Townsville was declared a municipality in February 1866, with John Melton Black elected as its first Mayor. Townsville developed rapidly as the major port and service centre for the Cape River, Gilbert, Ravenswood, Etheridge and Charters Towers goldfields. Regional pastoral and sugar industries also expanded and flourished. Townsville's population was 4000 people in 1882 and grew to 13,000 by 1891. In 1901 Lord Hopetoun made a goodwill tour of northern Australia and accepted an invitation to officially open Townsville's town hall, occasioning the first ever vice-regal ceremonial unfurling of the Australian national flag. In 1902 Townsville was proclaimed a City under the Local Authorities Act.

The Townsville Police District is centred in the coastal city of Townsville within the Northern Police Region and within the State and local Government Electoral area of Townsville.

Townsville metro Police Divisions have a population of approximately 181,743[1] people who live in a mix of low to medium density residents. The CBD is the commercial heart of the City with an increasingly busy international shipping port.

Townsville is a city on the move, both in terms of population growth and economic activity. The construction and development industries are healthy as is investment from all quarters. Urban development continues to expand west, north and south into the former rural areas, and inner city high-density development has also created population growth and beautification of the central business district (CBD). One significant contributor to CBD development was the construction of a new rail passenger terminal and moving the railway workshops, releasing prime real estate which formerly belonged to Queensland Rail for the development of residential units, retail projects and a new performing arts centre. The skyline of Townsville's central business district is set for dramatic changes over the next few years, with a number of new highrise buildings under construction or in planning.

Medium term expansion of Townsville/Thuringowa will be in two major urban developments starting shortly. Rocky Springs, a planned satellite city to the south of Townsville, is expected to eventually be home to 50,000 people. Additionally, expansion to the North includes a new $1 billion 5,000-lot housing estate, which will be located close to the Bruce Highway, just north of the Bohle River. It will be the largest planned housing estate in North Queensland to this point. The State Government announced in July 2007 the release of 10,000 ha of State-owned land to the north for future urban expansion.

The region provides a wide spectrum of residential options ranging from budget house and land packages available in the outer residential suburbs to luxury apartments with panoramic ocean views. Lifestyle options also vary from small lot inner-city living to rural residential areas. However, while there is a wide choice of residential options within the region, the variety of housing types within particular residential areas or price ranges is often quite poor, consisting predominantly of detached houses on standard 600–1,000m2 allotments.

With an ageing population and changing household structures, there is now a need to provide a greater variety of housing choices. Some recent initiatives such as the small lot housing at Willow Gardens suggest that greater housing choice is becoming available in response to changing consumer demands.

The Townsville CBD is the heart of the Townsville Police Division with its divisional boundaries being boarded by the following police Divisions that make up the Townsville District; Ayr, Bowen, Charters Towers, Clare, Collinsville, Deeragun, Giru, Greenvale, Halifax, Homehill, Hughenden, Ingham, Kirwan, Magnetic Island, Mundingburra, Palm Island, Pentland, Prairie, Ravenswood, Richmond, Rollingstone, Stuart, Torrens Creek, Townsville.

Townsville has a very positive feel – opportunities abound, unemployment is low, housing is affordable and crime is being managed. NHW groups are currently active in the Townsville, Mundingburra, Stuart and Kirwan Police Divisions and are supported by an active District NHW committee.

NHW Group Websites

Some Neighbourhood Watch Groups find it beneficial to use a website to coordinate their meetings and information. If your Neighbourhood Watch Group has a website that you'd like linked here please contact us.