Alpine Shire
Local government area in Victoria, Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Alpine Shire is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of 4,788 square kilometres (1,849 mi2) and in August 2021 had a population of 13,235.[4]
Alpine Shire | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location in Victoria | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||
| Region | Hume | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1994 | ||||||||||||
| Council seat | Bright | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Mayor | Cr Sarah Nicholas | ||||||||||||
| • State electorate | |||||||||||||
| • Federal division | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 4,788 km2 (1,849 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 13,235 (2021 census)[2] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 2.7642/km2 (7.1593/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Gazetted | 18 November 1994[3] | ||||||||||||
| Website | Alpine Shire | ||||||||||||
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It includes the towns of Bright, Dinner Plain, Harrietville, Mount Beauty, Myrtleford and Porepunkah. There are two unincorporated areas surrounded by the shire: the Mount Hotham and Falls Creek Alpine Resorts.
The Shire is governed and administered by the Alpine Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Bright. It also has service centres located in Dinner Plain, Mount Beauty and Myrtleford.
Over 90% of the Shire is public land.[5] The Shire is home to two major national parks, the Alpine National Park and Mount Buffalo National Park.[6] The Shire's economy is based on tourism, agriculture and forestry.[6]
History
The Alpine Shire was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Bright, the Shire of Myrtleford, the Gapsted and northern Mudgegonga districts of the United Shire of Beechworth, the Merriang district and the Buffalo Valley west of the Buffalo River from the Shire of Oxley, the Dederang district of the Shire of Yackandandah, and the Dinner Plain district of the Shire of Omeo.[3][7]
🞲 The Falls Creek and Mount Hotham Alpine Resorts were excised in 1997[8]
Council
Current composition
The council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality.[9][10]
| Ward | Councillor | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unsubdivided | Sarah Nicholas | ||
| Peter Smith | |||
| John Andersen | |||
| Dave Byrne | |||
| Gareth Graham | |||
| Jean-Pierre Ronco | |||
| Noah Tanzen | |||
Administration and governance
The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Bright Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities.[11] It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Bright, and its service centres in Dinner Plain, Mount Beauty and Myrtleford.
2020 election results
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | Ron Janas (elected 1) | 1,525 | 17.15 | ||
| Independent | Kelli Prime (elected 2) | 1,157 | 13.01 | ||
| Independent | Tony Keeble (elected 3) | 973 | 10.94 | ||
| Animal Justice | Charlie Vincent (elected 4) | 812 | 9.13 | +9.13 | |
| Independent | Katarina Chalwell (elected 5) | 749 | 8.42 | ||
| Independent | Sarah Nicholas (elected 6) | 642 | 7.22 | ||
| Independent | John Forsyth (elected 7) | 604 | 7.29 | ||
| Independent | Daryl Pearce | 521 | 5.86 | ||
| Independent | Simon Kelley | 506 | 5.69 | ||
| Independent | Mario Vaccaro | 483 | 5.43 | ||
| Independent | Mickey Fletcher | 430 | 4.84 | ||
| Independent | Kitty Knappstein | 284 | 3.19 | ||
| Independent | Jean-Pierre Ronco | 205 | 2.31 | ||
| Total formal votes | 8,891 | 95.04 | |||
| Informal votes | 464 | 4.96 | |||
| Turnout | 9,355 | 83.76 | |||
Townships and localities
In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 13,235, up from 12,337 in the 2016 national census.[14]
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Dinner Plain | 230 | 128 |
| Eurobin | 212 | 239 |
| Falls Creek | 293 | 326 |
| Freeburgh | 110 | 136 |
| Gapsted | 173 | 156 |
| Germantown | 0 | 0 |
| Glen Creek | 54 | 59 |
| Gundowring^ | 214 | 208 |
| Harrietville | 338 | 488 |
| Havilah | 21 | 22 |
| Hotham Heights | 196 | 128 |
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Kancoona | 84 | 74 |
| Kergunyah South | 58 | 76 |
| Merriang | 178 | 182 |
| Merriang South | 41 | 43 |
| Mongans Bridge | 35 | 49 |
| Mount Beauty | 824 | 910 |
| Mount Buffalo | 0 | 5 |
| Mudgegonga | 172 | 184 |
| Myrtleford | 3,193 | 3,285 |
| Nug Nug | 21 | 36 |
| Ovens | 219 | 197 |
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Porepunkah | 941 | 1,024 |
| Rosewhite | 134 | 141 |
| Running Creek | 42 | 36 |
| Selwyn | 0 | 0 |
| Smoko | 46 | 56 |
| Tawonga | 574 | 568 |
| Tawonga South | 862 | 1,012 |
| Upper Gundowring | 99 | 120 |
| Wandiligong | 453 | 522 |
| Wongungarra^ | 0 | 0 |
| Wonnangatta | 0 | 0 |
^ – Territory divided with another LGA
