West Coast Council Tasmania | |||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Coordinates | 42°17′54″S145°37′44″E / 42.2984°S 145.6289°E Coordinates: 42°17′54″S145°37′44″E / 42.2984°S 145.6289°E | ||||||||||||||
Population | 4,263 (2021) [1] | ||||||||||||||
• Density | 0.44480/km2 (1.15204/sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
Established | 2 April 1993 [2] | ||||||||||||||
Area | 9,584 km2 (3,700.4 sq mi) [3] | ||||||||||||||
Mayor | Shane Pitt | ||||||||||||||
Council seat | Queenstown | ||||||||||||||
Region | West Coast | ||||||||||||||
State electorate(s) | Braddon | ||||||||||||||
Federal division(s) | Braddon | ||||||||||||||
Website | West Coast Council | ||||||||||||||
|
West Coast Council is a local government body in Tasmania, covering much of the western region of the state. West Coast is classified as a rural local government area and has a population of 4,167. [3] The major towns and localities of the region include Strahan, Rosebery, Zeehan and the principal town of Queenstown.
The West Coast has a rich mining and railway heritage as well as a historic convict settlement. It is the largest of the 29 Tasmanian councils by area, and the second least densely populated, after the Central Highlands. It takes in the West Coast Range as well as portions of the World Heritage areas.
The region experiences relatively extreme weather conditions, notably high yearly rainfall totals due to frontal systems, especially at Lake Margaret and Mount Read.
West Coast is classified as rural, agricultural and medium (RAM) under the Australian Classification of Local Governments. [4]
Local government in Western Tasmania evolved from locality based councils created in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries:
On 2 April 1993, the municipalities of Lyell, Strahan and Zeehan were amalgamated to form the West Coast Council. [2] [10]
Historically the region was more oriented towards the North - due to the main transport being by either rail to Burnie up until the 1950s and 1960s, or by ship out of Strahan until the mid twentieth century. There were no land based transport routes to the south. Consequently, many residents who could afford shopping trips would go to Melbourne in Victoria, rather than Hobart in Tasmania.[ citation needed ]
Some of the small population is located in the small cluster of towns near Macquarie Harbour - Strahan and Queenstown, these were linked in their connection with the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company
While further north Zeehan and Rosebery are settlements that developed from early quite separate mining operations, but were linked by their reliance upon the Emu Bay Railway There a number of ghost towns or abandoned mining communities in the West Coast, with some such as Crotty actually submerged under hydro-electric scheme dams.
As of the 2022 Tasmanian Local Government elections, the council consists of the following members: [11]
Name | Position | Party affiliation |
---|---|---|
Shane Pitt | Mayor/Councillor | Independent |
Robert Butterfield | Deputy Mayor/Councillor | Independent |
Kerry Graham | Councillor | Independent |
Liz Hamer | Councillor | Independent |
Vikki Iwanicki | Councillor | Independent |
Dwayne Jordan | Councillor | Independent |
Annie McKay | Councillor | Independent |
Lindsay Newman | Councillor | Independent |
Scott Stringer | Councillor | Independent |
[ citation needed ]
Zeehan | 728 | |
Rosebery | 922 | |
Strahan | 824 | Includes Trial Harbour, Regatta Point |
Queenstown | 1,975 | Includes South Queenstown |
South Queenstown | Incl. in Queenstown | |
Williamsford | Incl. in Granville Harbour | |
Renison Bell | Incl. in Granville Harbour | |
Stinger Creek | Incl. in Granville Harbour | |
Tullah | 192 | |
Trial Harbour | Incl. in Strahan | |
Regatta Point | Incl. in Strahan | |
Total | 4,678 | |
0 | Variance | |
Local government total | 4,678 | Gazetted West Coast local government area |
Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania, Australia. It is in a valley on the western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range.
Strahan, is a small town and former port on the west coast of Tasmania. It is now a significant locality for tourism in the region.
Rosebery is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia. It is at the northern end of the West Coast Range, in the shadow of Mount Black and adjacent to the Pieman River now Lake Pieman.
Zeehan is a town on the west coast of Tasmania, Australia 139 kilometres (86 mi) south-west of Burnie. It is part of the West Coast Council, along with the seaport Strahan, and neighbouring mining towns of Dundas, Rosebery and Queenstown.
The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
The West Coast of Tasmania is mainly isolated rough country, associated with wilderness, mining and tourism. It served as the location of an early convict settlement in the early history of Van Diemen's Land, and contrasts sharply with the more developed and populous northern and eastern parts of the island state.
Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company was a Tasmanian mining company formed on 29 March 1893, most commonly referred to as Mount Lyell. Mount Lyell was the dominant copper mining company of the West Coast from 1893 to 1994, and was based in Queenstown, Tasmania.
Regatta Point is the location of a port and rail terminus on Macquarie Harbour.
Trial Harbour is a rural locality in the local government area (LGA) of West Coast in the North-west and west LGA region of Tasmania. The locality is about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of the town of Zeehan. The 2016 census has a population of 24 for the state suburb of Trial Harbour.
The North Mount Lyell Railway was built to operate between the North Mount Lyell mine in West Coast Tasmania and Pillinger in the Kelly Basin of Macquarie Harbour.
The Queen River, part of the King River catchment, is a minor perennial river located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
The Mount Jukes mine sites were a series of short-lived, small mine workings high on the upper regions of Mount Jukes in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania.
Ocean Beach is a long stretch of beach running north of Macquarie Heads and Hells Gates on the West Coast of Tasmania. It is close to Strahan and parallel to the Strahan Airport runway. It extends as far north as Trial Harbour and the coast immediately west of Zeehan.
The mines of the West Coast of Tasmania have a rich historical heritage as well as an important mineralogical value in containing or having had found, specimens of rare and unusual minerals. Also, the various mining fields have important roles in the understanding of the mineralization of the Mount Read Volcanics, and the occurrence of economic minerals.
The history of the Railways on the West Coast of Tasmania has fascinated enthusiasts from around the world, because of the combination of the harsh terrain in which the railways were created, and the unique nature of most of the lines.
The Strahan–Zeehan Railway, also known as the "Government Railway", was a railway from Strahan to Zeehan on the west coast of Tasmania.
Linda is the site of an old ghost town in the Linda Valley in the West Coast Range of Tasmania, Australia. It has also been known as Linda Valley.
The Western Tasmanian Football Association was an Australian Rules Football competition based on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia.
The competition was made up of mostly miners living and working on the State's West Coast.
Philosophers Ridge is the long spur that connects Mount Lyell and Mount Owen in the West Coast Range of Western Tasmania.
Former Local government areas (LGAs) in the Australian state of Tasmania are amalgamated or cancelled areas.