Batemans Bay is a town on the South Coast region of the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Batemans Bay is a town on the South Coast region of the state of New South Wales, Australia. Batemans Bay is administered by the Eurobodalla Shire council and the NSW Aboriginal Land Council. The town is situated on land traditionally occupied by the Walbunja people from the Yuin nation, on the shores of an estuary formed where the Clyde River meets the southern Pacific Ocean.
Batemans Bay is located on the Princes Highway (Highway 1) about 280 kilometres (170 mi) from Sydney and 760 km (470 mi) from Melbourne. Canberra is located about 151 km (94 mi) to the west of Batemans Bay, via the Kings Highway. At the 2016 census, Batemans Bay had a population of 11,294. A larger urban area surrounding Batemans Bay also including Long Beach, Maloneys Beach and the coastal fringe extending south to Rosedale had a population of 16,485 at June 2018.
It is the closest seaside town to Canberra, making Batemans Bay a popular holiday destination for residents of Australia's national capital. Geologically, it is situated in the far southern reaches of the Sydney Basin. Batemans Bay is also a popular retiree haven, but has begun to attract young families seeking affordable housing and a relaxed seaside lifestyle. Other local industries include oyster farming, forestry, eco-tourism and retail services.
History
Indigenous history
The traditional custodians of the land surrounding Batemans Bay are the Walbunja people of the Yuin nation.The language spoken by the Walbunja people is Dhurga, one of theYuin–Kuric languages.A number of sites in the region are considered culturally significant to the Walbunja people, such as Bhundoo and Hanging Rock.
Indigenous population
According to the 2016 census, there were a total of 11,294 people in the Batemans Bay urban centre. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 7.3% of the population.
European history
On 22 April 1770 explorer James Cook first sighted and named the bay. Cook gave no reason for the name, which may commemorate either Nathaniel Bateman, the captain of HMS Northumberland when Cook was serving as her master from 1760–62, or John Bateman, 2nd Viscount Bateman, a former Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty in the 1750s.A colonial vessel, Fly, was driven into Batemans Bay by bad weather during April 1808. Her crew engaged in a conflict with the local Indigenous peoples, initially firing their muskets from the vessel; after the muskets were fired, spears were thrown in return, resulting in three Fly crew fatalities. In 1821, Lt Robert Johnston entered the bay and explored the lower reaches of the Clyde River on board the cutter Snapper. Snapper Island within the bay is named after Johnston's boat. Johnston returned with Alexander Berry and Hamilton Hume and they traced the river to its source. When the district was surveyed in 1828, a deserted hut and stockyards were found. Cedar getters and land clearers were in the district in the 1820s. From 1820s through to the 1840s, the area to the Moruya River was the southernmost official limit of location for the colony of New South Wales.
The Illawarra and South Coast Steam Navigation Co found the Clyde River to be navigable in 1854. Regular services by the company in the 1860s and 1870s contributed to growth of the district.The village of China Bay was surveyed in 1859. Oyster farming commenced in 1860, and by 1870, there was a fleet of 40 oyster boats. A sawmill was erected in 1870. The port and town was proclaimed in 1885. A ferry service across the Clyde ran from 1891 until the bridge was opened in 1956. In 1942, during World War II, a trawler was attacked by a Japanese submarine between Batemans Bay and Moruya.
European population
The change of population of Batemans Bay since 1881.
1881 was 266
1961 was 1,183
1981 was 4,924
1996 was 9,568
2006 was 10,845
2011 was 11,334
2016 flying fox plague
In May 2016, an estimated 120,000 grey-headed flying fox (bats) suddenly descended upon and swarmed the town, prompting the town to declare a state of emergency. The grey-headed flying fox is listed as a vulnerable species threatened by extinction and is protected by conservation laws; due to this status, they had to be removed using non-lethal methods, including smoke, noise, lights and removal of vegetation. The town received AUS$2.5 million to relocate the bats.
2019-20 bushfire emergency
In December 2019, the town was under the threat of a catastrophic bushfire, which ultimately cut Batemans Bay off from all external road links, isolating the town.The bushfire gradually increased in intensity and severity, peaking on New Years Eve and rapidly moving towards the town. The bushfire resulted in thousands of locals sheltering at beaches around the town, a large number of buildings lost, and lingering economic damage.Due to the difficult mountainous terrain surrounding Batemans Bay, much of the firefighting efforts could only be fought from the air, with a number of firefighting aircraft tasked to defend the town. With the difficulties of the highway closures cutting the town off from outside links on the ground, Moruya Airport proved to be a vital resource in the protection of the local region from the devastating bushfires.
Weather
Batemans Bay experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb). The climate of Batemans Bay is moderated by the sea, with warm summers and mild sunny winters. Nights can be cold in winter. Thunderstorms mostly occur between November and March, with rainfall maximums in summer. The town gets 87.3 clear days annually. The town's drier winter trend is owed to its position on the leeward side of the Great Dividing Range, which block the moist, westerly cold fronts that arrive from the Southern Ocean and, therefore, would turn into foehn winds as they approach the coastal plain.
Things to do
