thumb|Aerial views of the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia.
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 . It had a population of 32,251 in June 2018.
In March 1994, the Surf Coast Shire was formed from the amalgamation of the Torquay/Jan Juc area from Greater Geelong, the remainder of the Shire of Barrabool, and the Shire of Winchelsea (less the Birregurra and Barwon Downs districts, which were lost to the Shire of Colac).
center|thumb|The Surf Coast Shire's predecessor LGAs (green) as at the beginning of 1993. The administrative centres of the former LGAs are marked by green dots.
Representation and structure
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
Current composition
The council is composed of three wards electing three councillors each.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Ward!!colspan="2"|Councillor!!Affiliation!!Notes
|-
| rowspan="3" |Otway Range Ward
| | || Mike Bodsworth || Independent ||Mayor
|-
| | || Libby Stapleton || Independent ||Deputy Mayor
|-
| | || Leon Walker || Independent ||
|-
| rowspan="3"|Torquay
| | || Paul Barker || Libertarian ||
|-
| | || Liz Pattison || Independent ||
|-
| | || Phoebe Crockett || Greens ||
|-
| rowspan="3" |Winchelsea
| |
|Joel Grist
|Independent Libertarian
|
|-
| | || Tony Phelps || Independent ||
|-
| | || Adrian Schonfelder || Independent Labor ||
|}
List of former and current mayors
- 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 (2022–2024)
Administration and Governance
The 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
2024
2016
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; margin-bottom:0"
|+Surf Coast Shire: Anglesea Ward
! style="width:10px" colspan=3 | Party
! style="width:300x;"| Candidate
! style="width:300x;"| Votes
! style="width:40px;"| %
! style="width:40px;"| ±%
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Labor
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Libby Coker
| 2,504
| style="width:40px;"| 48.50
| style="width:40px;"|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Independent
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Margot Ann Smith
| style="width:40px;"| 1,393
| style="width:40px;"| 27.00
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Independent
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Jenna Robinson
| style="width:40px;"| 1,268
| style="width:40px;"| 24.6
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Labor hold
| style="width:40px;"| Swing
| style="width:40px;"|
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Independent hold
| style="width:40px;"| Swing
| style="width:40px;"|
|
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right; margin-bottom:0"
|+Surf Coast Shire: Torquay Ward
! style="width:10px" colspan=3 | Party
! style="width:300x;"| Candidate
! style="width:300x;"| Votes
! style="width:40px;"| %
! style="width:40px;"| ±%
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Labor
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Rose Hodge
| 2,866
| style="width:40px;"| 27.20
| style="width:40px;"|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Independent
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| David Bell
| style="width:40px;"| 1,962
| style="width:40px;"| 18.60
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Liberal
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Brian McKiterick
| style="width:40px;"| 1,268
| style="width:40px;"| 16.00
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Greens
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Marian Smedley
| 1,529
| 14.50
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Independent
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Martin Paul Duke
| 1,522
| 14.20
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="2"| Independent
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="1"| Joe Remenyi
| 993
| 9.40
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Labor hold
| style="width:40px;"| Swing
| style="width:40px;"|
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Independent hold
| style="width:40px;"| Swing
| style="width:40px;"|
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Liberal hold
| style="width:40px;"| Swing
| style="width:40px;"|
|
|-
| |
| style="text-align:left;" colspan="3"| Independent gain from Greens
| style="width:40px;"| Swing
| style="width:40px;"|
|
|}
Townships and localities
According to the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 37,694, up from 29,397 in the 2016 census.
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan="3" | Population
|-
! Locality !! 2016 !! 2021
|-
| || 802 || 979
|-
| || 2,545 || 3,208
|-
| || 101 || 115
|-
| || 235 || 247
|-
| || 865 || 1,346
|-
| || 130 || 151
|-
| || 5 || 9
|-
| Big Hill || 261 || 281
|-
| ^ || 828 || 942
|-
| || 21 || 18
|-
| ^ || 162 || 151
|-
| || 211 || 228
|-
| ^ || 788 || 953
|-
| || 269 || 368
|-
| || 35 || 47
|-
| || 296 || 390
|-
| || 414 || 454
|-
| || 370 || 391
|-
| || 267 || 297
|-
| ^ || 1,474 || 1,746
|-
| || 3,683 || 4,151
|-
| || 1,114 || 1,327
|-
| || 276 || 277
|-
| || 89 || 120
|-
| || 782 || 852
|-
| ^ || 1,578 || 6,182
|-
| || 240 || 251
|-
| ^ || 97 || 93
|-
| || 151 || 167
|-
| ^ || 86 || 110
|-
| || 13,258 || 18,534
|-
| || 107 || 95
|-
| ^ || 1,954 || 2,456
|-
| || 179 || 171
|-
| || 138 || 147
|}
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
See also
- List of localities (Victoria)
- List of places of worship in Surf Coast Shire
Notes
References
External links
- Surf Coast Shire Council official website
- Great Ocean Road Journey, Victoria, Australia (replaces the Surf Coast Tourist website)
- Metlink local public transport map
- Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
- The Anglesea & District Historical Society Inc.