Borough of Wonthaggi

The Borough of Wonthaggi was a local government area about 120 kilometres (75 mi) south-southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The borough covered an area of 56.99 square kilometres (22.0 sq mi), and existed from 1911 until 1994. Unlike many local government areas, it was constituted under its own Act of Parliament, rather than the Local Government Act.

Borough of Wonthaggi Victoria
Location in Victoria
Population	6,920 (1992)[1]
• Density	121.42/km2 (314.49/sq mi)
Established	1911
Area	56.99 km2 (22.0 sq mi)
Council seat	Wonthaggi
Region	South Gippsland
County	Mornington, Buln Buln
LGAs around Borough of Wonthaggi: Bass Bass Borough of Wonthaggi Woorayl Bass Strait

History

Wonthaggi was constituted under the Wonthaggi Borough Act 1910, by the Government of Victoria on 26 January 1911. The Local Government Act 1903 stipulated that boroughs could not exceed 23 square kilometres (9 sq mi) in size, and that the longest straight-line distance between boundaries could not exceed 9.6 kilometres (6.0 mi) – neither was true of Wonthaggi. However, it did meet the stipulation of a minimum of 500 householders, and a minimum rate revenue of £300.^[2]

The borough was subdivided into wards in 1924, and again in 1975. In 1977, it absorbed North Wonthaggi from the Shire of Bass, and in August 1978, the ward system was abolished, after which all nine councillors represented the entire borough.^[3]

On 2 December 1994, the Borough of Wonthaggi was abolished, and along with the Shires of Bass and Phillip Island, and parts of the City of Cranbourne and the Shires of Korumburra and Woorayl, was merged into the newly created Bass Coast Shire.^[4]

Towns and localities

Towns

• Cape Paterson
• Wonthaggi*

Suburbs

• Harmers Haven
• North Wonthaggi
• South Dudley

* Council seat.

Population

Year	Population
1954	4,461
1958	4,560*
1961	4,190
1966	4,022
1971	3,825
1976	4,021[5]
1981	5,165[5]
1986	5,931
1991	6,446

* Estimate in the 1958 Victorian Year Book.

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria Office (1994). Victorian Year Book. pp. 49–52. ISSN 0067-1223.
2. Local Government Act 1903 (Vic.), Section 16(2), as cited in Victorian Municipal Directory (1915), p.293.
3. Victorian Municipal Directory. Brunswick: Arnall & Jackson. 1992. pp. 555, 592–593. Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.
4. Australian Bureau of Statistics (1 August 1995). Victorian local government amalgamations 1994-1995: Changes to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. p. 4. ISBN 0-642-23117-6. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
5. 1976 census population was 4,889 after the 1977 redistribution.

External links

• Victorian Places - Wonthaggi

38°37′S 145°32′E