Golden Plains Shire
Local government area in Victoria, Australia
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The Golden Plains Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central-western part of the state. It covers an area of 2,703 square kilometres (1,044 mi2) and in June 2018, had a population of 23,120.[2] It includes the towns of Bannockburn, Inverleigh, Lethbridge, Linton, Meredith, Rokewood, Smythesdale and Teesdale.
Golden Plains Shire | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Location in Victoria | |||||||||||||
 | |||||||||||||
| Country | Australia | ||||||||||||
| State | Victoria | ||||||||||||
| Region | Grampians | ||||||||||||
| Established | 1994 | ||||||||||||
| Council seat | Bannockburn | ||||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||||
| • Mayor | Cr Owen Sharkey[1] | ||||||||||||
| • State electorates | |||||||||||||
| • Federal divisions | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 2,703 km2 (1,044 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||||
| • Total | 23,120 (2018)[2] | ||||||||||||
| • Density | 8.553/km2 (22.153/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Gazetted | 6 May 1994[3] | ||||||||||||
| Website | Golden Plains Shire | ||||||||||||
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The Shire is governed and administered by the Golden Plains Shire Council. Its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the Golden Plains Civic Centre in Bannockburn, and it also has a service centre located in Smythesdale.[4]
History
The Shire was formed on 6 May 1994 by the amalgamation of the Shire of Bannockburn (specifically, the territory remaining after part of that Shire was absorbed into the new City of Greater Geelong in May 1993), the Shire of Leigh, the bulk of the Shire of Grenville and part of the Shire of Buninyong.[3] Upon its creation, it was known as the Southern Rural Shire and was intended to exist temporarily until the Local Government Board drew up final council boundaries for the Ballarat region.[5] However, a few months later it was decided to make the municipality permanent, and it was renamed to Golden Plains Shire on 1 October 1994.[6][7]
In 2025, based on Victorian government statistics for the year ending September 2025, measured by the criminal incident rate per 100,000 population, Golden Plains had the lowest crime rate of any Victorian municipality.[8]
Council
Current composition
The council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality. The current councillors are:
| Ward | Party | Councillor | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unsubdivided | Independent | Sarah Hayden | ||
| Independent | Des Phelan | |||
| Independent | Emma Robbins | Deputy Mayor | ||
| Independent | Helena Kirby | |||
| Independent | Owen Sharkey | Mayor | ||
| Greens | Gavin Gamble | |||
| Independent | Dom Cook | |||
Administration and governance
The council meets on alternate months in the council chamber at the Golden Plains Civic Centre in Bannockburn, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities, and at The Well in Smythesdale.[9] It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Bannockburn, and its service centre in Smythesdale.
Climate
| Climate data for She Oaks (She Oaks 1991–2020, records 1990–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 43.7 (110.7) |
45.2 (113.4) |
39.3 (102.7) |
33.4 (92.1) |
26.6 (79.9) |
23.6 (74.5) |
20.8 (69.4) |
23.2 (73.8) |
