Renmark Paringa Council South Australia | |||||||||||||||
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![]() Location of the Renmark Paringa Council | |||||||||||||||
Population | 9,783 (LGA 2021) [1] | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 10,686/km2 (27,680/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 1996 | ||||||||||||||
Area | 915.5 km2 (353.5 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Mayor | Neil Martinson [2] | ||||||||||||||
Council seat | Renmark | ||||||||||||||
Region | Murray and Mallee [3] | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Chaffey | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Barker | ||||||||||||||
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Website | Renmark Paringa Council | ||||||||||||||
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The Renmark Paringa Council is a local government area located adjacent to the Victorian border, in the Riverland, South Australia. The area is known for its various fruit production, and is heavily dependent on the River Murray as a water source. The council seat is at Renmark. [4]
The earliest inhabitants of the district area were the Naralte aboriginal people, who lived on the food provided by the river and surrounding areas. The word 'Renmark' is thought to be derived from the Naralte word for 'red mud'. [5]
The first European to explore the district was Captain Charles Sturt who rowed a whale boat down the Murrumbidgee in 1829, searching for Australia's 'inland sea' and reached the junction with the Murray River on 14 January 1830.
The Canadian Chaffey brothers are honoured as founders of Renmark, and were invited to Australia to create an irrigation colony at Mildura. After delays in the Mildura project, an agreement for the establishment of an irrigation colony at Renmark was signed in 1887. Vineyards and fruit blocks slowly emerged throughout the district, sealing the fate of the district as a fruit and wine growing region.
In 1893, the ‘Renmark Irrigation Trust’ was established to provide water to the growers. In the early years, the Trust also played the primary role in the administration and governing of the settlement. [5]
The 'Town of Renmark' and the 'District Council of Paringa' were established not long after. [6]
The Renmark Paringa Council came into existence on 1 July 1996 with the amalgamation of the District Council of Paringa and the Town of Renmark. [7]
Renmark and Paringa are the largest towns and the centres of the district; it also contains a number of smaller towns and localities, including Chaffey, Cooltong, Crescent, Gurra Gurra, Lyrup, Mundic Creek, Murtho, Old Calperum, Pike River, Renmark South, Renmark West, Wonuarra and Yamba, and parts of Monash and Renmark North. [8]
The towns in the district are heavily reliant on irrigated orchards and vineyards, with water supplied by the river. Sheep grazing and dryland farming of various cereal crops are the main land uses east of the river, with farming and horticulture to the west of the river. [6]
While wine grape production is the most important industry, there are also large nut and citrus plantations in the region, as well as vegetable and stone fruit production. [9]
Tourism is an important component of the economy, especially during summer school holidays. The district experiences in an influx of tourists during this period, attracted mainly by the River Murray. Houseboats are common along the stretch of river in the district, with other water sports such as water skiing, jet skiing and fishing common. There is a wide range of accommodation in the district. [9]
Ward | Councillor | Notes | |
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Mayor [2] | Peter Hunter | ||
Unsubdivided [2] | Margaret Howie | ||
James John | |||
Maria Spano | |||
Ben Townsend | |||
David Sims | |||
Stephanie Brauer | |||
Jack Gibb | |||
Frank Turton | |||
The Renmark Paringa Council has a directly-elected mayor. [10]
Murray River National Park is a protected area in South Australia located between 180 kilometres (110 mi) and 240 km (150 mi) north east of the Adelaide city centre, lying along the Murray River. The national park is classified as an IUCN Category VI protected area. As of 2022 the national park comprises more than 14,879 ha, and includes a vast network of Murray River wetlands and floodplains.
Mildura is a regional city in north-west Victoria, Australia. Located on the Victorian side of the Murray River, Mildura had a population of 34,565 in 2021. When nearby Wentworth, Irymple, Nichols Point, Merbein and Red Cliffs are included, the combined urban area had a population of 58,914 in 2021, having grown marginally at an average annual rate of 1.3% year-on-year over the preceding five years.
Sturt Highway is an Australian national highway in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. It is an important road link for the transport of passengers and freight between Sydney and Adelaide and the regions along the route.
