Toowoomba Region

Toowoomba Region
Toowoomba Region; Queensland
	Location within Queensland
Population	163,936 (2011)
• Density	12.6367/km2 (32.7289/sq mi)
Established	2008
Area	12,973 km2 (5,008.9 sq mi)
Mayor	Paul Antonio
Council seat	Toowoomba
Region	Darling Downs
State electorate(s)	Toowoomba North; Toowoomba South; Condamine; Nanango;
Federal Division(s)	Groom; Maranoa;
	File:Toowoomba Region logo.png
Website	Toowoomba Region
	LGAs around Toowoomba Region:

The Toowoomba Region is a local government area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, Australia. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and beyond.

In 2013–2014 it has a A$261 million operational budget and A$234 million capital budget.^[3]

History

The Toowoomba Region was previously eight separate entities:

The City had its beginning in the Toowoomba Municipality which was proclaimed on 24 November 1860 under the Municipalities Act 1858,^[4] a piece of New South Wales legislation inherited by Queensland when it became a separate colony in 1859. William Henry Groom, sometimes described as the "father of Toowoomba", was elected its first mayor. It achieved a measure of autonomy in 1878 with the enactment of the Local Government Act. With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Toowoomba became a town council on 31 March 1903. On 29 October 1904, Toowoomba was proclaimed a City.^[5]

The Toowoomba Region also encompassed four of Queensland's 74 divisions created under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 on 11 November 1879: Clifton, Highfields, Jondaryan and Rosalie. On 31 March 1903, these became Shires. Between 1913 and 1917, a number of changes occurred: the Millmerran and Pittsworth areas voted to split from Jondaryan on 24 April 1913, whilst in the same year Crows Nest became a shire, and in 1914, Cambooya followed. On 19 March 1949, Highfields and Drayton were abolished, with their land going to Crows Nest and Toowoomba respectively.

In July 2007, the Local Government Reform Commission released its report and recommended that the eight areas amalgamate. Its main reason for recommending such a large area was that the region was a growth area and a new organisation would have political advocacy capabilities on behalf of the region. Two other key factors were that Toowoomba's suburbs had expanded well beyond the City of Toowoomba and a new entity would be able to manage the entire area under one plan. Additionally, environmental and natural resource challenges could, in the Commission's view, be better met by an organisation with "a scale and capacity to undertake... management across the region in an integrated manner." Three of the councils, Jondaryan, Millmerran and Pittsworth, were rated as financially weak by the Queensland Treasury. While no council had supported the Commission's model, most were willing to consider some form of amalgamation, and the Commission considered whether Millmerran should be united with Dalby or Toowoomba carefully. In the end, its proposal was unchanged.^[6] On 15 March 2008, the City and Shires formally ceased to exist, and elections were held on the same day to elect councillors and a mayor to the Regional Council.

Council

The council remains undivided and its elected body consists of 10 councillors and a mayor.^[7] Toowoomba Regional Councillors are not officially endorsed by political parties, however they are required to declare personal political affiliations.

Councillor	Party	Term
Cr. Paul Antonio	LNP	2008–present	Mayor
Cr. Mike Williams	Independent	2008–present	Deputy Mayor
Cr. Anne Glasheen	Independent	2008–present
Cr. Bill Cahill	Independent	2008–present
Cr. Carol Taylor	Independent	2008–present
Cr. Ros Scotney	LNP	2008–present
Cr. Chris Tait	LNP	2012–present
Cr. Geoff McDonald	Independent	2012–present
Cr. John Gouldson	LNP	2012–present
Cr. Nancy Sommerfield	LNP	2012–present
Cr. Sue Englart	Independent	2012–present

Towns and localities

Toowoomba
Birnam Blue Mountain Heights Centenary Heights Charlton Cotswold Hills Cranley Darling Heights Drayton East Toowoomba Finnie Glenvale Gowrie Junction	Harlaxton Harristown Highfields Hodgson Vale Kearneys Spring Middle Ridge Mount Kynoch Mount Lofty Mount Rascal Newtown North Toowoomba Prince Henry Heights	Rangeville Redwood Rockville South Toowoomba Spring Bluff Toowoomba City Top Camp Torrington Vale View Wellcamp Wilsonton Wilsonton Heights
Regional:
Acland Athol Aubigny Biddeston Bowenville Bringalily Brookstead Cabarlah Cambooya Cawdor Cecil Plains Clifton Condamine Crows Nest Domville Djuan East Greenmount Evergreen	Felton Geham Glencoe Goombungee Gowrie Mountain Grassdale Greenmount Haden Hampton Hodgson Vale Jondaryan Kings Creek Kingsthorpe Lavelle Lemontree Meringandan Meringandan West Millmerran Mount Tyson	Nobby North Branch Oakey Pampas Pechey Pilton Pittsworth Ravensbourne St Helens Southbrook Springside Tummaville Turallin Upper Yarraman Westbrook Wyreema Yandilla Yarraman

Population

The populations given relate to the component entities prior to 2008. The next census, due in 2011, will be the first for the new Region.

Year	Total Region	Toowoomba	Cambooya	Clifton	Crows Nest	Jondaryan	Millmerran	Pittsworth	Rosalie
1933	56,687	26,423	2,047	3,105	2,850	5,231	2,335	3,544	7,095
1947	62,548	33,290	1,780	2,760	2,361	5,346	3,012	3,599	6,716
1954	70,430	43,149	1,848	2,542	3,733	5,416	3,473	3,731	6,538
1961	77,131	50,134	1,732	2,572	3,474	5,785	3,423	3,821	6,190
1966	81,757	55,799	1,617	2,549	3,244	5,752	3,512	3,713	5,571
1971	84,295	59,524	1,558	2,378	3,111	5,704	3,435	3,795	4,790
1976	92,144	66,436	1,676	2,260	3,445	6,576	3,309	3,714	4,728
1981	94,605	66,698	1,894	2,188	4,125	7,832	3,047	3,605	5,216
1986	106,596	73,390	2,477	2,354	5,308	9,457	3,115	3,880	6,615
1991	117,500	81,043	2,860	2,301	6,644	10,308	3,014	4,035	7,295
1996	124,849	83,633	4,079	2,308	8,644	11,056	2,830	4,264	8,035
2001	132,868	86,642	4,856	2,327	10,005	12,323	3,935	4,445	8,335
2006	141,986	90,466	5,652	2,549	12,595	13,965	3,078	4,688	8,993