Marrangaroo, New South Wales


Marrangaroo is a small town in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia in the City of Lithgow.

Overview

Marrangaroo is located a few kilometres or 5 minutes west of Lithgow. It is accessible from the Great Western Highway, and has no rail station and little bus services. Lithgow Buslines, a division of Buslines Group, run buses between Lithgow and Bathurst, which makes limited stops at Marrangaroo on the Great Western Highway. A main feature of Marrangaroo was the Trout Farm which was opposite the Lithgow Correctional Centre. At the 2006 census, Marrangaroo had a population of 869.

Military

Marrangaroo Army Camp situated at the end of Reserve Road used to be a major ammunition depot from 1941 to the late 1980s. It is now used for demolitions and various training by all three Australian Defence Force services. During the World War II it housed chemical warfare facilities; at the time, one of Australia's best kept secrets. Marrangaroo was the administration headquarters for all of the Royal Australian Air Force Chemical Weapon Stores which were kept in tunnels and sidings at Marrangaroo, Glenbrook tunnel in the Blue Mountains, Clarence Tunnel and Picton tunnel in Sydney's south.
During an interview with Plunkett in 2005, chemical warfare armourer, Geoff Burn mentioned he had been involved in the burial of phosgene bombs near the entrance to the headquarters in 1943. He was subsequently recalled from Cairns in 1944 to identify the site but was unsure as to whether and if the bombs had been extracted. After Burn marked the site on an aerial map a ground search revealed they were still there. The legacy of these weapons remains with several hundred empty chemical munition containers being found buried at Marrangaroo Army Camp from May 2008 to February 2009.
A remediation project to remove heavy metal contamination started in November 2008 with a secondary task to remove any more buried chemical munitions. The revelation of Marrangaroo's history sparked significant local media interest. The Department of Defence established a website for community consultation and feedback on the decontamination.

Transport

A railway station opened at Marrangaroo on the Main Western line in 1878 and closed in 1974. Little trace of it remains. Also, it has been suggested as the western terminus for the proposed Bells Line Expressway.

Heritage listings

Marrangaroo has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: