Shire of Benalla

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Shire of Benalla
Victoria

Location in Victoria
Population: 5670 (1992)[1]
Established: 1868
Area: 2322 km² (896.5 sq mi)
Council Seat: Benalla
County: Delatite, Moira
LGAs around Shire of Benalla:
Shepparton Tungamah Wangaratta
Violet Town Shire of Benalla Oxley
Euroa Mansfield Oxley

The Shire of Benalla was a Local Government Area located about 188 kilometres (117 mi) northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of 2,322 square kilometres (896.5 sq mi), and existed from 1868 until 1994. From 1948 onwards, Benalla itself was managed by a different entity later known as the City of Benalla. After a large-scale statewide amalgamation program by the Victorian Government in 1994, they were reunited under the Shire of Delatite. Both are now within the Rural City of Benalla.

Contents

[edit] History

Benalla was first incorporated as a district on 4 September 1868, and became a shire on 3 September 1869. The declared area included the Shire of Euroa, which was severed and incorporated on 3 November 1879.[2]

Over the following years, the Shire of Benalla lost small amounts of territory at its edges:

On 1 September 1948, after considerable growth of Benalla as a regional centre, the Central Riding was severed and became the Borough, later the City of Benalla. On four occasions (10 April 1956, 1 February 1964, 17 September 1969, 13 February 1980) land was transferred to the City of Benalla.

On 18 November 1994, the Shire was abolished, and most of it merged with the City of Benalla, Shire of Mansfield and the Warrenbayne district of Violet Town into the Shire of Delatite. The Glenrowan district was transferred to the Rural City of Wangaratta.[3]

[edit] Wards

Benalla was divided into four ridings , each of which elected three councillors:

  • Devenish Riding
  • Mokoan Riding
  • Tatong Riding
  • Warrenbayne Riding

[edit] Towns and Localities

[edit] Population

Year Population
1947 8,461
1954 4,407+
1958 3,690*
1961 3,718
1966 3,732
1971 3,329
1976 3,576
1981 4,216
1986 5,002
1991 5,519

* Estimate in the 1958 Victorian Year Book.
+ The combined population of the Shire and Borough in 1954 was 10,452.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria Office (1994). Victorian Year Book, 52. ISSN 0067-1223. 
  2. ^ (1992) Victorian Municipal Directory. Brunswick: Arnall & Jackson, 600-601.  Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.
  3. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (1 August 1995). Victorian local government amalgamations 1994-1995: Changes to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification. Commonwealth of Australia, 5,9. ISBN 0-642-23117-6. Retrieved on 2008-01-05.