Alstonville, New South Wales

Alstonville is located on the Bruxner Highway between the town of Ballina (13 km to the east) and city of Lismore (19 km to the west). The village of Wollongbar is situated 4 km to the west of Alstonville. Alstonville is considered as the service centre of the area known as the Alstonville Plateau. A bypass is being planned for the Bruxner Highway to remove congestion and improve safety.

[edit] General Information

Crawford house, a pioneer house situated next to Elizabeth Ann Brown park is now a historical museum. Directly behind is the towns major shopping centre, Alstonville Plaza, which has a few specialty shops, and a major supermarket.

No fast food chains are located in Alstonville, but, there are 3 fish and chip takeaway shops, 2 in the main street and one in the Plaza.

The town has a post office, and numerous banks are located in the town. That means, that it is possible to "day to day" not leave Alstonville, and even a furniture store operates in the old butter factory.

Numerous Bus routes service Alstonville, the majority being school buses, heading to the schools in the morning, and away from school in the afternoon.

The restricted access to the schools has caused major traffic bottlenecks, compounded by the fact that all 3 schools are released within 5 minutes of each other (this means that buses can service all schools at once), originally there were only 2 schools located there, Alstonville Primary, and St Joseph's, and these had rather low attendance (under 200 combined when first opened), compared to over 2000 now, plus teachers. Access to the high school on foot can be achieved by a path coming out on Coral Street at Cawley Park, however traffic bottlenecks can still occur near Wardell Road, Daley Street, The Avenue, and Main Street. A large bus stop has been built here; however, it sees little use, and no commuter buses use it.

An Industrial Estate is located in Russleton Park, with cement, Macadamia processing and Rural supplies dominating. In addition, numerous bus depots are located here, and there is a Mail Sorting Facility. The industrial estate is located across the highway from Wollongbar; however, it is not a part of Wollongbar.

Summerland House, known as the "House With No Steps", has been operating near Alstonville since 1971. Summerland House provides training and employment opportunities for people with physical and intellectual disabilities in fields such as farming and hospitality.

[edit] History

The history of Alstonville parallels that of many Northern Rivers communities - cedar-cutters were attracted to the region in the 1860s, followed by dairy farmers. Originally known as Duck Creek Mountain, the town was later renamed by early settler John Perry after his wife, Annie Alston.

[edit] Schools

The town of Alstonville is home to a number of public and private schools: Alstonville Public School, St. Joseph's School and Alstonville High School. Wollongbar and Alstonville, while independent, are very connected, with Alstonville having the High School, meaning that students in Wollongbar have to travel to Alstonville, either by Bus, Foot/Bike, or Car. Many Wollongbar primary school students attend Alstonville schools and vice versa.

Alstonville also has multiple Day Care / Pre-Schools

All Alstonville schools (Alstonville High School, Alstonville Primary School, and St Joseph's School) main gates are located so that in order to access them by car one must enter through Main Street. However, entrance is also made via back gates and accesses.

[edit] Transport

Transport between Alstonville and Wollongbar, is by either Car, or Foot/Bike, as a path runs between Bulwinkel Park and the Shopping Centre at Wollongbar.

Bus services are infrequent, with only one service in each direction on Weekends.

The path between the 2 towns is mainly used by younger people, and walkers, as most older people who have cars would not use this path by choice. The 2 towns, although very close to each other, are separated by approximately 2 kilometres of Rural land.

[edit] Sporting Facilities and Parks

The area has many parks, including Geoff Watt Oval, the major sporting ground for Cricket, and Soccer, and Crawford Park, across the other side of the highway. This park is a second sporting ground for soccer.

In addition to this, Alstonville also has a Heated Public Swimming Pool, Gymnasium, Squash Courts, Tennis Courts

Other parks in the area include
• Cawley Park, with Netball fields On Coral St
• Elizabeth Ann Brown park, at the intersection of Main Street & Wardell Road which has a war memorial, gardens, and a small playground for children.
• Apex Park/Crawford Park on Alston Avenue with playground facilties
• Bulwinkel Park on Main Street with a playground and picnic tables, has a small creek well known for sighting small aquatic species such as Frogs, Platypus and Turtles.
• Geoff Watt Oval at the intersection of Cooke Avenue & Deegan Drive
• Tanamera Drive Reserve off Tanamera Drive
• Freeborne Park across Tanamera Drive

The Alstonville and District Football Club is the local Soccer Club, and is known as "Villa" and is uniformed with red and black.
Wollongbar Alstonville Rugby (WAR) is the local Rugby Union club, located at Wollongbar.
Alstonville also has a field hockey club, with training fields on Gap Road, it has both male and female teams ranging from Minkeys to A-Grade Seniors.
Alstonville is also host to the regions premier Vikings Futsal Club comp at the Alstonville Entertainment Centre.

[edit] Emergency Services

Alstonville has two stationed Emergency Services, Those being NSW Fire Brigades 'Station 204' and NSW Police.
• NSW Police provide policing services, such as law and order.
• NSW Fire Brigades provides Structural Firefighting for the Urban area of Alstonville and Wollongbar, and also covers the area for Medical First Response (when required by NSW Ambulance Service) and is also Secondary Rescue for the area.
• NSW Rural Fire Service provides coverage for Fire in the outer areas of the township.
• NSW Ambulance Service covers the area, Sending ambulances from either Lismore or Ballina (and as required when delays are expected, the Fire Brigade will be sent)