Woomera, South Australia and Woomera was chosen as a site for such a facility. The establishment of the Woomera Immigration Detention Centre in 1999, through the refurbishment of the original Woomera Village construction camp at 'Woomera West', eventually brought in new permanent staff (as the Nurrungar people were leaving) to settle and maintain the village population at around 1,200. The immigration detention centre, however, proved to be a highly controversial facility and it closed in early 2003 after only about 36 months of operation, at which point the land and buildings were handed back to the Defence Department. Following the closure of the
Forest Range, South Australia Forest Range, South Australia Forest Range is a small town in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. Forest Range was settled by timber sawyers, cutting stringybark trees for timber and charcoal. In 1854 there was a minor gold rush with a larger gold rush in the 1880s. Gold-seekers took over 6000 ounces of gold. Timber-cutting gave way to fruit and vegetable farming as land was cleared. Forest Range initially comprised the whole district including Lenswood, until 1917 when Lenswood was proclaimed. Initially land clearing (and gold) formed the major industries, but this soon gave way to farming. Farming in those times