Williamsdale is a town in the district of Tuggeranong, in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Is situated on the northwest side of the Australian Capital Territory border abutting the town of Williamsdale in the

Southern Tablelands The Southern Tablelands is a geographic area of New South Wales, Australia, located south-west of Sydney and generally west of the Great Dividing Range. The area is characterised by high, flat country which has generally been extensively cl ...

region of New South Wales, Australia. The Monaro Highway and the former Bombala railway pass through the area. A railway station saw service until 1975. The postcode is 2620.

Structure

The

Australian Bureau of Statistics The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is an List of Australian Government entities, Australian Government agency that collects and analyses statistics on economic, population, Natural environment, environmental, and social issues to advi ...

included the ACT part of Williamsdale in an area called "Tuggeranong (SA2)". This statistical area also includes the ACT part of Royalla and all the rural territory between the

Murrumbidgee River The Murrumbidgee River () is a major tributary of the Murray River within the Murray–Darling basin and the second longest river in Australia. It flows through the Australian state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, desce ...

and the NSW border. It had a population of 43 at the . The part in NSW had a population of 65 at that census. The part of Williamsdale in NSW is itself split up by two

Local Government Areas A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a state, province, division, or territory. The ph ...

, in the north to Queanbeyan–Palerang and in the south to Snowy Monaro.

Geology

To the east of Williamsdale is the Williamsdale Volcanics. These are made up from blue-green

crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

tuff. The crystals are sized from 0.3 mm to 1 mm and are embedded in a fine matrix. Quartz crystals make up 25%,

plagioclase Plagioclase ( ) is a series of Silicate minerals#Tectosilicates, tectosilicate (framework silicate) minerals within the feldspar group. Rather than referring to a particular mineral with a specific chemical composition, plagioclase is a continu ...

5%, alkali

feldspar Feldspar ( ; sometimes spelled felspar) is a group of rock-forming aluminium tectosilicate minerals, also containing other cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, or barium. The most common members of the feldspar group are the ''plagiocl ...

10%, biotite 5–10% which is altered to

chlorite The chlorite ion, or chlorine dioxide anion, is the halite (oxyanion), halite with the chemical formula of . A chlorite (compound) is a compound that contains this group, with chlorine in the oxidation state of +3. Chlorites are also known as s ...

, epidote and leucoxene. Middle

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

Colinton Volcanics foliated dacite and tuff is under Williamsdale. A roughly north south band of these acid volcanics extends to the north along the Monaro Highway and then follows the Cooma road to Cottondale. South the volcanics also follow the Monaro Highway in a more complex band through Colinton past Michelago and at least as far south as Bredbo. To the west of Williamsdale is an outcrop of Upper Silurian Laidlaw Volcanics dark grey rhyodacitic and dacitic crystal tuff. This extends to the west as far as Angle Crossing. This band extends to the north north west as far as Mount Stromlo. The outcrop finishes a couple of kilometres south, but it is also found to the east, with outcrop from Fernleigh in the north, via Burra, and south to Michelago. On the west side of the

around Angle Crossing can be found the Bransby Beds or Goosoon Beds. These beds contain tuff and dacite with some sediments. They form a narrow band extending to the south as far as Cooma following on the east side of the Murrumbidgee River.

Airport proposal

In response to increasing operating costs for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

users of Canberra Airport, a proposal was made by the ACT Government in 2005 to develop a dedicated secondary airfield for the Territory. The site recommended was to the west of the Monaro Highway at Williamsdale, and would include aircraft hangars, maintenance and fuel facilities, and a 1000m grass runway. A feasibility study was undertaken by Deloitte Access Economics in 2010. Based on the results of this study, the project anticipated marginal returns on the capital investment required, despite significant demand for such a facility. As of 2012, the ACT government has declined to develop the facility, but has made the cost benefit analysis and feasibility study reports available should private enterprise wish to consider the project.

Solar farm

In September 2012, utilities provider ActewAGL was granted an exemption by the ACT Government from having to conduct a further Environmental impact assessment on a plan to construct a 45ha electricity generation facility consisting of 15 photovoltaic solar arrays with a total generating capacity of 20 megawatts and associated infrastructure adjacent to the Monaro Highway at Williamsdale. The land to be occupied by the proposed solar farm was acquired by ActewAGL in 2009, and was considered preferable to an alternative site in the West Belconnen district. The project was later reduced in scope to 11.8 megawatts. It was approved in January 2016 by the ACT Planning Minister, Mick Gentleman. Subsequently, Elementus Energy which had owned the project sold it to a subsidiary of Melbourne-based Impact Investment Group, and the German company ib vogt GmbH was contracted for the construction. The first solar panel was installed in October 2016. Construction was completed in October 2017. It uses a single axis sun-tracking system.

References

External links

Williamsdale Railway Siding
{{authority control Towns in the Australian Capital Territory Bombala railway line