Tweed Shire is a local government area located in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. It is adjacent to the border with Queensland, where that meets the Coral Sea. Administered from the town of Murwillumbah, Tweed Shire covers an area of , and has existed as a local government entity since 1947. It was named for the Tweed River.
The current mayor of Tweed Shire Council is Chris Cherry.Tweed Link, Issue 1171 23 September 2020, page 1
History The European history of the Tweed Shire began in 1823 when the Tweed River was explored by John Oxley. After sheltering on Cook Island (4 km from the river's mouth), Oxely travelled up river. In 1828, Captain H. J. Rous explored up the river. Settlers began to arrive in 1828, the first of which were the cedar getters, who came to harvest Great Red Cedars and send them back to England. During the height of the cedar logging industry, the Tweed Valley was one of the wealthiest districts in Australia.
The Municipality of Murwillumbah was created on 25 May 1902, and held its first meeting on 22 August 1902, at which Peter Street was elected its first mayor. The Shire of Tweed, with its primary centre of population at Tumbulgum on the Tweed River, came into being in the surrounding area on 7 March 1906 with the enactment of the . On 1 January 1947, the two amalgamated to form Tweed Shire.
Heritage listings The Tweed Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: Murwillumbah, Casino-Murwillumbah railway: Murwillumbah railway station High Conservation Value Old Growth forest
Towns and localities
Tweed Heads
Tweed Heads Banora Point Bilambil Bilambil Heights Chinderah Fingal Head Kingscliff Piggabeen Terranora Tweed Heads South Tweed Heads West
Tweed Coast
Bogangar Cabarita Beach Casuarina Cudgen Duranbah Hastings Point Kingscliff Pottsville Round Mountain Tanglewood Wooyung
Murwillumbah
Murwillumbah Bray Park Byangum Fernvale South Murwillumbah
Villages
Burringbar Chillingham Condong Kunghur Tomewin Tumbulgum Tyalgum Uki
Other localities
Brays Creek Bungalora Cedar Creek Carool Clothiers Creek Cobaki Cobaki Lakes Crystal Creek Cudgera Creek Doon Doon Dum Dum Dunbible Dungay Duroby Eungella Glengarrie Kielvale Kings Forest Kynnumboon Limpinwood Midginbil Mooball Mount Burrell Mount Warning Nobbys Creek North Arm Numinbah Pumpenbil Reserve Creek Stokers Siding Stotts Creek Terragon Tygalgah Upper Burringbar Upper Crystal Creek Upper Duroby Urliup Queensland Gold Coast Airport (Tweed Heads part)
Demographics At the 2011 census, there were people in the Tweed local government area, of these 48.2 per cent were male and 51.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.5 per cent of the population, which was significantly higher than the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Tweed Shire area was 45 years, which was significantly higher than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 to 14 years made up 17.8 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 22.9 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 47.5 per cent were married and 15.3 per cent were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the Tweed Shire area between the and the was 7.45 per cent; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 7.29 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78 per cent and 8.32 per cent, respectively, population growth in the Tweed local government area was marginally higher than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Tweed Shire area was significantly lower than the national average.
At the 2011 census, the proportion of residents in the Tweed local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 80 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 59 per cent of all residents in the Tweed Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 census, which was slightly higher than the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the census date, compared to the national average, households in the Tweed local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (5.5 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (91.6 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).
Selected historical census data for the Tweed Shire local government areaCensus year 200120062011Population Estimated residents on Census night LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales 26% of New South Wales population 1.23%% of Australian population 0.39% 0.40% 0.40%Cultural and language diversity Ancestry,top responses English 31.9%Australian 30.0%Irish 9.8%Scottish 8.0%German 3.2%Language,top responses(other than English) German0.4% 0.4% 0.4%Italian0.3% 0.3% 0.3%Frenchn/c 0.2% 0.2%Japanesen/c 0.2% 0.2%Spanishn/c n/c 0.2%Religious affiliation Religious affiliation,top responses Catholic24.9% 24.7% 24.7% Anglican29.0% 26.1% 24.2%No Religion13.8% 17.6% 21.6%Presbyterian and Reformed5.9% 5.1% 4.9%Uniting Church6.0% 5.2% 4.5%Median weekly incomes Personal income Median weekly personal income A$364 A$442% of Australian median income 78.1% 76.6%Family income Median weekly family income % of Australian median income 77.2% 70.6% Household income Median weekly household income % of Australian median income 66.5% 68.5%
Population Year Population References 1911 9,514 1921 15,136 1933 17,099 1947 19,321 1954 21,144 1961 22,491 1966 23,154 1976 27,526 1981 40,050 1986 45,690 1991 55,857 1996 66,519 2001 74,577 2006 83,089 2011 85,105 2016 91,371
Council In May 2005, the Governor of New South Wales dismissed the Tweed Shire Council of Mayor Warren Polglase, following a public inquiry which found that the council was improperly influenced by developers involved in a property boom in the area. The inquiry was commissioned by the Minister for Local Government, Tony Kelly, following community concern about the way planning decisions were made. The Minister appointed the director-general of the Department of Local Government, Garry Payne, former Sydney Lord Mayor Lucy Turnbull and former Tweed Shire councillor, Max Boyd as Administrators for the ensuing three years.
Shire Presidents and Mayors
CouncillorTerm of officeTitle C E Cox 1947–1948 Provisional President A Buckley 1948–1949 President C E Cox 1949–1957 President Harold Lundberg 1957–1958 President Clarrie Hall 1958–1959 President Harold Lundberg 1959–1961 President Clarrie Hall 1961–1963 President Harold Lundberg 1963–1964 President Clarrie Hall 1964–1973 President Charles Jarvis 1973–1975 President Clarrie Hall 1975–1979died in office President Max Boyd 1979–1981 President Mrs Y A M Rowse 1981–1984 President Max Boyd 1984–1999 President/Mayor Lynne Beck 1999–2001 Mayor Warren Polglase 2001–2005 Mayor Garry Payne 2005–2006 Administrator Frank Willan 2006–2008 Administrator Max Boyd 2005–2008 Administrator Lucy Turnbull 2005–2007 Administrator Garry Payne 2007–2008 Administrator Joan van Lieshout 2008–2009 Mayor Warren Polglase 2009–2010 Mayor Kevin Skinner 2010–2011 Mayor Barry Longland 2011–2014 Mayor Gary Bagnall 2014–2015 Mayor Katie Milne 2015–2020 MayorChris Cherry2020–presentMayor
Election results 2024
2016
References