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 and in June 2018, had a population of 23,120.

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. 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.

center|thumb|Golden Plains Shire's predecessor LGAs (green) as they were in 1993

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.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality. The current councillors are:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!Ward!!colspan="2"|Party

!Councillor

!Notes

|-

| rowspan="7"|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. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Bannockburn, and its service centre in Smythesdale.

Climate

Townships and localities

thumb|Typical scenery of the Golden Plains Shire.

In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 24,985, up from 21,688 in the 2016 census.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! colspan="3" | Population

|-

! Locality !! 2016 !! 2021

|-

| ^ || 690 || 734

|-

| || 37 || 44

|-

| || 5,283 || 6,470

|-

| || 27 || 33

|-

| ^ || 952 || 1,141

|-

| || 167 || 194

|-

| ^ || 40 || 37

|-

| || 251 || 292

|-

| || 125 || 148

|-

| || 132 || 131

|-

| ^ || 175 || 176

|-

| || 533 || 664

|-

| || 9 || 12

|-

| ^ || 392 || 408

|-

| || 538 || 574

|-

| || 123 || 131

|-

| || 155 || 132

|-

| ^ || 13 || 15

|-

| ^ || 99 || 113

|-

| || 1,194 || 1,276

|-

| || 85 || 87

|-

| || 19 || 14

|-

| || 32 || 41

|-

| ^ || 1,474 || 1,746

|-

| || 1,014 || 1,181

|-

| ^ || 580 || 635

|-

| || 80 || 65

|-

| || 223 || 211

|-

| ^ || 788 || 821

|-

| ^ || 128 || 118

|-

| ^ || 58 || 61

|-

| ^ || 9 || 15

|-

| || 69 || 94

|-

| || 131 || 132

|-

| || 553 || 555

|-

| || 122 || 189

|-

| || 173 || 168

|-

| || 37 || 17

|-

| || 48 || 14

|-

| ^ || 15 || 12

|-

| || 217 || 208

|-

| || 32 || 34

|-

| || 1,153 || 1,221

|-

| || 67 || 70

|-

| || 744 || 855

|-

| || 107 || 126

|-

| || 253 || 263

|-

| ^ || 1,467 || 1,762

|-

| ^ || 1,032 || 1,189

|-

| || 26 || 35

|-

| || 45 || 63

|-

| || 53 || 61

|-

| || 81 || 79

|-

| Stony Creek || 6 || 0

|-

| || 108 || 129

|-

| || 1,721 || 2,308

|-

| || 37 || 42

|-

| ^ || 60 || 66

|-

| || 7 || 10

|-

| ^ || 23 || 26

|}

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

See also

  • List of places of worship in Golden Plains Shire

References

  • Golden Plains Shire Council official website
  • Metlink local public transport map
  • Link to Land Victoria interactive maps