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Shire of Baw Baw

Field	Value
type	lga
name	Shire of Baw Baw
state	vic
image	Australia Victoria Baw Baw Shire.svg
caption	Location in Victoria
pop	57626
pop_year	2021
pop_footnotes
area	4028
area_footnotes
est	1994
gazetted	2 December 1994
mayor	Cr Annemarie McCabe
seat	Warragul
region	Gippsland
url	http://www.bawbawshire.vic.gov.au/
logo	BawBaw shire logo.png
stategov	Narracan
fedgov	*Monash
near-nw	Yarra Ranges
near-n	Mansfield
near-ne	Wellington
near-w	Cardinia
near-e	Latrobe
near-sw	South Gippsland
near-s	South Gippsland
near-se	Latrobe

Note

the local government area in Victoria

Gippsland | near-nw = Yarra Ranges | near-n = Mansfield | near-ne = Wellington | near-w = Cardinia | near-e = Latrobe | near-sw = South Gippsland | near-s = South Gippsland | near-se = Latrobe

The Shire of Baw Baw () is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, in the eastern part of the state. It covers an area of 4028 km2 and in 2021 had a population of 57,626. It includes the towns of Drouin, Longwarry, Neerim South, Trafalgar, Warragul and Yarragon.

The shire is governed and administered by the Baw Baw Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Drouin, and it has a service centre located in Warragul. The shire is named after the major geographical feature in the region, the Baw Baw Plateau; Mount Baw Baw is the second highest peak in the region. An unincorporated area, the Mount Baw Baw Alpine Resort, is enclaved within the shire.

History

The Shire was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Buln Buln, Shire of Narracan, Rural City of Warragul, and the part of the Shire of Upper Yarra that lay in the Thomson River catchment.

Location and geography

The more densely populated southern half of the shire consists of low rolling hills given over primarily to dairy farming and other agriculture. The northern half lies in the Great Dividing Range and its foothills, where forestry remains an important industry. Tourism is also important in the region, aided by its proximity to and easy access from Melbourne. The shire is known for its rural scenery and natural environment, as well as gourmet foods and wines. The historic gold-mining town of Walhalla is located in the northeast of the shire is a major tourist drawcard. The major electricity-producing region of the Latrobe Valley lies immediately to the shire's east and south.

Many of the shire's larger towns are located along the Princes Highway and Gippsland railway line, which cross the southern part of the shire. From west to east these include: Longwarry, Drouin, Warragul, Darnum, Yarragon, and Trafalgar. North of Warragul are Buln Buln, Neerim South, and Noojee, while south of Trafalgar in the Strzelecki Ranges lies the town of Thorpdale. The towns of Rawson, Erica, and Parkers Corner are located near Walhalla amongst the foothills of the Baw Baw Plateau. Aberfeldy is located in the far north east of the shire above the Thomson Dam, which supplies 50% of Melbourne's water.

Council

Composition up to November 2016

The council was composed of four wards and nine councillors, with three councillors elected to represent the Warragul Ward and two councillors per remaining ward elected to represent each of the other wards.

Ward	Councillor	Notes
Drouin		Independent	Tricia Jones
	Independent	Terry Williamson
Mount Worth		Independent	Murray Cook
	Independent	Peter Kostos
North		Independent	David Balfour
	Independent	Deborah Brown	Mayor 2014/2015
Warragul		Independent	Joe Gauci
	Independent	Gerard Murphy
	Independent	Mikaela Power

Composition November 2016 to November 2020

The council was changed to a three-ward structure with three councillors per ward, with the new council sworn in on 2 November 2016. The new wards are West [660sq km] (primarily Drouin with some rural areas north/south), Central [66sq km] (Warragul town) and East [3,302sq km] making up the balance of the shire.

Ward	Councillor	Notes
West		Independent	Tricia Jones
	Independent	Keith Cook
	Independent	Jessica O'Donnell
East		Independent	Michael Leaney
	Independent	Peter Kostos
	Independent	Darren Wallace
Central		Independent	Danny Goss
	Independent	Mikaela Power	Mayor 2018/19
	Independent	Joe Gauci	Mayor 2016/2017 and 2017/18

Current composition

The council's three-ward structure continued with three councillors per ward, with the new council sworn in on 18 November 2020. The wards are West [660sq km] (primarily Drouin with some rural areas north/south), Central [66sq km] (based on Warragul) and East [3,302sq km] making up the balance of the shire.

Ward	Councillor	Notes
West		Independent	Tricia Jones
	Independent	Ben Lucas	[resigned June 2021] replaced by Keith Cook
	Independent	Annemarie McCabe	Mayor 2022/2023, 2023/2024
East		Independent	Michael Leaney
	Independent	Peter Kostos
	Independent	Darren Wallace
Central		Independent	Danny Goss
	Independent	Jazmin Tauru
	Independent	Joe Gauci	[resigned May 2023] replaced by Farhat Firdous]

Administration and governance

The council meets monthly in the Fountain Room of the West Gippsland Arts Centre. The council's administrative activities are centred in Drouin in the former offices of the Buln Buln Shire. It also provides customer services at both Warragul and the council offices in Drouin. Service centres in Trafalgar and on Smith Street in Warragul were closed in 2015.

Townships and localities

In the 2021 census, the shire's population was 57,626, up from 48,479 in the 2016 census.

Population	Locality	2016
	0	7
	0	0
	19	24
^	95	96
	76	61
	0	4
	122	147
	0	0
	109	107
	0	0
	100	94
	17	14
	548	551
	164	182
	19	16
	106	91
	192	178
	49	55
	*	#
	158	161
	751	759
^	32	37
	12,349	15,287
	182	177
	335	343
	330	361
	236	229
	191	184
	37	48
	11	11
	67	65
	45	61

Population	Locality	2016
	0	0
	126	136
^	161	189
	166	171
	11	28
	23	28
	0	0
	491	584
	356	386
	117	110
	86	94
	0	0
^	2,004	2,436
	215	230
^	148	169
^	8,778	9,375
^	541	529
	46	49
	90	85
^	253	262
	75	70
	200	218
	192	196
	127	139
	42	41
	1,305	1,599
	342	410
	319	344
	157	177
^	1,527	1,644
	46	52
^	82	88

Population	Locality	2016
^	186	202
	296	296
	221	268
	180	213
	125	140
	180	186
^	89	107
	0	0
	14	7
^	544	540
	66	93
	*	#
	0	0
	471	475
^	30	27
	0	0
^	989	1,085
^	0	0
	50	49
	3,912	4,349
	426	401
	276	305
^	62	87
	42	50
^	20	35
	15,757	19,856
	253	280
	19	33
	157	163
	590	654
^	1,545	1,511
	1,650	1,893
	164	204

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

***** - Not noted in 2016 Census

# - Not noted in 2021 Census

References

{{Census 2021 AUS
(27 March 2019). "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". [[Australian Bureau of Statistics]].
Victoria Government Gazette – Online Archive. (1837–1997). "S94 of 1994: Order estg (Part 3) the Shire of Baw Baw". State Government of Victoria.
"Mayor and Councillors".
Segon, Michael. (2022-01-20). "Mt Buller's snow business". Routledge.
Local Government in Victoria. "Baw Baw Shire Council". State Government of Victoria.
"Customer Service Centre Locations".
(11 January 2023). "Census {{!}} Australian Bureau of Statistics".

Info: Wikipedia Source

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