Rifle Range, Queensland

Rifle Range is a locality in the Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia.^[2] In the 2021 census, Rifle Range had a population of 197 people.^[1]

Rifle Range Somerset Region, Queensland
Irrigated farming, Rifle Range, 2019
Rifle Range
Coordinates	27.4566°S 152.5344°E / -27.4566; 152.5344 (Rifle Range (centre of locality))
Population	197 (2021 census)[1]
• Density	20.96/km2 (54.3/sq mi)
Postcode(s)	4311
Area	9.4 km2 (3.6 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10:00)
Location	14.1 km (9 mi) W of Fernvale 38.5 km (24 mi) NW of Ipswich 40.9 km (25 mi) SSE of Esk 75.9 km (47 mi) W of Brisbane
LGA(s)	Somerset Region
State electorate(s)	Lockyer
Federal division(s)	Blair
Suburbs around Rifle Range: Clarendon Clarendon Lowood Mount Tarampa Rifle Range Lowood Mount Tarampa Brightview Lowood

Geography

Lockyer Creek marks the suburbs northern and western boundary.^[3]

There is irrigated cropping in areas close to the creek with grazing on native vegetation in the middle of the locality. The southern part of the locality is most rural residential.^[3]

Rifle Range Road provides access into the locality from neighbouring Lowood.^[3]

History

Map of Lowood Rifle Range (shaded), boundary roads are Clarendon Road (north), Wyatts Road (west), Rifle Range Road (south west), Forest Hill Fernvale Road (south) and Reinbotts Road (east), 1904.

A rifle range was first established near Lowood in 1886.^[4] In January 1905 the Queensland Government sold a parcel of land for £260 to establish a new rifle range near Lowood.^[5] The south-east boundary of the rifle range is the present-day south-eastern boundary of the locality of Rifle Range (Plan CC58 Lot 461, 27.455°S 152.55°E / -27.455; 152.55 (Lowood rifle range)) and presumably the origin of its name.^[6][3] The Lowood rifle range closed in 1953.^[7]

Demographics

In the 2016 census, Rifle Range had a population of 186 people.^[8]

In the 2021 census, Rifle Range had a population of 197 people.^[1]

Education

There are no schools in Rifle Range. The nearest government primary schools are in neighbouring Clarendon, Lowood and Mount Tarampa. The nearest government secondary school is in Lowood.^[3]