Renmark is a town in South Australia's rural Riverland area, and is located 254 km (157.83 mi) northeast of Adelaide, on the banks of the River Murray. The Sturt Highway between Adelaide and Sydney runs through the town; Renmark is the last major town encountered in South Australia when driving this route. It is a few kilometres west of the SA–Victoria and SA–NSW borders. It is 31 m (101.71 ft) above sea level.
George Chaffey was a Canadian–born engineer who with his brother William developed large parts of Southern California, including what became the community of Etiwanda and cities of Ontario, and Upland. They undertook similar developments in Australia which became the city of Mildura, and the town of Renmark and Paringa.
William Benjamin Chaffey, CMG was a Canadian engineer and irrigation planner who with his older brother George Chaffey developed what became the cities of Etiwanda, California, Ontario, California, and Upland, California in the United States of America, as well as the cities of Mildura, Victoria and the town of Renmark, South Australia, in Australia.
The Riverland is a region of South Australia. It covers an area of 9,386 square kilometres (3,624 sq mi) along the River Murray from where it flows into South Australia from New South Wales and Victoria downstream to Blanchetown. The major town centres are Renmark, Berri, Loxton, Waikerie, Barmera and Monash, and many minor townships. The population is approximately 35,000 people.
Berri is a city in the Riverland region of South Australia. It is 238 kilometres north-east of Adelaide, the capital of the state of South Australia and a few kilometres west of the SA-Victoria border. It is primarily an agricultural and viticultural city on the north bank of the Murray River. It is the original home of a juice company, Berri Ltd..
Merbein is a town just north of Mildura, Victoria, in the Sunraysia region of Australia. It is on the Calder Highway between Mildura and the Murray River crossing at the Abbotsford Bridge to Curlwaa. At the 2016 census, the town had a population of 1,981. Merbein is 12 kilometres from Mildura, 553 km from Melbourne and 389 km from Adelaide.
Loxton is a town on the south bank of the River Murray in the Riverland region of South Australia. It is located on the lands of the Erawirung people who occupied the area before the arrival of Europeans.
Paringa is a small town in the Riverland of South Australia. Paringa is famous for its vineyards, almond, citrus and stone fruit orchards, and the steel bridge with a span that can be raised to allow houseboats and paddlesteamers to pass underneath and across the Murray River to Renmark.
Irrigation is a widespread practice required in many areas of Australia, the driest inhabited continent, to supplement low rainfall with water from other sources to assist in growing crops and pasture. Overuse or poor management of irrigation is held responsible by some for environmental problems such as soil salinity and loss of habitat for native flora and fauna.
Abbotsford Bridge is a steel Allan truss-type road bridge that carries the Silver City Highway across the Murray River, between Curlwaa in New South Wales, and Yelta in Victoria, Australia. It is the only remaining steel truss bridge with a lift span that crosses the Murray. Opened in 1928, the bridge was built by the NSW Department of Public Works and was designed by Percy Allan. It was the second last vertical-lift bridge to be built over the river, the last being the Nyah Bridge, which opened in 1941.
Cooltong is a town and locality in the Australian state of South Australia.
Paruna is a town in eastern South Australia. The town is located on the Browns Well Highway, where it crosses the former Barmera railway line, 237 kilometres (147 mi) east of the state capital, Adelaide.
The Morkalla railway line was a railway in the Millewa region of north-western Victoria, Australia. It extended west from Red Cliffs railway station on the Mildura railway line into wheat farming areas established as soldier settlements after World War I.
Wonuarra is a locality southeast of Paringa in the east end of the South Australian Riverland region. The locality is east of the Sturt Highway between Paringa and Yamba and extends from the highway to the state border.
Murtho is a locality in South Australia. It is northeast of Renmark and Paringa. It is bounded by the Murray River on its north and west sides and the Victorian border on the east.
Mundic Creek is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Riverland in the state's east on the southern side of the Murray River about 217 kilometres (135 mi) north-east of the state capital of Adelaide, and about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) south-east of the municipal seat of Renmark.
Pike River is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Riverland in the state’s east on the southern side of the Murray River about 210 kilometres (130 mi) north-east of the state capital of Adelaide and about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) south-east of the municipal seat of Renmark.