Breddan 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

Charters Towers Region The Charters Towers Region is a local government area in North Queensland, Australia southwest of, and inland from the city of Townsville, based in Charters Towers. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas whic ...

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 , Breddan had a population of 478 people.

Geography

The locality is bounded to the north-east by the

Burdekin River The Burdekin River is a river in North and Far North Queensland, Australia. The river rises on the northern slopes of Boulder Mountain at Valley of Lagoons, part of the western slope of the Seaview Range, and flows into the Coral Sea at Upsta ...

, to the south-east by Flinders Highway, and in part to the west by the Lynd Highway. Sellheim is a town in the easternmost part of the locality (). It was named after pastoralist Philip Frederic Sellheim who was the gold warden in

Charters Towers Charters Towers is a rural town in the Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It is by road south-west from Townsville on the Flinders Highway. During the last quarter of the 19th century, the town boomed as the rich gold deposits und ...

from 1880 to 1888. The southern part of the town extends into the neighbouring locality of Broughton. The Great Northern Railway enters the locality by crossing the Burdekin River with Sellheim served by the Sellheim railway station () within Broughton. Mount Boddington is in the centre of the locality and is part of the Pinnacles Range (). It rises to above sea level. The land use is predominantly

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 with some irrigated cropping in the north of the locality near the Burkedin River.

History

The Burdekin River Pumping Station was erected as part of the important

water supply system, constructed from 1887 to 1891 for the Burdekin Water Scheme Joint Board. When completed the scheme included a pumping station, rising main, reservoir on Tower Hill, chimney stack, engineer's residence, workers' cottages, provisional school, tram track, bridge across the Burdekin River and several trestle bridges to carry the rising main across small creeks between the pumping station and the reservoir in the town. The project cost around , exclusive of ongoing maintenance, the building of a weir in 1902 and construction of an

aerial tramway An aerial tramway, aerial tram, sky tram, cable car or aerial cablecar, aerial cableway, ropeway, téléphérique (French), or Seilbahn (German) is a type of aerial lift which uses one or two stationary cables for support, with a third movin ...

(flying fox) across the river . In August 1975 a new electric pumping station was built at the weir. Sellheim State School opened 12 November 1889 and closed 5 June 1939. It was on the eastern side of School Street close to the junction with the Flinders Highway (approx ). Breddan Aerodrome, located about north of Charters Towers, was initially constructed as a dispersal field for Charters Towers airfield in April 1942 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In August 1942, Breddan was occupied by two squadrons of the US 38th Bombardment Group. On the departure of the US squadrons, Breddan was chosen for development as a major aircraft repair and salvage depot under

RAAF The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the governor-general of Aus ...

control. The construction program which took place during 1943 involved the erection of maintenance hangars, engineering workshops, torpedo stores, personnel camps, a power station and medical facilities. The base was abandoned after 1947.

Demographics

In the , Breddan had a population of 388 people. In the , Breddan had a population of 485 people. In the , Breddan had a population of 478 people.

Heritage listings

Breddan has a number of

heritage-listed This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and human-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In ma ...

sites, including: * Breddan Airfield, Gregory Developmental Road () * Burdekin River Pumping Station, Weir Road ()

Education

There are no schools in Breddan. The nearest government primary school is Richmond Hill State School in Richmond Hill, Charters Towers, to the south. The nearest government secondary school is

Charters Towers State High School Charters Towers State High School (CTSHS) is a public co-educational secondary school, located in the Charters Towers suburb of Charters Towers City, Queensland, Australia. It is administered by the Queensland Department of Education, with an ...

in the Charters Towers CBD to the south.

Amenities

There is a boat ramp into the Burdekin River at Weir Road (). It is managed by the

Charters Towers Regional Council The Charters Towers Region is a local government area in North Queensland, Australia southwest of, and inland from the city of Townsville, based in Charters Towers. Established in 2008, it was preceded by two previous local government areas whic ...

References

{{Charters Towers Region Charters Towers Region Localities in Queensland