Loch Sport, Victoria
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2019}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2007}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = town
| name = Loch Sport
| state = vic
| image = Lions Park on Lake St beside Lake Victoria, Loch Sport, Vic, jjron, 31.03.2016.jpg
| caption = Painted figures in the Lions Park on Lake Rd beside Lake Victoria
| lga = Shire of Wellington
| postcode = 3851
| est =
| use_lga_map = yes
| coordinates = {{coord|38|03|28|S|147|34|10|E|display=inline,title}}
| pop = 814
| pop_year = {{CensusAU|2016}}
| elevation=
| maxtemp =
| mintemp =
| rainfall =
| stategov = Gippsland South
| fedgov = Gippsland
| dist1 = 269
| dir1 = E
| location1= Melbourne
| dist2 = 56
| dir2 = E
| location2= Sale
| dist3 = 28
| dir3 = NE
| location3= Golden Beach
}}
Loch Sport is a town situated on the Ninety Mile Beach and Lake Victoria in Central Gippsland, eastern Victoria, Australia. At the 2016 census, it had a permanent resident population of 814. This is an increase of 125 from the 2011 census.{{cite web |title=2011 Census QuickStats Loch Sport |url=http://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2011/quickstat/SSC20798 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics |accessdate=6 October 2018}}
History
Before European settlement, the area was used for hunting and fishing, and the collection of water yams and other vegetable food. Some of their descendants still live in regional townships. Aboriginal middens are still present.
In the 19th century British settlers cleared the land and began farming. Sandy soils dominate the flat coastal heath scrubland, which is surrounded by brackish lakes on the north and Bass Strait on the south. Later in the 19th century Melburnians discovered the recreational potential of the lakes—fishing, swimming and boating—and by the beginning of the 20th century Loch Sport was accessible via a dirt track, with plots of land surveyed for the nascent township. With increasing use of private cars, more people bought property in the town which, in 1980, was one of the last Victorian towns to receive electricity.
Facilities
Loch Sport has a primary school, a bowls and tennis club, a caravan park, a marina, a pub, RSL club, boat club, service station with 24/7 fuel, post office and general store, hardware and garden centre, bakery, police station and supermarket, newly built in 2019. It also has a pharmacy, medical centre, real estate agent, a cafe, several massage therapists, and an art gallery. Golfers play at the course of the Loch Sport Golf Club on Spermwhale Head Road.{{Citation | author= Golf Select | title = Loch Sport | url = http://www.golfselect.com.au/armchair/courseView.aspx?course_id=1013 | accessdate = 2009-05-11 }}
File:Boat launching on Lake Victoria from jetty, Loch Sport, Vic, jjron, 31.03.2016.jpg|The boat launching ramps and houses on Victoria Parade
File:Looking north to jetty and Lake Victoria, Loch Sport, Vic, jjron, 31.03.2016.jpg|Looking north to the jetty and Lake Victoria
File:West along Lake Victoria shoreline towards jetty, Loch Sport, Vic, jjron, 31.03.2016.jpg|Looking west along the Lake Victoria shoreline towards the jetty
Environment
Next to the township lies the {{convert|2390|ha|adj=mid}} Lakes National Park which supports populations of kangaroos, echidnas, koalas, emus and many other birds, and a wide variety of wildflowers.Victoria's National Parks - Explorers Guide, p.206. (See Australia Guides). Parks Victoria. 1999. It is also known for its large salt marsh mosquitos.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20121223070106/http://www.lochsport.org/phpBB3/index.php Loch Sport Forums]
- [http://www.lochsport.org Loch Sport community website]
- [http://www.lochsportcaravanpark.com Loch Sport Caravan Park website]
{{Towns in Wellington Shire}}
{{Towns in Central Gippsland}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Coastal towns in Victoria (state)