Seymour is a township in the Shire of Mitchell in the state of Victoria, Australia and is located 98 km north of Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Seymour had a population of 6,304.The township services the surrounding agricultural industries (primarily equine, cattle, sheep and wine) as well as the nearby military base of Puckapunyal (population 1,176), which is an important training centre for the Australian Army. Other important sectors of employment in Seymour include retail, light engineering, agricultural services support, medical services, and education.

History

Location of Seymour in Victoria (red)Seymour was established in 1839 at the crossing of the Goulburn River on the Melbourne-Sydney route (now known as the Hume Highway) where an inn was first built. The Post Office opened on 1 July 1844.The railway arrived in 1872 along with substantial infrastructure to support it, establishing the town as an important rail hub for the Goulburn Valley, the Melbourne-Sydney railway and North Eastern Victoria. It was one of the first Victorian examples of the railway town phenomenon, in the heyday of the railway it employed 400 men and along with their families comprised one third of the town, or 1500 people.

Puckapunyal Army Base

The Australian Army first established a large training camp 4 km east of the township during the First World War. During the Second World War, the eastern camp diminished in importance and a substantially larger and more permanent military township was established 10 km to the west at Puckapunyal. As of 2008 Puckapunyal is the centre for the Australian Army's Land Warfare Development Centre (LWDC) and Headquarters Combined Arms Training Centre (HQ CATC). The HQ CATC is the headquarters for the Australian Army School of Armour (Puckapunyal), School of Artillery (Puckapunyal), School of Engineers (Sydney NSW) and School of Infantry (Singleton NSW). Additionally there are smaller training centres and facilities as well as a road transport squadron based in Puckapunyal.

Future (though non-committed) Federal Government planning for the Australian Army has discussed the eventual relocation of the School of Engineers and School of Infantry to Puckapunyal to establish a Combined Training Centre of Excellence for the combatant corps of the Australian Army.

Puckapunyal has extensive corporatised garrison support, maintenance, and overhaul facilities that support the Army units in Puckapunyal as well as many outlying depots throughout Victoria and Tasmania. The base employs many from the civilian population in Seymour and surrounding townships. The base is home to the Army's Tank Museum, which features an excellent collection of historical and modern tanks and armoured vehicles from around the world.

Layout and Amenities

Seymour is a generally neat town, with many long straight roads and many cul-de-sacs. There are designated shopping areas, and the township is fairly well serviced with a broad range of local competitive businesses and supermarket chains. Fast foods chains include McDonalds, KFC and Subway, while main retail chains include Safeway, Coles, IGA and Target. Discussions have been underway for the addition of a proposed Aldi supermarket. There are several government schools in the area including 4 primary schools (from preparatory to Year 6) that include: Seymour Primary School, Seymour East Primary School, Puckpunyal Primary School, and Seymour Special School. A Catholic church run private school, St Mary's Seymour provides tuition for years preparatory to Year 10. The state owned Seymour Technical High School provides tuition from Years 7 to 12, serving as the main secondary school for Seymour, Puckapunyal, and districts.

Services

A number of fraternal, service and community organisations are active in Seymour including Freemasonry (established in Seymour in 1883), the Lions Club, Scouting, and Apex Clubs of Australia. Seymour has an excellent indoor multi-purpose sports centre and indoor swimming complex as well as a number of large playing fields for athletics, cricket and football. The township has a number of successful and well resourced sporting clubs including the Seymour Turf Club, the Seymour Football Club (Goulburn Valley Football League Premiers 2005, 2006 and 2007), Lawn Bowls, Kick Boxing, Basketball and Netball.

The Seymour campus of the Goulburn Ovens Institute of TAFE, opened in 1998, provides a variety of short courses and vocational education and training.

Transport

Seymour Station viewed from the main street.Seymour is located adjacent to the junction of the Hume Highway and Goulburn Valley Highway. The Hume Highway crossed the Goulburn river and diverted all Melbourne-Sydney bound traffic though the township for over 100 years until a freeway bypass was opened routing all non-local and interstate traffic around the township in 1982.

Seymour station is served by regular V/Line hourly services to and from Melbourne Southern Cross Station as well as services on the Albury-Wodonga and Shepparton lines. The station was once a major freight marshalling location and the home of a significant locomotive depot. The depot is now the home of the Seymour Railway Heritage Centre. The heritage centre has a large collection of vintage and heritage locomotives, diesels and rolling stock (In various stages of restoration) that is opened to the public regularly for inspection.

Tourism

Station Street, with the Terminus and Railway Club hotels in the foreground.Seymour hosts an annual Alternative Farming Exposition each February which draws many thousands of visitors from around Australia. The township is also home to a well-established railway museum and art Galleries - Old Courthouse and Old Post Office Seymour. Seymour offers a wide selection of dining options to visitors that include The Prince of Wales Hotel, The Somerset Winery, Old Post Office Seymour, Fine Art Gallery & Restaurant, The Seymour Club, The Royal Hotel, and The Railway Hotel, which all provide visitors with a selection of fresh locally-produced foods and wines.

Additionally, there are several major wineries within 15 minutes driving distance from the township. Seymour is also home to an excellent horse racing facility with regular meetings held throughout the year. The Hume International Raceway is located 10km West of the township and holds regular go-cart racing meetings on most weekends.

Sport

The town has an Australian Rules football team competing in the Goulburn Valley Football League, and is the hometown of the Seymour Soccer Club, who currently play at Bennet Oval, and represent Seymour, Puckapunyal, Nagambie, and other surrounding areas. as well as several other major sporting clubs. The township is well equipped with sporting facities that include an indoor multi-purpose sports complex, an indoor heated pool, an Olympic outdoor pool, several cricket ovals, as well as all season basketball, netball and tennis facilities.

Seymour has a horse racing club, the Seymour Racing Club, which schedules around twenty race meetings a year including the Seymour Cup meeting in October.