Victoria Plains is a rural

locality Locality may refer to: * Locality, a historical named location or place in Canada * Locality (association), an association of community regeneration organizations in England * Locality (linguistics) * Locality (settlement) * Suburbs and localitie ...

in the

Mackay Region The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

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 , Victoria Plains had a population of 338 people.

Geography

Victoria Plains has the following mountains: * Dals Lookout in the north-east of the locality (), rising to above sea level * Gins Leap in the north-west of the locality (), rising to The

Peak Downs Highway The Peak Downs Highway links the towns of Mackay, Queensland, Mackay and Clermont, Queensland, Clermont in the Australian state of Queensland. It represents the main link between Queensland's Whitsunday Islands, Whitsunday Coast and the Central ...

enters the locality from the north-west ( Greenmount) and exits to the south-west (

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

). The land use is predominantly growing

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

in the north and west of the locality with a cane tramway to transport the harvested sugarcane to the local sugar mill. In the south and east of the locality, the land use is 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 . There is some

rural residential A hobby farm (also called a lifestyle block, acreage living, or rural residential) is a smallholding or small farm that is maintained without expectation of being a primary source of income. Some are held simply to bring homeowners closer to n ...

housing in the centre and north-east of the locality.

History

The Mt Vince Rifle Range was established in the 1950s by the

Australian Department of Defence The Department of Defence, also known simply as Defence, is a department of the Australian Government that is responsible for administering the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and its related entities, and is charged with the defence of Austra ...

which encouraged local rifle clubs to make use of the facility to improve the shooting skills of citizens in case there should be another war. The range closed in 2017 when the Defence Department decided to sell off the land as surplus to its needs and to avoid further maintenance costs. Following protests by North Queensland shooters, the Defence Department agreed to sell the rifle range to the Mackay Regional Council for a token payment of $1 so that it would remain a community facility. It reopened in February 2020.

Demographics

In the , Victoria Plains had a population of 364 people. In the , Victoria Plains had a population of 338 people.

Education

There are no schools in Victoria Plains. The nearest government primary schools are: * Eton State School in neighbouring

to the south-west * North Eton State School in neighbouring North Eton to the west * Marian State School in neighbouring Marian to the north-west * Walkerston State School in Walkerston to the north-east The nearest government secondary schools are

Mackay State High School Mackay State High School is a government secondary school at 123 Milton Street, South Mackay, Mackay, Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. The school offers education to students from grades 7 to 12 and provides a range of academic programs ...

in South Mackay to the north-east and Mirani State High School in Mirani to the north-west.

Amenities

Mt Vince Rifle Range is at 659 Victoria Plains Road (). It is used by the Mt Vince Rifle Range Club and is open to the public for training, practice, and competitions. It is operated by the

Mackay Regional Council The Mackay Region is a local government area located in North Queensland, Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by three previous local government areas with modern histories extending back as far as 1869. It has an estimat ...

Facilities

Victoria Plains pumping station is in the south-west of the locality, off the Peak Downs Highway (). Operated by

SunWater Sunwater is a statutory Queensland Government -owned corporation that supplies bulk water to over irrigation, industry and urban customers and water consultancy services to a range of institutional clients across regional Queensland, Australia ...

, it is part of the Eton Irrigation Scheme which delivers water to farms in the

area. It is supplied with water from the

Kinchant Dam Kinchant Dam is a dam in the locality of Kinchant Dam in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. It created the reservoir Lake Kinchant (). It has a storage capacity of . Geography The dam is built on Sandy Creek to provide irrigation and t ...

. The Victoria Plains pumping station is capable of pumping up to each day, operating in conjunction with the Victoria Plains Balancing Storage with a capacity of .

Attractions

Dals Lookout is accessible from Austin Road, off the Peak Downs Highway ().

References

{{Mackay Region Mackay Region Localities in Queensland