Warrumbungle Shire

Warrumbungle Shire New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	31°15′S 149°16′E / 31.250°S 149.267°E / -31.250; 149.267Coordinates: 31°15′S 149°16′E / 31.250°S 149.267°E / -31.250; 149.267
Population	9,384 (2016 census)[1]
• Density	0.7580/km2 (1.9632/sq mi)
Established	2004
Area	12,380 km2 (4,779.9 sq mi)
Mayor	Peter Shinton (Unaligned)
Council seat	Coonabarabran[2]
Region	Orana
State electorate(s)	Barwon Upper Hunter
Federal Division(s)	Parkes
Website	Warrumbungle Shire
LGAs around Warrumbungle Shire: Coonamble Narrabri Gunnedah Gilgandra Warrumbungle Shire Liverpool Plains Dubbo Dubbo Upper Hunter

The Warrumbungle Shire is a local government area in the central western region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is traversed by the Newell Highway. The Warrumbungle mountain range and Warrumbungles National Park are major tourist attractions for the Shire.

The Mayor of Warrumbungle Shire Council is Cr. Peter Shinton, who is unaligned with any political party.

Main towns and villages

The Shire incorporates the towns of Binnaway, Coolah, Coonabarabran, Dunedoo, Baradine and Mendooran.

Demographics

Selected historical census data for Warrumbungle Shire local government area
Census year			2011[3]	2016[1]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	9,588	9,384
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	7001930000000000000♠93rd	7001920000000000000♠92nd
		% of New South Wales population
		% of Australian population
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English
		Australian
		Italian
		Chinese
		Irish
Language, top responses (other than English)		Italian
		Mandarin
		Cantonese
		Korean
		Greek
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic
		No religion
		Anglican
		Eastern Orthodox
		Buddhism
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	A$
		% of Australian median income
Family income		Median weekly family income
		% of Australian median income
Household income		Median weekly household income
		% of Australian median income

Council

The Shire was created in 2004 by the amalgamation of Coolah and Coonabarabran Shire councils. Following amalgamation, the Shire was run by an administrator, until elections were held in March 2005.

Current composition and election method

Warrumbungle Shire Council is composed of nine 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 10 September 2016, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:^[4]

Cr Peter Shinton was elected as mayor when his name was drawn from a hat following a poll when he drew 4-4 with Cr Ray Lewis. Cr Shinton was also mayor from 2012 to 2016. Cr Denis Todd was also drawn from a hat for Deputy Mayor after drawing 4-4 with Cr Anne-Louise Capel. The method of election was unpopular with ratepayers,^[5] who believed that the election should have been postponed until all Councillors were present.

The current Council, elected in 2016, alphabetically, is:^[4]

See also

• List of local government areas in New South Wales

References