Surf Coast Shire

The Surf Coast Shire is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of 1,553 square kilometres (600 sq mi). It had a population of 32,251 in June 2018.^[1] It includes the towns of Aireys Inlet, Anglesea, Lorne, Moriac, Torquay and Winchelsea. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Winchelsea, Shire of Barrabool and part of the former City of South Barwon, which was, at that point, part of the City of Greater Geelong.^[2][3]

Surf Coast Shire Victoria
Location in Victoria
Population	37,623 (2021)[1]
• Density	24.226/km2 (62.745/sq mi)
Established	1994
Gazetted	9 March 1994[2]
Area	1,553 km2 (599.6 sq mi)[1]
Mayor	Cr Liz Pattison
Council seat	Torquay
Region	Barwon South West
State electorate(s)	Polwarth South Barwon
Federal division(s)	Corangamite Wannon
Website	Surf Coast Shire
LGAs around Surf Coast Shire: Golden Plains Golden Plains Greater Geelong Colac Otway Surf Coast Shire Bass Strait Colac Otway Bass Strait Bass Strait

Aerial views of the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia.

The Shire is governed and administered by the Surf Coast Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Torquay. The Shire is named after its location on the popular surf coast of Victoria.

Post-2008, following an electoral representation review, the decision was made to re-subdivide the municipality into four wards, the current wards are Torquay, Anglesea, Winchelsea and Lorne. Between 2004 and 2008, the Shire was an unsubdivided municipality and as a result, the entire municipality voted to elect nine councillors. Between 1996 and 2004, the municipality was subdivided into six wards, where three councillors per ward were elected from the Torquay and Anglesea wards, and one councillor per ward was elected from the Lorne, Winchelsea, Moriac and Aireys Inlet wards. A position of Deputy Mayor was created in 2004, but it was abolished for the 2005 mayoral election.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of four wards and nine councillors, with four councillors elected to represent the Torquay Ward, two councillors per ward elected to represent each of the Anglesea and Winchelsea wards, and one councillor elected to represent the Lorne Ward.^[4]

Ward	Councillor		Affiliation	Notes
Anglesea		Libby Stapleton	Independent
		Mike Bodsworth	Independent	Deputy Mayor
Lorne		Gary Allen	Independent
Torquay		Liz Pattison	Independent	Mayor
		Paul Barker	Libertarian
		Rose Hodge	Independent Labor
		Kate Gazzard	Greens
Winchelsea		Adrian Schonfelder	Independent Labor
		Heather Wellington	Independent

List of former and current mayors

• Cr Noel Bates (1995–1997)
• Cr Henry Love (1997–1998)
• Cr Julie Hansen (1998–2000)
• Cr Mike Barrow (2000–2001)
• Cr Beth Davidson (2001–2004)
• Cr Keith Grossman (2004–2005)
• Cr Libby Mears (2005–2006)
• Cr Rose Hodge (2006–2007)
• Cr Dean Webster (2007–2008)
• Cr Libby Mears (2008–2009)
• Cr Libby Coker (2009–2010)
• Cr Dean Webster (2010–2011)
• Cr Brian McKiterick (2011–2012)
• Cr Libby Coker (2012–2013)
• Cr Rose Hodge (2013–2014)
• Cr Margot Smith (2014–2015)
• Cr Rose Hodge (2015–2016)
• Cr Brian McKiterick (2016-2017)
• Cr David Bell (2017-2018)
• Cr Rose Hodge (2018–2020)
• Cr Libby Stapleton (2020–2022)
• Cr Liz Pattison (2022–Present)

Administration and Governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Torquay Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its Municipal Office in Torquay.

Election results

2024

2024 Victorian local elections: Surf Coast^[5]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Independent		12,164	49.67		5
	Back to Basics Team		5,604	22.88	+22.88	3[a]	3
	Greens		4,284	17.49		0	1
	Independent Labor		2,437	9.95		1	1
Formal votes			24,489	97.43
Informal votes			648	2.57
Total			25,137	100.0
Registered voters / turnout			30,125	83.44

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Victorian local elections in Barwon South West § Surf Coast results.[edit]

2016

Surf Coast Shire: Anglesea Ward

Party			Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor		Libby Coker	2,504	48.50
	Independent		Margot Ann Smith	1,393	27.00
	Independent		Jenna Robinson	1,268	24.6
Turnout			6,891	76.20%
	Labor hold			Swing
	Independent hold			Swing

Surf Coast Shire: Torquay Ward

Party			Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labor		Rose Hodge	2,866	27.20
	Independent		David Bell	1,962	18.60
	Liberal		Brian McKiterick	1,268	16.00
	Greens		Marian Smedley	1,529	14.50
	Independent		Martin Paul Duke	1,522	14.20
	Independent		Joe Remenyi	993	9.40
Turnout			19,367	68.96%
	Labor hold			Swing
	Independent hold			Swing
	Liberal hold			Swing
	Independent gain from Greens			Swing

Townships and localities

According to the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 37,694, up from 29,397 in the 2016 census.^[6]

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Aireys Inlet	802	979
Anglesea	2,545	3,208
Bambra	101	115
Barrabool	235	247
Bellbrae	865	1,346
Bells Beach	130	151
Benwerrin	5	9
Big Hill	261	281
Birregurra^	828	942

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Boonah	21	18
Breamlea^	162	151
Buckley	211	228
Connewarre^	788	953
Deans Marsh	269	368
Eastern View	35	47
Fairhaven	296	390
Freshwater Creek	414	454
Gherang	370	391

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Gnarwarre	267	297
Inverleigh^	1,474	1,746
Jan Juc	3,683	4,151
Lorne	1,114	1,327
Modewarre	276	277
Moggs Creek	89	120
Moriac	782	852
Mount Duneed^	1,578	6,182
Mount Moriac	240	251

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Ombersley^	97	93
Paraparap	151	167
Pennyroyal^	86	110
Torquay	13,258	18,534
Wensleydale	107	95
Winchelsea^	1,954	2,456
Winchelsea South	179	171
Wurdiboluc	138	147

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

See also

• List of localities (Victoria)

Notes

1. Including one endorsed Libertarian Party member and one independent Libertarian member.

References

1. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
2. Victoria Government Gazette – Online Archive (1837–1997). "Orders estg the Surf Coast Shire: S8 of 1994". State Library of Victoria. State Government of Victoria (published 9 March 1994). pp. 1–9. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
3. Victoria Government Gazette – Online Archive (1837–1997). "Order altg (Part 8) the Surf Coast Shire: S63 of 1994". State Library of Victoria. State Government of Victoria (published 23 September 1994). p. 6. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
4. Local Government in Victoria. "Surf Coast Shire Council". Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
5. "Surf Coast Shire Council election candidates". VEC. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
6. "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 11 January 2023.

External links

• Surf Coast Shire Council official website
• Great Ocean Road Journey, Victoria, Australia (replaces the Surf Coast Tourist website)
• Metlink local public transport map
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
• The Anglesea & District Historical Society Inc.

38°18′00″S 144°00′00″E