City of Greater Taree

At the 2011 Census, there were 46,541 people in the GTCC government area, of these 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.4% of the population, double the national average. The median age of people in the City of Greater Taree was 46 years; some nine years higher than the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 22.5% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 50.0% were married and 14.8% were either divorced or separated.^[1]

Population growth in the GTCC between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 5.39%; and in the subsequent five years was 3.09%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the GTCC local government area was significantly lower than the national average.^[2] The median weekly income for residents within the GTCC was significantly below the national average,^[1]^[3] being one of the factors that place the GTCC in an area of social disadvantage.

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the GTCC local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 83% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 62% of all residents in the GTCC nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was higher than the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the GTCC government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.4%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (93.3%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).^[1]

Selected historical census data for Greater Taree local government area
Census year		2001^[2]	2006^[3]	2011^[1]
Population	Estimated residents on Census night	42,838	45,145	46,541
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales
	% of New South Wales population			0.67%
	% of Australian population	0.23%	0.23%	0.22%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian			34.3%
	English			33.1%
	Irish			8.0%
	Scottish			7.6%
	German			2.9%
Language, top responses (other than English)	German	0.2%	0.2%	0.3%
	Italian	0.2%	0.1%	0.1%
	Dutch	0.2%	0.2%	0.1%
	Cantonese	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%
	French	n/c	n/c	0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	Anglican	34.9%	33.3%	32.3%
	Catholic	20.0%	20.1%	19.2%
	No Religion	11.5%	14.8%	18.4%
	Uniting Church	8.7%	7.5%	6.8%
	Presbyterian and Reformed	5.1%	4.7%	4.4%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income		A$336	A$395
Personal income	% of Australian median income		72.1%	68.5%
Family income	Median weekly family income		A$635	A$930
Family income	% of Australian median income		61.8%	62.8%
Household income	Median weekly household income		A$798	A$770
Household income	% of Australian median income		68.1%	62.4%

Council

Current composition and election method

GTCC is composed of nine Councillors, including the Mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor is directly elected while the eight other Councillors are elected proportionally as one entire ward. The most recent election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council, including the Mayor, is as follows:^[4]^[5]

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	9
	Total	9

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election, is:^[5]

	Party	Notes
Paul Hogan	Unaligned	Mayor^[4]
Trent Jennison	Unaligned	Elected on Paul Hogan's ticket
Peter Epov	Independent
Kathryn Bell	Independent
Alan Tickle	Unaligned
David Keegan	Independent
Brad Christensen	Independent
David West	Unaligned
Robyn Jenkins	Unaligned

History

The first movement to establish the GTCC began in November 1959. The Taree Municipal Council applied to the Department of Local Government to extend its boundaries to the coastal area between Old Bar and Seal Rocks.^[6]

At an inquiry of the Boundaries Commission at Taree in 1976, the Dungog Shire proposed that the areas covered by the shires of Dungog, Gloucester, Great Lakes and Manning and the municipalities of Taree and Wingham be combined into two areas "to elevate local government to its proper role". At this stage, Taree Municipal Council proposed only their merger with the Municipality of Wingham. A decision was postponed for five years.^[6] Due to the town of Taree not having a town hall, the Taree Municipal Council could not be renamed to The Greater Taree City Council as planned. However, by merging the Municipality of Taree and Municipality of Wingham together so that Taree could claim the town hall in Wingham as they own,only then could the formation of the Greater Taree City Council be formed.

On 1 January 1981, the City of Greater Taree was proclaimed, encompassing the Municipalities of Taree and Wingham and the Manning Valley Shire.^[6]^[7]

Proposed amalgamation

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended the merger of a number of adjoining councils. In the initial proposal, the City of Greater Taree was not included in any amalgamation proposals. However, Gloucester Shire Council submitted an alternate proposal to amalgamate the Gloucester, Great Lakes and Greater Taree councils.^[8] The outcome of an independent review is expected to be completed by mid–2016.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Greater Taree (C)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Greater Taree (C)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Greater Taree (C)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
1 2 "Greater Taree City Council - Mayoral Election". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
1 2 "Greater Taree City Council - Summary of First Preference and Group Votes for each Candidate". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.
1 2 3 Ramsland, John (1987). The Struggle Against Isolation - A History of the Manning Valley. North Sydney, New South Wales: Library of Australian History. pp. 300–301. ISBN 0-908120-67-2.
↑ "Taree". The Age. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2008.
↑ Toole, Paul (March 2016). "Dungog and Maitland councils Proposal" (PDF). Minister for Local Government. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

Local government areas of New South Wales

Metropolitan Sydney

Inner Sydney	Ashfield Botany Bay Hunter's Hill Lane Cove Leichhardt Manly Marrickville Mosman North Sydney Randwick Rockdale Sydney Waverley Willoughby Woollahra

Outer Sydney	Auburn Bankstown Blacktown Burwood Camden Campbelltown Canada Bay Canterbury Fairfield The Hills Holroyd Hornsby Hurstville Kogarah Ku-ring-gai Liverpool Parramatta Penrith Pittwater Ryde Strathfield Sutherland Warringah

Sydney Surrounds	Blue Mountains Gosford Hawkesbury Wollondilly Wyong

Mid North Coast

Murray

Murrumbidgee

Hunter

Illawarra

Richmond Tweed

Southeastern

Northern

Central West

North Western

Far West

Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia

Federal divisions	Cowper Lyne

State electorates	Coffs Harbour Myall Lakes Oxley Port Macquarie

Local government areas	Bellingen Coffs Harbour Kempsey Nambucca Port Macquarie-Hastings Greater Taree

Cities	Coffs Harbour

Towns / suburbs	Arakoon Batar Bellingen Birdwood Boambee Bonny Hills Bonville Bostobrick Bowraville Camden Haven Collombatti Comboyne Coopernook Coramba Corindi Beach Crescent Head Cundletown Dorrigo Ellenborough Frederickton Hannam Vale Harrington Hat Head Herons Creek Jerseyville Karangi Kempsey Kendall Kew Kinchela Kindee Kolodong Krambach Kundabung Lake Cathie Lansdowne Laurieton Long Flat Lowanna Macksville Manning Point Mylestom Nambucca Heads Nana Glen Newee Creek New Entrance North Haven Oceanside Old Bar Park Beach Port Macquarie Raleigh Repton Sawtell Scotts Head Smithtown South West Rocks Taree Taylors Arm Telegraph Point Thora Toms Creek Tinonee Toormina Ulong Urunga Valla Warrell Creek Wingham Woolgoolga Wauchope

Rivers	Apsley Barnard Barrington Bellinger Bowman Camden Haven Cells Christmas Coolongolook Cooplacurripa Crawford Dawson Doyles Ellenborough Forbes Georges Hastings Kalang Kunderang Lansdowne Macleay Manning Maria Mummel Myall Lakes Myall Nambucca Never Never Nowendoc Pappinbarra Pipers Ralfes Rosewood Rowleys Smiths Lake Stewarts Taylors Throne Tobins Walcrow Wallamba Wallingat Wallis Lake Wang Wauk Williams Wilson

Ranges and mountains	Banda Banda Three Brothers

National parks / Nature reserves / Important Bird Areas	Coocumbac Island Nature Reserve Dooragan NP Ellenborough Falls Hastings-Macleay IBA Hat Head NP Kattang Nature Reserve Maria NP Middle Brother NP Sea Acres NP

Major tourist attractions	Big Banana Billabong Koala and Wildlife Park North Coast Regional Botanic Garden Willi Willi Caves

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