Cairns City Council

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Cairns City Council Queensland
Population:	122,057 (2001 census)
Established:	1995, through amalgamation.
Mayor:	Kevin Byrne
Council Seat:	Cairns
Region:	Far North Queensland
State District:	Barron River, Cairns, Mulgrave
Federal Division:	Leichhardt
Website: http://www.cairns.qld.gov.au/
LGAs around Cairns City Council Mareeba Coral Sea Coral Sea Atherton Cairns City Council Coral Sea Eacham Johnstone Coral Sea

The Cairns City Council is the Local Government Area for the the city of Cairns and the surrounding area.

The local government area consists of two former local government areas which were amalgamated in 1995. These were the City of Cairns Council, and the Mulgrave Shire Council (comprised of the suburbs of the Northern Beaches, Freshwater and Redlynch Valleys, and Southside). The town of Gordonvale was once called Mulgrave.

At the time of amalgamation, Cairns City had a population of approximately 40,000 and Mulgrave Shire had a population of approximately 60,000. Both local government authorities had chambers in the Cairns CBD. The old Council chambers located on Abbott Street have been converted into a new city library. The old Mulgrave Shire Chambers were located on the Cairns Esplanade. In a controversial decision ^[1], new council chambers were constructed on previously industrial contaminated land in the mainly industrial suburb of Portsmith.

Contents 1 Structure 2 Council members 3 Responsibilities 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Structure

The Council consists of a Mayor and twelve Councillors. The Mayor is elected by the public, and the Councillors are elected from twelve single member divisions (or wards) using an optional preferential voting system. Elections are held every three years. The current Mayor of Cairns is Kevin Byrne.

The council also operates two business units which are city-owned enterprises managed on commercial lines:

• Cairns Water
• Cairns Works

[edit] Council members

• Kevin Byrne (Mayor)
• Paul Gregory (Division 1)
• Fran Lindsay (Division 2)
• Jeff Pezzutti (Division 3)
• Paul Freebody (Division 4)
• Kathy Plath (Division 5)
• Margaret Gill (Division 6)
• Terry James (Division 7)
• Deirdre Ford (Division 8)
• Alan Blake (Division 9)
• Margaret Cochrane (Division 10)
• Sno Bonneau (Division 11)
• Annette Sheppard (Division 12)

[edit] Responsibilities

• Building, subdivision and development approval.
• Children's, youth and senior citizens services.
• Provision of eight libraries.
• Environmental management.
• Recreation and sports facilities, including six public swimming pools.
• Roads and drainage
• Urban planning
• Waste collection
• Water supply
• Administration local laws such as animal control and regulated parking.

[edit] References

1. ^ 'Land Row', The Cairns Post, p1. 19 July 2001.

[edit] External links

• Council Homepage
• Council Information
• Queensland Department of Local Government & Planning - Local Government Directory.