Leongatha, Victoria

Leongatha is a town in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges, South Gippsland Shire, Victoria, Australia, located 135km south-east of Melbourne. The town is the civic, commercial, industrial, religious, educational and sporting centre of the region. At the 2011 census, Leongatha had a population of 5,332.The Murray Goulburn Co-operative Co. Limited, is a farmers' co-operative which trades in Australia under the Devondale label, and has a dairy processing plant just north of the town producing milk-based products for Australian and overseas markets.HistoryFirst settlement of the area by Europeans occurred in 1845. The Post Office opened as Koorooman on 1 October 1887 and renamed Leongatha in 1891 when a township was established on the arrival of the railway.The railway line from Melbourne reached the town in 1891, and stimulated further settlement. Regular V/Line passenger operations on the line to the local railway station ceased in 1993.TransportThe town is located on the South Gippsland Highway which links Leongatha to Melbourne. Leongatha was formerly situated along the South Gippsland railway corridor that operated to its terminus at Yarram in the early 1980s and Leongatha in the mid 1990s. A V/Line road coach service replaced the rail service on July 24, 1993, running between Melbourne and Yarram. However, since the closure of the South Gippsland rail line with the exception of the locally run tourist railway between Nyora and Leongatha by the Kennett Victorian government on December 14, 1994. The South and West Gippsland Transport Group represented by the local council are campaigning for the passenger and freight rail services to be reinstated beyond the current terminus at Cranbourne by the 2020s. The line beyond Leongatha is being used as a rail trail for public use and also the former Wonthaggi line. The Dandenong to Cranbourne is being used by the Melbourne Suburban train company, while the section beyond Cranbourne - Nyora is in an unusable state for trains to operate.