after local land owner Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page. The area first attracted timber-cutters in the 1870s because of the abundant supply of good quality timber. In 1881 David Yuan established at saw mill and European settlement began. A small settlement sprang up as a rest point for the bullock teams hauling timber to the railway at Nerang. As late as the 1930s, there were still up to 24 bullock teams operating in the area. In 1884, the first hotel was built by W. H. Turner called the Beechmont Hotel. In 1905, Ernest Belliss opened a hotel on the corner of Numinbah Road and a bullock road from Beechmont known as ''the Black Shoot''; he called it the Advancetown Hotel. Belliss also donated land for the Advancetown school, which made the name endure. Belliss sold the hotel in March 1924 and the timber building burned down in July 1933. A new Advancetown Hotel was built and opened in February 1934. Advancetown State School opened in 1909, but then closed in 1913. It reopened in 1918 but had temporary closures in 1921 and 1952. It closed permanently in 1960. Hinze Dam was first completed in 1976 (Stage 1), providing a storage of 42,400 million litres of water to surrounding residents. The dam named after local pioneers Carl and Johanna Hinze (grandparents of Queensland politician Russ Hinze) who lived in the valley that was flooded by the dam. The settlement of Advancetown including the school (which was closed by then) was lost under the dam's waters. As the settlement of Advancetown was gone, on 31 March 1979 the name ''Advancetown'' was dropped in favour of ''Latimer'', after nearby Latimer Creek, but the name Advancetown was restored on 11 May 1985. In 1989, Stage 2 of the dam was completed, increasing the storage to 161,070 million litres of water. Advancetown was part of the Shire of Albert until it was amalgamated into the
City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the Local government in Australia, local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local ...
in 1995. In 2011, Stage 3 of the dam was completed, increasing the storage to 310,730 million litres of water. It reportedly cost $395 million dollars.


Demographics

In the , Advancetown had a population of 352 people. In the , Advancetown had a population of 482 people. In the , Advancetown had a population of 528 people.


Heritage listings

There are a number of heritage sites in Advancetown, including: * 163-179 Latimers Crossing Road: Avenue of Commemorative Trees


Education

There are no schools in Advancetown. Given that the populated areas of the locality are in the north, the nearest primary schools are Nerang State School in neighbouring Nerang to the north-east and Gilston State School in neighbouring Gilston to the east. The nearest secondary school is Nerang State High School in Nerang.


Sports

Although The Grand Golf Club has its entrance at 364 Gilston Road in neighbouring Gilston, most of the course is in Advancetown, accessed by a bridge over the Nerang River (). This private club has a 19-hole golf course designed by
Greg Norman Gregory John Norman (born 10 February 1955) is an Australian former professional golfer who spent 331 weeks as List of World Number One male golfers, world number one in the 1980s and 1990s. He won 88 professional tournaments, including 20 PGA ...
.


Attractions

The Hinze Dam offers a number of visitor attractions. Accessed from Advancetown Road at the top of dam wall () is a visitor centre with education displays, a cafe and parkland with picnic facilities. Below the spillway are picnic areas with barbeques (). Across the spillway is a network of purpose-built mountain bike trails. In the two arms of the lake there are the eastern and western boat ramps for non-motorised boating and fishing ( catch-and-release only due to mercury levels). The eastern boat ramp () is accessed from Range Road, while the western boat ramp () is accessed via Nerang Murwillumbah Road. There are also a number of walking trails.


Climate

Advancetown has a
humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...
''Cfa''). There is a weather station located within Advancetown, at Hinze Dam. Record keeping commenced in 1974.


See also

*
List of Gold Coast suburbs There are eighty-one Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburbs and localities in the City of Gold Coast, a Local government areas of Queensland, local government area in Queensland, Australia. The local government area has been amended several ...


References


Sources

*


External links

* — includes Advancetown {{Localities in Gold Coast Suburbs of the Gold Coast, Queensland Localities in Queensland