Fraser Coast Region

The Fraser Coast Region is a local government area in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, Australia, about 250 km north of Brisbane, the state capital. It is centred on the twin cities of Hervey Bay and Maryborough, and also contains Fraser Island. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Cities of Maryborough and Hervey Bay and the Shires of Woocoo and most of Tiaro.

The Regional Council, which governs the Region, has an estimated operating budget of A$110 million.



History
On 10 March 1861, the Municipal Borough of Maryborough, governed under the Municipalities Act 1858 which had been inherited from New South Wales upon the separation of Queensland in 1859, was proclaimed, becoming the sixth municipal government in Queensland. Henry Palmer was appointed as its first Mayor.

On 11 November 1879, when the Divisional Boards Act 1879 came into effect, the Antigua and Burrum Divisions were created around what is now Hervey Bay, and on 15 September 1883, the Granville Division was established to serve the district surrounding Maryborough. A later division, Howard, was split away from the Division of Isis in 1900.

With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, all four divisions became Shires on 31 March 1903, and Maryborough became a Town. On 7 January 1905 Maryborough achieved City status, and a Town Hall was built on the corner of Kent and Adelaide Streets and became the administrative centre of the City.

At around this time, the Shire of Degilbo, later renamed Biggenden, split away on 3 June 1905. On 23 December 1905, Burrum was renamed Pialba.

On 17 February 1917, the Granville, Antigua and Pialba shires were dissolved, and split between a new Shire of Burrum and the Shire of Woocoo, which had been gazetted three years earlier. By the 1920s the Hervey Bay area was rapidly expanding due to continuing growth in the primary industries such as sugar cane, citrus, pineapples, beef cattle and fishing, as well as investment in transport infrastructure. In the 1950s and 1960s, population and development increased, and the coastal towns slowly merged into a single urban area.

On 20 December 1975, but effective from 27 March 1976 local government elections, the Shire of Burrum was renamed the Shire of Hervey Bay. With the new focus on the coastal region, 1086.4 km2 of its area, with an estimated population of 1,119, was annexed by the City of Maryborough, while 1269.0 km2 with an estimated population of 2,629 was annexed by the Shire of Woocoo.

In September 1977, the Shire of Hervey Bay received Town status, and on 18 February 1984 it became a City.

The Local Government (Maryborough and Woocoo) Regulation 1993, which took effect on 31 March 1994, effected the City's annexation of about 700 km2 of the Shire of Woocoo. At this time, Maryborough was resubdivided into eight divisions each with one councillor, plus an elected mayor.

On 15 March 2008, under the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the City of Hervey Bay merged with the City of Maryborough, Shire of Woocoo and part of Tiaro to form the Fraser Coast Region.



Wards
The council consists of ten councillors and a mayor, elected for a four-year term. Each of the councillors represent one of the ten divisions.

Population
The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The next census, due in 2011, will be the first for the new Region.

Current Councillors/Mayor
The mayor of the Fraser Coast Regional Council is Gerard O'Connell.

The councillors are:


 * Cr James Hansen
 * Cr Phil Truscott
 * Cr Chris Loft
 * Cr Daniel Sanderson
 * Cr Rolf Light
 * Cr Trevor McDonald
 * Cr Darren Everard
 * Cr Robert Garland
 * Cr Stuart Taylor
 * Cr George Seymour

Each of the councillors holds a portfolio relevant to an area of operation of the council.