Marla is a town and locality in the Australian state of
South Australia located in the state's north-west about north-west of the state capital of
Adelaide and about south of the town of
Alice Springs
Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...
in the
Northern Territory.
History
Marla was constituted as a government town under the ''Crown Lands Act 1929-1980'' on 21 May 1981 and was gazetted as a locality under the ''Geographical Names Act 1991'' on 8 February 2001 with the assigned boundaries being similar to that of the government town.Geoffrey H. Manning
Geoffrey Haydon Manning (1926–2018) was an Australian author and historian, commonly known as Geoff Manning and cited as an author as Geoffrey H. Manning. He is known particularly for his books on South Australian placenames; ''Manning's Place ...
, the South Australian historian, reports that the town was proclaimed as a place for "the provision of essential services to travellers crossing the continent" and to act as an administrative centre for the north-west part of the state including the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands and the Mintabie Opal Field to the town's west.[
]
Transport
The Stuart Highway passes through the south-west side of Marla while the alignment of the Adelaide-Darwin railway is located outside of its boundaries on the south-west side of the highway. While a site is designated as a railway station with the name ''Marla Siding'' on the south side of the railway, it is not a scheduled stop for rail services such as '' The Ghan'' as of 2018 for Marla and adjoining localities. However the northbound Ghan stops outside Marla for a morning breakfast experience.
Facilities
The town includes a health centre "Marla Clinic" operated on behalf of the state government by the Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia, a regional police station and a privately owned complex called the ''Marla Travellers Rest'' which is described as consisting of "roadhouse, hotel and motel, restaurant, service station, supermarket, caravan park and much more." it also is an agent for Australia Post LPO.
Population
At the 2016 census
Sixteen or 16 may refer to:
*16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17
*one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016
Films
* ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film
* ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...
, Marla had a population of 100.
Aerodrome
Marla Airport (also known as ''Marla Aerodrome'') is located about to the south of the town in the adjoining locality of Welbourn Hill.
Governance
Marla is located within the federal division of Grey
The Division of Grey is an Australian electoral division in South Australia. The division was one of the seven established when the former Division of South Australia was redistributed on 2 October 1903 and is named for Sir George Grey, who wa ...
, the state electoral district of Giles, the Pastoral Unincorporated Area of South Australia and the state government region of the Far North.municipal services
Municipal services or city services refer to basic services that residents of a city expect to the city government to provide in exchange for the taxes which citizens pay. Basic city services may include sanitation (both sewer and refuse), wate ...
from a South Australian government agency, the Outback Communities Authority.
Weather station
The Marla Police Station has been the site of an official weather station since 1985.[
]
References
{{authority control
Towns in South Australia
Far North (South Australia)
Places in the unincorporated areas of South Australia