Upper Hunter Shire
New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates32°05′S 150°51′E / 32.083°S 150.850°E / -32.083; 150.850
Population
 • Density1.8/km2 (4.7/sq mi)
Area8,096 km2 (3,125.9 sq mi)[3]
Time zoneAEST (UTC+10)
 • Summer (DST)AEDT (UTC+11)
MayorMaurice Collison[4]
Council seatScone
RegionHunter[5]
State electorate(s)Upper Hunter[6]
Federal division(s)
WebsiteUpper Hunter Shire
LGAs around Upper Hunter Shire:
Liverpool Plains Tamworth Walcha
Warrumbungle Upper Hunter Shire MidCoast Council
Mid-Western Muswellbrook Dungog

The Upper Hunter Shire is a local government area in the Upper Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed in May 2004 from the Scone Shire and parts of Murrurundi and Merriwa shires.

The mayor of the Upper Hunter Shire Council is Cr. Maurice Collison, following the sudden resignation of Wayne Bedggood as mayor and as a councillor on 9 June 2020. No reason has been given for the sudden resignation.

Council's General Manager is Greg McDonald[4]

Towns

The towns of the Upper Hunter are Scone, Parkville, Aberdeen, Murrurundi, and Merriwa, as well as several villages, including Bunnan, Gundy, Moonan Flat, Ellerston, Wingen, Blandford and Cassilis. Of the towns, only Aberdeen on the Shire's southeastern border is situated on the Hunter River.

Heritage listings

The Upper Hunter Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 13,754 people in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area, of these 49.9 percent were male and 50.1 percent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.9 percent of the population, which was higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 percent. The median age of people in the Upper Hunter Shire was 39 years, which was marginally higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.2 percent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.4 percent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 51.6 per cent were married and 11.6 per cent were either divorced or separated.[15]

Population growth in the Upper Hunter Shire between the 2006 census and the 2011 census was 6.00 percent. When compared with the total population growth of Australia for the same period, at 8.32 percent, population growth in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area was slightly lower than the national average.[16] The median weekly income for residents within the Upper Hunter Shire was marginally lower than the national average.[15]

At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 85 percent of all residents (national average was 65.2 percent). In excess of 75% of all residents in the Upper Hunter Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was considerably higher than the national average of 50.2 percent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.1 percent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 percent); and a significantly higher proportion (93.9 percent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 percent).[15]

Selected historical census data for the Upper Hunter Shire local government area
Census year20012006[16]2011[15]
PopulationEstimated residents on Census nightn/a12,97613,754
LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales
% of New South Wales population0.20%
% of Australian populationn/a0.07%Steady 0.07%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry,
top responses		Australian36.6%
English32.4%
Irish8.2%
Scottish7.9%
German2.8%
Language,
top responses
(other than English)		MandarinSteadyn/cIncrease 0.2%
Portuguesen/cIncrease 0.2%
Cantonese0.2%Decrease 0.1%
Arabicn/cIncrease 0.1%
Tagalog0.1%Steady 0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation,
top responses		Anglican41.3%Decrease 39.3%
Catholic27.2%Decrease 26.9%
No Religion9.7%Increase 13.4%
Uniting Church4.4%Decrease 5.6%
Presbyterian and ReformedDecrease 3.2%Decrease 3.3%
Median weekly incomes
Personal incomeMedian weekly personal incomeA$438A$552
% of Australian median income94.0%Increase 95.7%
Family incomeMedian weekly family incomeA$1,090A$1,392
% of Australian median income93.1%Increase 94.0%
Household incomeMedian weekly household incomeA$882A$1,071
% of Australian median income85.9%Increase 86.8%

Council

Current composition and election method

Upper Hunter Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 10 September 2016 and the makeup of the council is as follows:[17]

PartyCouncillors
  Independents and Unaligned 8
  Country Labor 1
Total 9

At the 2016 election, there were 10,094 people enrolled to vote in the local government area. The current Council, elected in 2016, in order of election, is:[17]

CouncillorVotes%
  Lee Watts 2,163 27.29%
  Maurice Collison 1,089 13.74%
  Wayne Bedggood 916 11.56%
  Ron Campbell 653 8.24%
  Sue Abbott 598 7.55%
  Josh Brown 540 6.81%
  Lorna Driscoll 492 6.21%
  Kiwa Fisher 459 5.79%
  James Burns 378 4.77%

Attractions

The Upper Hunter is the largest horse-rearing region in Australia.

The Burning Mountain Nature Reserve, near Wingen, is the site of a subterranean coal seam fire that has been burning for several thousand years.[18]

The council also owns several FM rebroadcasters of Radio National and SBS Radio, under the self-help schemes run by those broadcasters.

References

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Upper Hunter Shire (A)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
  2. ↑ "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017–18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
  3. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "2011 Community Profiles: Upper Hunter Shire (Local Government Area)". 2011 Census of Population and Housing. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  4. 1 2 "New mayor and Deputy Mayor for Upper Hunter Shire".
  5. ↑ "Suburb Search – Local Council Boundaries – Hunter (HT) – Upper Hunter Shire Council". New South Wales Division of Local Government. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  6. ↑ "Upper Hunter". New South Wales Electoral Commission. Retrieved 23 November 2019.
  7. ↑ "Ardglen Tunnel". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01021. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  8. ↑ "Cottage Museum". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00259. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  9. ↑ "Murrurundi Railway Station group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01205. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  10. ↑ "Rosedale Cottage". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00421. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  11. ↑ "Scone Civic Theatre". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01660. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  12. ↑ "Old Court Theatre". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00340. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  13. ↑ "Scone Railway Station". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01242. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  14. ↑ "Mountain House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00311. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Upper Hunter Shire (Local Government Area)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
  16. 1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Upper Hunter (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  17. 1 2 "Upper Hunter Shire Council: Summary of First Preference and Group Votes for each Candidate". Local Government Elections 2016. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  18. ↑ Krajick, Kevin (May 2005). "Fire in the hole". Smithsonian: 54ff. Retrieved 13 October 2012.
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