Riverside is a rural and urban locality in the local government areas of
Meander Valley
Meander Valley Council is a Local government in Australia, local government body in northern Tasmania. It covers the western outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania, Launceston, and further westward along the Meander River, Tasmania, Meander River. ...
and
West Tamar
West Tamar Council is a local government body in Tasmania, situated along the western side of the Tamar River in the north of the state. West Tamar is classified as an urban local government area and has a population of 23,769, it extends from ...
in the
Launceston region of
Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
, Australia. The locality is about south-east of the town of
Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe.
The ...
. The
2016 census has a population of 6472 for the state suburb of Riverside.
[
It is a residential ]suburb
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...
5 kilometres (2.5 mi) north-west of the central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
of Launceston, Tasmania's second largest city. The West Tamar Highway
The West Tamar Highway is a highway in Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, ...
runs through the suburb, adjoining Riverside to the West Tamar
West Tamar Council is a local government body in Tasmania, situated along the western side of the Tamar River in the north of the state. West Tamar is classified as an urban local government area and has a population of 23,769, it extends from ...
, which includes small towns such as Beaconsfield
Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe.
The ...
, and Beauty Point. Riverside is part of the West Tamar Council
West Tamar Council is a local government body in Tasmania, situated along the western side of the Tamar River in the north of the state. West Tamar is classified as an urban local government area and has a population of 23,769, it extends fro ...
local government area. The suburb is now Launceston's largest by population, narrowly ahead of Kings Meadows
Kings Meadows is a residential locality in the local government area (LGA) of Launceston in the Launceston LGA region of Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Aust ...
. The main shopping centre opened in the 1960s and includes: a Woolworths supermarket, a bakery, a pharmacist and some local businesses.
History
Riverside was gazetted as a locality in 1958. After this time, most local services opened. Many schools opened early in the 1960s, and the businesses nowadays found were established.
Geography
The Tamar River
The Tamar River, officially kanamaluka / River Tamar, is a estuary located in northern Tasmania, Australia. Despite being named a river, the waterway is a brackish and tidal estuary over its entire length.
Etymology
The Tamar River was named ...
forms the north-eastern boundary and part of the south-eastern. The South Esk River
The South Esk River, the longest river in Tasmania, is a major perennial river located in the northern region of Tasmania, Australia.
Location and features
The South Esk springs from the eastern foothills of the Ben Lomond plateau near Mathi ...
also forms part of the south-eastern border. The localities of North Riverside and West Riverside both sit within this area.
Road infrastructure
The West Tamar Highway
The West Tamar Highway is a highway in Tasmania
Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, ...
(A7) passes through from south-east to north-east. Route C734 (Ecclestone Road) starts at an intersection with A7 and runs south-west and west until it exits.
Facilities
There are several schools (Riverside Primary School, Riverside High School, Launceston Christian School and St Anthony's) as well as an Australian rules football
Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...
ground named Windsor Park
The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...
which is home to the Launceston Football Club
The Launceston Football Club, nicknamed ''The Blues'', is an Australian rules football club, located in the West Tamar suburb of Riverside, seven kilometres north of the Launceston CBD and currently play in the Tasmanian State League in Tasman ...
, a soccer
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...
ground which is home to Riverside Olympic, the park also includes a cricket ground for senior players and also a junior ground used mainly by under 12 and under 14 sides, all along the course of the highway. Less than a 1 km (0.6 mi) further north there is a small complex containing a few shops including Joes IGA IGA or IgA may refer to:
Businesses and organizations
* IGA (supermarkets) (initially Independent Grocers Alliance), a name used by many independent supermarkets throughout the world
** IGA (Australian supermarket group), the local Australian v ...
supermarket and St David's Church. Over the road is a restaurant, pub and bottle shop, as well as the 3.5 star Best Western
Best Western International, Inc. owns the Best Western Hotels & Resorts brand, which it licenses to over 4,700 hotels worldwide. The franchise, with its corporate headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, includes more than 2,000 hotels in North America. ...
Riverside motel.
Though mostly built in the 1960s, Riverside contains a wide range of buildings, with older brick
A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
and weatherboard
Clapboard (), also called bevel siding, lap siding, and weatherboard, with regional variation in the definition of those terms, is wooden siding (construction), siding of a building in the form of horizontal boards, often overlapping.
''Cla ...
style homes prominent along the West Tamar Highway and area's closer to the city, many of which being either Edwardian
In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...
or Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
in style, while more modern homes are located in the western and northern areas. Few buildings in Riverside date from the 1800s, though the notable exception being Cormiston House, a former estate house from the mid-1800s, located on a large property in North Riverside
The western half of Riverside, accessed by Pomona Road, was built in the 1950s as the hydro-electric village of Marrawaylee to serve the construction of the Trevallyn Power Station
The Trevallyn Power Station is a Run-of-the-river hydroelectricity, run-of-the-river hydroelectric power station located in the northern Midlands (Tasmania), Midlands region of Tasmania, Australia. The power station is situated on the Great Lake ...
. Now known as West Riverside, this minor suburb contains a single shop, the St Francis Church as well as the old hydro lodge, now modified into a private residence. The northwestern region of West Riverside has recently been the site of Riverside's most rapid urban growth, with new suburbs now connected onto Pomona Road North, Guildford Road, Tamar Rise and Balmoral Avenue.
The northern regions of the suburb, in the locality of North Riverside, have seen massive growth and are considered some of the most modern subdivisions in Launceston. As of June 2024, new constructions were being taken place in the region to the south of Cormiston Road, and to the north of New Ecclestone Road. Another majot development is associated with the new planning and construction of residential housing to the north of Cormiston Road, between the aforementioned street and Cormiston Creek. Previously considered the 'land of no life' this area has now seen major development, and creation of new streets such as Tamar Island and Rochester Courts.
References
{{Launceston suburbs
Suburbs of Launceston, Tasmania
Localities of West Tamar Council
Localities of Meander Valley Council
Towns in Tasmania
Populated places on the Tamar River