28.4 (83.1) |
35.2 (95.4) |
39.1 (102.4) |
42.0 (107.6) |
45.2 (113.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26.1 (79.0) |
25.5 (77.9) |
23.1 (73.6) |
19.3 (66.7) |
15.6 (60.1) |
12.9 (55.2) |
12.3 (54.1) |
13.3 (55.9) |
15.5 (59.9) |
18.4 (65.1) |
21.2 (70.2) |
23.8 (74.8) |
18.9 (66.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 19.3 (66.7) |
19.2 (66.6) |
17.2 (63.0) |
14.1 (57.4) |
11.5 (52.7) |
9.2 (48.6) |
8.7 (47.7) |
9.3 (48.7) |
10.9 (51.6) |
12.9 (55.2) |
15.2 (59.4) |
17.2 (63.0) |
13.7 (56.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 12.4 (54.3) |
12.8 (55.0) |
11.2 (52.2) |
8.8 (47.8) |
7.3 (45.1) |
5.5 (41.9) |
5.1 (41.2) |
5.3 (41.5) |
6.2 (43.2) |
7.3 (45.1) |
9.1 (48.4) |
10.5 (50.9) |
8.5 (47.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.0 (35.6) |
2.9 (37.2) |
−0.9 (30.4) |
−2.2 (28.0) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−3.5 (25.7) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
−3.1 (26.4) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
−1.8 (28.8) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
−0.6 (30.9) |
−4.2 (24.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 34.3 (1.35) |
39.9 (1.57) |
24.6 (0.97) |
38.8 (1.53) |
38.3 (1.51) |
41.8 (1.65) |
40.8 (1.61) |
43.8 (1.72) |
48.2 (1.90) |
51.9 (2.04) |
59.5 (2.34) |
30.6 (1.20) |
493.6 (19.43) |
| Average rainy days | 7.4 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 11.1 | 14.8 | 15.7 | 17.5 | 17.0 | 15.7 | 13.1 | 10.3 | 8.5 | 146.9 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 47 | 48 | 49 | 54 | 66 | 72 | 70 | 65 | 63 | 58 | 56 | 48 | 58 |
| Source: [10] | |||||||||||||
Townships and localities
In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 24,985, up from 21,688 in the 2016 census.[11]
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Anakie^ | 690 | 734 |
| Bamganie | 37 | 44 |
| Bannockburn | 5,283 | 6,470 |
| Barunah Park | 27 | 33 |
| Batesford^ | 952 | 1,141 |
| Berringa | 167 | 194 |
| Berrybank^ | 40 | 37 |
| Cambrian Hill | 251 | 292 |
| Cape Clear | 125 | 148 |
| Corindhap | 132 | 131 |
| Cressy^ | 175 | 176 |
| Dereel | 533 | 664 |
| Durdidwarrah | 9 | 12 |
| Durham Lead^ | 392 | 408 |
| Enfield | 538 | 574 |
| Garibaldi | 123 | 131 |
| Gheringhap | 155 | 132 |
| Glengower^ | 13 | 15 |
| Grenville^ | 99 | 113 |
| Haddon | 1,194 | 1,276 |
| Happy Valley | 85 | 87 |
| Hesse | 19 | 14 |
| Illabarook | 32 | 41 |
| Inverleigh^ | 1,474 | 1,746 |
| Lethbridge | 1,014 | 1,181 |
| Linton^ | 580 | 635 |
| Mannibadar | 80 | 65 |
| Maude | 223 | 211 |
| Meredith^ | 788 | 821 |
| Morrisons^ | 128 | 118 |
| Mount Bute^ | 58 | 61 |
| Mount Cameron^ | 9 | 15 |
| Mount Mercer | 69 | 94 |
| Murgheboluc | 131 | 132 |
| Napoleons | 553 | 555 |
| Newtown | 122 | 189 |
| Nintingbool | 173 | 168 |
| Piggoreet | 37 | 17 |
| Pitfield | 48 | 14 |
| Pittong^ | 15 | 12 |
| Rokewood | 217 | 208 |
| Rokewood Junction | 32 | 34 |
| Ross Creek | 1,153 | 1,221 |
| Russells Bridge | 67 | 70 |
| Scarsdale | 744 | 855 |
| She Oaks | 107 | 126 |
| Shelford | 253 | 263 |
| Smythes Creek^ | 1,467 | 1,762 |
| Smythesdale^ | 1,032 | 1,189 |
| Springdallah | 26 | 35 |
| Staffordshire Reef | 45 | 63 |
| Steiglitz | 53 | 61 |
| Stonehaven | 81 | 79 |
| Stony Creek | 6 | 0 |
| Sutherlands Creek | 108 | 129 |
| Teesdale | 1,721 | 2,308 |
| Wallinduc | 37 | 42 |
| Werneth^ | 60 | 66 |
| Willowvale | 7 | 10 |
| Wingeel^ | 23 | 26 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA