Churchill is a town in the Latrobe Valley, located in central Gippsland in the east of Victoria, Australia. The town had a population of 4,568 at the, and is part of the Latrobe City local government area. The town was named in honour of former British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, who had died earlier in the year the town's establishment was announced.

Town history

Established as a service centre for the Hazelwood Power Station, Churchill was intended to house workers in the region as the State Electricity Commission of Victoria expanded its coal mining operations. Announcing the commencement of construction, Minister for Housing Lindsay Thompson claimed that "it was doubtful whether any Victorian town had been more carefully planned." Most of the early housing was constructed by the Housing Commission of Victoria. The site was chosen for its pleasant location at the foot of the Strzelecki Ranges, overlooking Hazelwood pondage. It was relatively free from air pollution, is not above rich coalfields and is in close proximity to the larger towns and power stations in the Latrobe Valley. Construction of Churchill began in 1965. In that year the first two houses in Churchill were completed and occupied by the Arch and Ayers families who received morning paper deliveries from Yinnar General Store, and milk delivery from John Koedijk. Within a week five more families arrived and so the town began to grow street by street. The town was sufficiently advanced for the Post Office to open on 11 April 1966. The shopping centre in Churchill was officially opened in July 1967, the first two shops (butcher and pharmacy) having opened 19 May 1967. In that year many new traders opened for business. All the shop keepers were offered a Housing Commission house in Churchill for their use. The Churchill Newsagency opened in 1967 and was run by Ian and Winifred Jones, who had previously run the Yinnar General Store. A Tattersalls agency was established in 1975. The Churchill Newsagency business was later purchased in April 1978 by Jack and Olive Robson The town was planned by Melbourne architect Best Overend with a well-defined commercial centre, expansive parklands, a mix of government and privately owned quarter-acre (1,000 m²) town blocks and light industrial estates spaced from residential areas by a belt of parkland. The transport system was to be a network of restricted-access highways and a ring road fully encircling the town. Population was anticipated to reach 6,000 by 1971, rising to around 40,000 by 2000. However, the discovery of offshore gas in Bass Strait resulted in the closure of the Lurgi gas plant to the town's north, and the SEC's development in the region slowed. This, combined with the slow development of services in the town and prohibitive residential sales conditions meant that the Churchill project would never be fully realised. Population peaked at a modest 5500 in the early 1990s before a small decline. Signs of renewed growth have appeared, with several new housing estates being released during the past decade, especially after the regional tree change population boom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After closing in 2006 the Churchill hotel was remodelled, and reopened in January 2011. In 2009 Churchill suffered the devastation of the Black Saturday bushfires. Lit deliberately on Glendonald Rd, these fires burnt the surrounding hills of Churchill through to Yarram and killed eleven people.

Names

Churchill was originally to be given the name Hazelwood as per the surrounding district; however, shortly before construction began, it was announced by Lindsay Thompson that the name given was to be Churchill. Thompson claimed the town would “prove a fitting town to bear the name of a man whose leadership, courage and oratory lifted the free world from the depths of despair to the heights of victory.” This decision was not universally popular, and Hazelwood residents were soon lobbying to retain the established local name. Thompson responded in the press that it would be "greatest insult possible" to Churchill’s name to revert to the old name, adding that he was "surprised that there were people who apparently would not be proud to have their town named after the man acknowledged as the 20th century’s greatest statesman." A ‘group of irate Hazelwood citizens’ petitioned to restore the name Hazelwood, on the grounds that ‘the use of the name Churchill for the new town would eventually cause the whole district to lose its identity.’ The Hazelwood Citizens’ Committee continued to fight to restore the original name in subsequent years. Residents who pushed hard to restore the Hazelwood name were finally heard in 1989, when a vote was held. The name Churchill won narrowly. Some of the names in Churchill have a distinctly local flavour. Estates in the town were named after various white settler families. These include Silcock, Medew, McMillan, and Glendonald. Roads have also been named after people (such as McDonald, Canterbury, Philip, and Manning), flora (Acacia, Hawthorn, Blackwood and Birch), or given Aboriginal names (Amaroo, Gundaroo).

Population

In the 2016 Census, there were 4,568 people in Churchill. 75.9% of people were born in Australia. The next most common country of birth was England at 3.2%. 83.1% of people only spoke English at home. The most common responses for religion were No Religion 39.6% and Catholic 18.3%.

Landmarks

Education

Churchill has several education facilities. There are several primary schools within the town, as well as the Churchill and Precinct campuses of Kurnai College.

Sport

The Churchill "Cobras" Cricket Club play at the George Cain Oval, located at Andrews Park West.