15-509: The Collie Mail was established at Collie, Western Australia in 1908 by Mr H.E. Reading, who had previously established The Southern Times in Bunbury . The paper was published bi-weekly to share the news and information of the new coal mining town of Collie. The distribution area of the Collie Mail covers Collie, Bunbury, Darkan , Donnybrook and Duranillan. The Collie Mail
30-553: A glimpse of the history and development of the mining town of Collie. Collie experiences a Mediterranean climate with warm, dry summers and cool, wet winters ( Köppen climate classification Csb ). The town was lashed with unseasonal storms on 12 December 2012 resulting in some flooding in the town. The town received 126 millimetres (5 in) of rain in a 12-hour period; several houses were evacuated. Collie Speedway ( 33°20′45″S 116°11′01″E / 33.34583°S 116.18361°E / -33.34583; 116.18361 )
45-582: A significant role in the provision of electricity for Western Australia. The state's two coal mines are in the town, and there are three power stations. The government of Western Australia will soon commission a new base load power station, for which a number of Collie base proposals have been made. Initially Western Collieries, the Premier Coal mining operation produces approximately 5 million tonnes (11 billion pounds) of coal per year. It contains enough reserves for another 30 years of mining at
60-587: Is a hydroelectric power station near Collie, Western Australia . It has one water turbine with a generating capacity of 2 megawatts (2,700 hp) of electricity . The Wellington Dam Hydro Power Station was one of three hydro power stations in Western Australia, with only the Ord River hydro still in operation. The dam was constructed in 1933 and enlarged in 1956, and the power station was built from 1954 to 1956 and commissioned on 3 July 1956. It
75-601: Is a motorcycle speedway venue on the eastern edge of Collie, on Clifford Street. The venue, which opened in 1971 has hosted important motorcycle speedway events, including qualifying rounds of the Speedway World Championship (starting in 1992) and the final of the Western Australian Individual Speedway Championship on two occasions. Wellington Dam Wellington Dam Hydro Power Station
90-492: Is named after the river on which it is situated. James Stirling named the Collie River , which in turn is named after Alexander Collie . He and William Preston were the first Europeans to explore the area, in 1829. It has been reported that coal was discovered in the area by a shepherd named George Marsh in the early 1880s. The townsite was surveyed and gazetted in 1897. The first coal mine opened in 1927. Collie
105-688: Is now owned by the Fairfax organisation. The Collie Mail has had a number of different titles over the years it has been in print: Issues (1914 - 1918) of this newspaper have been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program , a project of the National Library of Australia in cooperation with the State Library of Western Australia . Hard copy and microfilm copies of
120-572: The Collie Mail are also available at the State Library of Western Australia. Collie, Western Australia Collie is a town in the South West region of Western Australia, 213 kilometres (132 mi) south of the state capital, Perth , and 59 kilometres (37 mi) inland from the regional city and port of Bunbury . It is near the junction of the Collie and Harris Rivers, in
135-615: The Wheatbelt towns in southern WA, as far north as Northam , east to Lake Grace , south to Katanning . The line basically runs parallel to the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme (from Mundaring Weir to Kalgoorlie), and the two lines even join somewhere. It gets its water from the Collie River catchment, which started going salty during the 1960s and 1970s. Much re-afforestation work has been happening since
150-418: The 1980s to slow down the trend of rising salinity. A new dam on nearby Harris River was commissioned in the 1990s to supply fresh water until such time as Wellington Dam is fresh again sometime in the future. It is also a sacred Aboriginal gathering site to this day. Wellington Dam was originally built in 1935 with a storage capacity of 35 gigalitres (1.2 billion cubic feet) as a source of irrigation on
165-743: The Collie River. Stockton Lake, Lake Kepwari, Harris River Dam and Wellington Dam are man-made reservoirs and lakes available for leisure and recreation. Sporting facilities include the Roche Park Recreation Centre, Collie Hockey Grounds and the Collie Eagles Oval. Collie also hosts the Collie Motorplex , one of Western Australia's few permanent motorsport venues outside the Perth metropolitan area. The Coalfields Museum and Historical Research Centre provides
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#1732781024463180-490: The middle of dense jarrah forest and the only coalfields in Western Australia. At the 2021 census , Collie had a population of 7,599. Collie is mainly known as a coal-producing centre, but also offers industrial, agricultural and aquaculture tourism industries. Muja Power Station is located east of the town, and to its west is the Wellington Dam , a popular location for fishing, swimming and boating. The town
195-689: The present rate. The Griffin Coal mine is owned by the Indian company Lanco Infratech . Collie has five primary schools, Allanson Primary School, Fairview Primary School, Amaroo Primary School, Saint Brigid's Catholic College and Wilson Park Primary School and one high school, Collie Senior High School . Tourist attractions at Collie include the Steam Locomotive Museum, Collie Art Gallery, Minninup Pool and Wellington Dam . Parks include Soldier's Memorial Park and natural features include
210-613: Was once referred to as a "dirty mining town", but on 8 April 2006 it won the Australian Tidy Towns Competition from finalists from six states and the Northern Territory. Collie was named the top Tidy Town because of the commitment of the community to recycling, waste management, beautification and community projects. According to the 2021 census, there were 7,599 people in Collie. Collie has
225-669: Was placed into care and maintenance in 2007. Wellington Dam is the largest dam in the South West and the second largest in Western Australia, and is fed by the Collie River . In December 2009 the Water Corporation started a $ 41 million project to strengthen the dam wall. Wellington Dam was built in the early 1900s to supply water to the Great Southern Towns Water Supply system – the pipeline system that supplies water to
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