The Surf Coast Shire is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 1,553 square kilometres (600 sq mi). It had a population of 32,251 in June 2018.[1] It includes the towns of Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lorne, Moriac, Torquay and Winchelsea. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Winchelsea, Shire of Barrabool and part of the former City of South Barwon, which was, at that point, part of the City of Greater Geelong.[2][3]
| Surf Coast Shire Victoria | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Location in Victoria | |||||||||||||||
| Population | 37,623 (2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| • Density | 24.226/km2 (62.745/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1994 | ||||||||||||||
| Gazetted | 9 March 1994[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 1,553 km2 (599.6 sq mi)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Mayor | Cr Liz Pattison | ||||||||||||||
| Council seat | Torquay | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Barwon South West | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | |||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | |||||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||||
| Website | Surf Coast Shire | ||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
The Shire is governed and administered by the Surf Coast Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Torquay. The Shire is named after its location on the popular surf coast of Victoria.
Post-2008, following an electoral representation review, the decision was made to re-subdivide the municipality into four wards, the current wards are Torquay, Anglesea, Winchelsea and Lorne. Between 2004 and 2008, the Shire was an unsubdivided municipality and as a result, the entire municipality voted to elect nine councillors. Between 1996 and 2004, the municipality was subdivided into six wards, where three councillors per ward were elected from the Torquay and Anglesea wards, and one councillor per ward was elected from the Lorne, Winchelsea, Moriac and Aireys Inlet wards. A position of Deputy Mayor was created in 2004, but it was abolished for the 2005 mayoral election.
Council
editCurrent composition
editThe council is composed of four wards and nine councillors, with four councillors elected to represent the Torquay Ward, two councillors per ward elected to represent each of the Anglesea and Winchelsea wards, and one councillor elected to represent the Lorne Ward.[4]
| Ward | Councillor | Affiliation | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anglesea | Libby Stapleton | Independent | ||
| Mike Bodsworth | Independent | Deputy Mayor | ||
| Lorne | Gary Allen | Independent | ||
| Torquay | Liz Pattison | Independent | Mayor | |
| Paul Barker | Libertarian | |||
| Rose Hodge | Independent Labor | |||
| Kate Gazzard | Greens | |||
| Winchelsea | Adrian Schonfelder | Independent Labor | ||
| Heather Wellington | Independent | |||
List of former and current mayors
edit- Cr Noel Bates (1995–1997)
- Cr Henry Love (1997–1998)
- Cr Julie Hansen (1998–2000)
- Cr Mike Barrow (2000–2001)
- Cr Beth Davidson (2001–2004)
- Cr Keith Grossman (2004–2005)
- Cr Libby Mears (2005–2006)
- Cr Rose Hodge (2006–2007)
- Cr Dean Webster (2007–2008)
- Cr Libby Mears (2008–2009)
- Cr Libby Coker (2009–2010)
- Cr Dean Webster (2010–2011)
- Cr Brian McKiterick (2011–2012)
- Cr Libby Coker (2012–2013)
- Cr Rose Hodge (2013–2014)
- Cr Margot Smith (2014–2015)
- Cr Rose Hodge (2015–2016)
- Cr Brian McKiterick (2016-2017)
- Cr David Bell (2017-2018)
- Cr Rose Hodge (2018–2020)
- Cr Libby Stapleton (2020–2022)
- Cr Liz Pattison (2022–Present)
Administration and Governance
editThe council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Torquay Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its Municipal Office in Torquay.
Election results
edit2024
edit| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 12,164 | 49.67 | 5 | 
| |||
| Back to Basics Team | 5,604 | 22.88 | 22.88 | 3[a] |  3
| ||
| Greens | 4,284 | 17.49 | 0 |  1
| |||
| Independent Labor | 2,437 | 9.95 | 1 | 1
| |||
| Formal votes | 24,489 | 97.43 | |||||
| Informal votes | 648 | 2.57 | |||||
| Total | 25,137 | 100.0 | |||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 30,125 | 83.44 | |||||
2016
edit| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Libby Coker | 2,504 | 48.50 | |||
| Independent | Margot Ann Smith | 1,393 | 27.00 | |||
| Independent | Jenna Robinson | 1,268 | 24.6 | |||
| Turnout | 6,891 | 76.20% | ||||
| Labor hold | Swing | |||||
| Independent hold | Swing | |||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | Rose Hodge | 2,866 | 27.20 | |||
| Independent | David Bell | 1,962 | 18.60 | |||
| Liberal | Brian McKiterick | 1,268 | 16.00 | |||
| Greens | Marian Smedley | 1,529 | 14.50 | |||
| Independent | Martin Paul Duke | 1,522 | 14.20 | |||
| Independent | Joe Remenyi | 993 | 9.40 | |||
| Turnout | 19,367 | 68.96% | ||||
| Labor hold | Swing | |||||
| Independent hold | Swing | |||||
| Liberal hold | Swing | |||||
| Independent gain from Greens | Swing | |||||
Townships and localities
editAccording to the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 37,694, up from 29,397 in the 2016 census.[6]
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Aireys Inlet | 802 | 979 |
| Anglesea | 2,545 | 3,208 |
| Bambra | 101 | 115 |
| Barrabool | 235 | 247 |
| Bellbrae | 865 | 1,346 |
| Bells Beach | 130 | 151 |
| Benwerrin | 5 | 9 |
| Big Hill | 261 | 281 |
| Birregurra^ | 828 | 942 |
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Boonah | 21 | 18 |
| Breamlea^ | 162 | 151 |
| Buckley | 211 | 228 |
| Connewarre^ | 788 | 953 |
| Deans Marsh | 269 | 368 |
| Eastern View | 35 | 47 |
| Fairhaven | 296 | 390 |
| Freshwater Creek | 414 | 454 |
| Gherang | 370 | 391 |
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Gnarwarre | 267 | 297 |
| Inverleigh^ | 1,474 | 1,746 |
| Jan Juc | 3,683 | 4,151 |
| Lorne | 1,114 | 1,327 |
| Modewarre | 276 | 277 |
| Moggs Creek | 89 | 120 |
| Moriac | 782 | 852 |
| Mount Duneed^ | 1,578 | 6,182 |
| Mount Moriac | 240 | 251 |
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Ombersley^ | 97 | 93 |
| Paraparap | 151 | 167 |
| Pennyroyal^ | 86 | 110 |
| Torquay | 13,258 | 18,534 |
| Wensleydale | 107 | 95 |
| Winchelsea^ | 1,954 | 2,456 |
| Winchelsea South | 179 | 171 |
| Wurdiboluc | 138 | 147 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
See also
editNotes
edit- ^ Including one endorsed Libertarian Party member and one independent Libertarian member.
References
edit- ^ a b c "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
- ^ a b Victoria Government Gazette – Online Archive (1837–1997). "Orders estg the Surf Coast Shire: S8 of 1994". State Library of Victoria. State Government of Victoria (published 9 March 1994). pp. 1–9. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Victoria Government Gazette – Online Archive (1837–1997). "Order altg (Part 8) the Surf Coast Shire: S63 of 1994". State Library of Victoria. State Government of Victoria (published 23 September 1994). p. 6. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ Local Government in Victoria. "Surf Coast Shire Council". Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
- ^ "Surf Coast Shire Council election candidates". VEC. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
- ^ "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 11 January 2023.