Fraser Coast Region

Fraser Coast Region
Queensland

Location within Queensland
Population 101,977 (2015 Est.)[1]
 • Density 43.284/km2 (112.105/sq mi)
Established 2008
Area 2,356 km2 (909.7 sq mi)
Mayor Chris Loft
Council seat Hervey Bay
Region Wide Bay–Burnett
State electorate(s)
Federal Division(s)
Website Fraser Coast Region
LGAs around Fraser Coast Region:
Bundaberg Bundaberg Coral Sea
North Burnett Fraser Coast Region Coral Sea
Gympie Gympie Gympie

The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay–Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about 250 kilometres (160 mi) north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough, and also contains Fraser Island. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay and the Shires of Woocoo and most of Tiaro.

The 2015-2016 budget of the Fraser Coast Regional Council is A$150 million.[2]

Eli Creek is the largest creek on the eastern beach of Fraser Island

History

Prior to the 2008 amalgamation, the Fraser Coast Region existed as four distinct local government areas:

On 10 March 1861, the Municipal Borough of Maryborough, governed under the Municipalities Act 1858 which had been inherited from New South Wales upon the separation of Queensland in 1859, was proclaimed, becoming the sixth municipal government in Queensland. Henry Palmer was appointed as its first Mayor.

On 11 November 1879, when the Divisional Boards Act 1879 came into effect, the Antigua and Burrum Divisions were created around what is now Hervey Bay, and on 15 September 1883, the Granville Division was established to serve the district surrounding Maryborough. A later division, Howard, was split away from the Division of Isis in 1900.

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, all four divisions became Shires on 31 March 1903, and Maryborough became a Town. On 7 January 1905 Maryborough achieved City status, and a Town Hall was built on the corner of Kent and Adelaide Streets and became the administrative centre of the City.

At around this time, the Shire of Degilbo, later renamed Biggenden, split away on 3 June 1905. On 23 December 1905, Burrum was renamed Pialba.

On 17 February 1917, the Granville, Antigua and Pialba shires were dissolved, and split between a new Shire of Burrum and the Shire of Woocoo, which had been gazetted three years earlier. By the 1920s the Hervey Bay area was rapidly expanding due to continuing growth in the primary industries such as sugar cane, citrus, pineapples, beef cattle and fishing, as well as investment in transport infrastructure. In the 1950s and 1960s, population and development increased, and the coastal towns slowly merged into a single urban area.

On 20 December 1975, but effective from 27 March 1976 local government elections, the Shire of Burrum was renamed the Shire of Hervey Bay. With the new focus on the coastal region, 1,086.4 km2 (419.5 sq mi) of its area, with an estimated population of 1,119, was annexed by the City of Maryborough, while 1,269.0 km2 (490.0 sq mi) with an estimated population of 2,629 was annexed by the Shire of Woocoo.

In September 1977, the Shire of Hervey Bay received Town status, and on 18 February 1984 it became a City.

The Local Government (Maryborough and Woocoo) Regulation 1993, which took effect on 31 March 1994, effected the City's annexation of about 700 km2 (270 sq mi) of the Shire of Woocoo. At this time, Maryborough was resubdivided into eight divisions each with one councillor, plus an elected mayor.

On 15 March 2008, under the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the City of Hervey Bay merged with the City of Maryborough, Shire of Woocoo and part of Tiaro to form the Fraser Coast Region.[3]

Urangan Seawall, Pier in the background, Urangan
The Esplanade, Urangan
Giant whale sculpture at Hervey Bay

Wards

The council consists of ten councillors and a mayor, elected for a four-year term. Each of the councillors represent one of the ten divisions.

Towns and localities

The Fraser Coast Region includes the following settlements:

Urban Hervey Bay:

  • Booral
  • Bunya Creek
  • Craignish
  • Dundowran
  • Dundowran Beach
  • Eli Waters
  • Kawungan
  • Nikenbah
  • Pialba
  • Point Vernon
  • Scarness
  • Sunshine Acres
  • Susan River
  • Takura
  • Toogoom
  • Torquay
  • Urangan
  • Urraween
  • Walligan
  • Wondunna

Rural Hervey Bay:

Maryborough area:

Woocoo area:

North Tiaro - Division 1 area:

  • Tiaro
  • Blackmount
  • Pioneers Rest
  • St Mary
  • Thinoomba

North Tiaro - Division 2 area:

1 - split with Gympie Region

Population

The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The last census, in 2011, was the first for the new Region.

Year Population
(Region total)		 Population
(Maryborough)		 Population
(Hervey Bay)		 Population
(Woocoo)		 Population
(Tiaro)
1933 22,170 11,415 6,835 777 3,143
1947 26,453 14,395 8,642 750 2,666
1954 29,587 17,952 8,408 660 2,567
1961 30,962 19,126 8,991 640 2,205
1966 31,607 19,659 9,271 567 2,110
1971 32,347 19,257 10,737 491 1,862
1976 37,118 21,527 10,304 3,412 1,875
1981 44,454 21,530 16,402 4,456 2,066
1986 48,308 22,430 20,660 2,700 2,518
1991 60,560 22,977 30,867 3,429 3,287
1996 74,210 24,681 42,391 2,902 4,236
2001 77,837 24,465 45,959 2,964 4,449
2006 90,806 25,705 56,427 3,351 5,323
2011 95,312

Current Councillors/Mayor

The mayor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council is Chris Loft elected in March 2016.[5]

As at 2016, the councillors are:[6]

Each of the councillors holds a portfolio relevant to an area of operation of the council.

List of mayors

See also

References

  1. ↑ "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2014–15". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Striking the balance: budget 2015-2015" (PDF). Fraser Coast Regional Council. Retrieved 4 October 2015.
  3. ↑ Queensland Local Government Reform Commission (July 2007). Report of the Local Government Reform Commission (PDF). 2. pp. 129–135. ISBN 1-921057-11-4. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  4. ↑ "Duckinwilla (entry 46644)". Queensland Place Names. Queensland Government. Retrieved 13 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 "2016 Fraser Coast Regional Council - Mayoral Election - Election Summary". results.ecq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  6. ↑ "2016 Fraser Coast Regional Council - Councillor Election - Election Summary". Electoral Commission of Queensland. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 6 November 2016.
  7. ↑ "2008 Fraser Coast Regional Council - Mayoral Election - Election Summary". results.ecq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
  8. ↑ "2012 Fraser Coast Regional Council - Mayoral Election - Election Summary". results.ecq.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 4 April 2016.

External links

Coordinates: 25°17′28.5″S 152°49′51.3″E / 25.291250°S 152.830917°E / -25.291250; 152.830917

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