Surf Coast Shire

Surf Coast Shire Victoria
Location in Victoria
Population	25,458(2009)[1]
Established	1994
Area	1,560 km² (602.3 sq mi)
Mayor	Libby Coker
Council seat	Torquay, Victoria
Website	www.surfcoast.vic.gov.au
LGAs around Surf Coast Shire: Golden Plains Golden Plains Greater Geelong Colac Otway Surf Coast Shire Bass Strait Colac Otway Bass Strait Bass Strait

Surf Coast Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the southern part of the state, near Geelong. It includes the towns of Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lorne, Moriac, Torquay and Winchelsea. It has an area of 1,553 square kilometres. It had a population of 24,124 in 2006. The mayor is Libby Coker and has a majority of female councillors for the first time in its history in 2012..

The shire was formed in 1994, as part of the local government amalgamations that occurred under then-Premier Jeff Kennett. Most of the former Winchelsea Shire, the Barrabool Shire, and the Torquay section of the former City of South Barwon, which was, at that point, part of the City of Greater Geelong, was merged into the new shire. Its first elections were held in 1995.

It is currently one of only a handful of municipalities in Victoria to be unsubdivided. As a result, the entire municipality votes to elect the nine councillors. This was preceded by a ward system where three councillors were elected from Torquay, three from Anglesea and one from Lorne, Winchelsea, Moriac and Aireys Inlet respectively, which was abolished before the 2004 council elections. A position of Deputy Mayor briefly existed from 2004 to 2005, but was abolished for the 2005 mayoral election.

The operation of the shire has been controversial in recent years. In the late 1990s, it set up a business arm, SurfLink, in an attempt to supplement its funding. The effort failed, and the business closed some years afterwards. There were inconsistencies in the accounting, and a large sum of money was missing. However, two state government inquiries failed to come to any conclusions. In addition to the SurfLink saga, the shire is also deeply in debt, which they have only recently begun to address.

2008 council election voting [edit]

The first preference votes only for the Surf Coast Shire candidates are listed in numerical order. Outgoing Mayor, Cr Dean Webster claimed the most primary votes.

• WEBSTER, Dean (2,339)
• COKER, Libby (2,279)
• MEARS, Libby (2,181)
• SCHROETER, Lindsay (1,936)
• NORTHEAST, Simon (1,806)
• HODGE, Rose (1,574)
• McKITERICK, Brian (1,487)
• TUTT, Jim (1,311)
• REMENYI, Joe (967)
• LEWIS, Michael (797)
• KERR, Garry (731)
• HUMPHREY, Ron (706)
• FOORD, Rodney (566)
• FOSS, John (408)
• WAPSHOTT, Elizabeth (356)

Current council [edit]

The council is composed of nine councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality.^[2]

• Cr Libby Coker (2008)
• Cr Rose Hodge (2004)
• Cr Ron Humphrey (2004-2008, 2010)
• Cr Brian McKiterick (2008)
• Cr Libby Mears (2004)
• Cr Simon Northeast (2008)
• Cr Joe Remenyi (2008)
• Cr Jim Tutt (2004)
• Cr Dean Webster (2004)

Mayors [edit]

• 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)

See also [edit]

List of localities (Victoria)

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Official website
• [1]
• Metlink local public transport map
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
• The Anglesea & District Historical Society Inc.

Coordinates: 38°18′00″S 144°00′00″E / 38.30000°S 144.00000°E / -38.30000; 144.00000