Liverpool Plains Shire

LGAs around Liverpool Plains Shire:
Gunnedah	Gunnedah	Tamworth Regional
Warrumbungle	Liverpool Plains Shire	Tamworth Regional
Warrumbungle	Upper Hunter	Upper Hunter

Liverpool Plains Shire is a local government area located in the North West Slopes region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire was formed on 17 March 2004 by the amalgamation of Quirindi Shire with parts of Parry, Murrurundi and Gunnedah shires.

The Mayor of Liverpool Plains Shire Council is Cr. Andrew Hope.

Main towns

The main town and Council seat is located in Quirindi. Other towns and villages in the Shire include Ardglen, Blackville, Caroona, Currabubula, Premer, Spring Ridge, Wallabadah, Werris Creek, and Willow Tree.

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 7,480 people in the Liverpool Plains Shire local government area, of these 50.4 per cent were male and 49.6 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 10.9 per cent of the population, which was three times higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Liverpool Plains Shire was 44 years, which was significantly higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.5 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 20.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 50.8 per cent were married and 12.1 per cent were either divorced or separated.^[1]

Population growth in the Liverpool Plains Shire between the 2006 census and the 2011 census was −0.80 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.32 per cent, population growth in the Liverpool Plains Shire local government area was significantly lower than the national average.^[2] The median weekly income for residents within the Liverpool Plains Shire was significantly lower than the national average.^[1]

At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Liverpool Plains Shire local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 88 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 75% of all residents in the Liverpool Plains Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was much higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Liverpool Plains Shire local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (2.1 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (94.5 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).^[1]

Selected historical census data for the Liverpool Plains Shire local government area
Census year		2001	2006^[2]	2011^[1]
Population	Estimated residents on Census night	n/a	7,540	7,480
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales
	% of New South Wales population			0.11%
	% of Australian population	n/a	0.04%	0.03%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian			38.4%
	English			30.6%
	Irish			8.8%
	Scottish			7.5%
	German			2.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)	Italian		nom	0.1%
	Cantonese		0.3%	0.1%
	Vietnamese		n/c	0.1%
	German		n/c	0.1%
	Afrikaans		n/c	0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	Anglican		42.7%	42.5%
	Catholic		23.9%	23.9%
	No Religion		8.4%	11.8%
	Uniting Church		6.3%	5.8%
	Presbyterian and Reformed		3.6%	3.6%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income		A$438	A$433
Personal income	% of Australian median income		94.0%	75.0%
Family income	Median weekly family income		A$1,090	A$988
Family income	% of Australian median income		93.1%	66.7%
Household income	Median weekly household income		A$882	A$797
Household income	% of Australian median income		85.9%	64.6%

Council

Liverpool Plains Shire Council offices in Quirindi.

Current composition and election method

Liverpool Plains Shire Council is composed of seven 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 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:^[3]

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	7
	Total	7

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election, is:^[3]

	Party	Notes
Ian Lobsey	Independent
Ken Cudmore	Independent
Rob Webster	Independent	Deputy Mayor
Mary Roberts	Independent
Andrew Laurie	Independent
Andrew Hope	Independent	Mayor
Col Stewart	Unaligned

Geography

Main article: Liverpool Plains

The Liverpool Plains have a generally flat to undulating terrain formed from the remnants of old volcanoes such as that of the Liverpool Ranges to the southwest. To the south and east, it merges into the higher and cooler Northern Tablelands.

The Liverpool Plains is generally regarded as the richest agricultural region in Australia owing to its rich black soils, which originally supported a mixed grassland vegetation containing both annual and perennial grasses, which early in the region's history were used to feed cattle and sheep.

Wheat and cotton are the chief crops, although production fluctuates wildly according to rainfall and soil erosion is a major problem occurring both after droughts and floods. The climate is hot in summer, mild in winter, and of moderate rainfall. The average is generally around 635 millimetres (25.0 in) with a slight summer maximum, but is quite erratic and can vary from 1,150 millimetres (45 in) in very wet years to as little as 370 millimetres (15 in). Temperatures in summer frequently exceed 35 °C (95 °F) and make cropping without irrigation risky without sophisticated meteorological forecasting techniques.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Liverpool Plains (A)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Liverpool Plains (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 24 January 2015.
1 2 "Liverpool Plains Shire Council: Election of Councillors". Local Government Elections 2012. Gunnedah Shire Council. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.

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

New England region of New South Wales, Australia

Federal divisions	New England Parkes

State electorates	Barwon Northern Tablelands Tamworth

Local government areas	Armidale Dumaresq Glen Innes Severn Gunnedah Guyra Gwydir Inverell Liverpool Plains Moree Plains Tamworth Tenterfield Uralla Walcha

Cities	Armidale Tamworth

Townships and villages	Ardglen Ashford Attunga Barraba Bendemeer Ben Lomond Bingara Black Mountain Bolivia Bonshaw Brackendale Breeza Bukkulla Bundarra Carroll Coolatai Croppa Creek Curlewis Dangarsleigh Deepwater Delungra Dorrigo Drake Dundee Dungowan Duri Ebor Elsmore Emerald Hill Emmaville Gilgai Glencoe Glen Innes Graman Gravesend Gunnedah Guyra Hanging Rock Hillgrove Inverell Invergowrie Jennings Kellys Plains Kelvin Kentucky Kootingal Kingstown Legume Limbri Liston Llangothlin Manilla Mingoola Mole River Moonbi Mount Russell Mullaley Niangala North Star Nowendoc Nundle Red Range Rocky River Sandy Flat Somerton Stannifer Stannum Stonehenge Tambar Springs Tenterfield Tia Tingha Torrington Upper Horton Uralla Urbenville Walcha Walcha Road Wallabadah Wallangra Wandsworth Warialda Warialda Rail Weabonga Wellingrove Werris Creek Willow Tree Wollomombi Wollun Woolbrook Yarrowitch Yarrowyck Yetman

National parks and other conservation areas	Bald Rock Basket Swamp Boonoo Boonoo Bundarra-Barraba Important Bird Area Carrai Cathedral Rock Chaelundi Cottan-Bimbang Cunnawarra Ebor Falls Gibraltar Range Guy Fawkes River Kings Plains Kwiambal Little Llangothlin Nature Reserve Mummel Gulf New England Nowendoc Nymboida Oxley Wild Rivers Warrabah Washpool Werrikimbe

Rivers	Aberfoyle Apsley Back Barnard Beardy Blicks Blue Mountain Bobo Boonoo Boonoo Boyd Cells Chandler Chandlers Clouds Commissioners Cooplacurripa Curricabark Dyke Gara Georges Guy Fawkes Gwydir Hastings Kunderang Little Murray Little Nymboida Macleay Manning Maryland Moredun Mummel Nowendoc Nowlands Oaky Oban Rocky Rowleys Sara Severn Styx Tia Timbarra Tobins Towallum Urumbilum Walcrow Warnes Wollomombi Yarrow Yarrowitch

Ranges and mountains	Barren Ben Lomond Dorrigo Plateau Duval Grundy Hyland Moonbi Range Point Lookout Round Thunderbolts Range Tia Range Yarrowyck

Tourist attractions	Apsley Falls Australian Equine and Livestock Events Centre Dangar Falls Ebor Falls Newell Falls Sherrard Falls Tamworth Country Music Festival Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre Wollomombi Falls

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