Shire of Esperance
| Shire of Esperance Western Australia | |||||||||||||||
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.jpg) Esperance Civic Centre, 2019 | |||||||||||||||
 Location in Western Australia | |||||||||||||||
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| Population | 13,883 (LGA 2021)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1895 | ||||||||||||||
| Area | 42,546.9 km2 (16,427.4 sq mi) | ||||||||||||||
| Shire President | Ian Mickel | ||||||||||||||
| Council seat | Esperance | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Goldfields-Esperance | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Roe | ||||||||||||||
| Federal division(s) | O'Connor | ||||||||||||||
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| Website | Shire of Esperance | ||||||||||||||
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The Shire of Esperance is a local government area in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) south of the town of Kalgoorlie and about 720 kilometres (450 mi) east-southeast of the state capital, Perth. The Shire covers an area of 42,547 square kilometres (16,427 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Esperance, where about three-quarters of the Shire's population resides.
History
The Esperance Road District was established on 13 September 1895. Two weeks later, on 27 September 1895, the township of Esperance separated from the road district as the Municipality of Esperance. The municipality was re-absorbed into the road district on 30 October 1908. On 1 July 1961, it became the Shire of Esperance under the Local Government Act 1960, which reformed all remaining road districts into shires.[2]
A railway line from Coolgardie to Esperance that was completed in 1927 led to development of farming in the mallee country to the north of Esperance.[3]
On 11 July 1979, the American Skylab Space Station re-entered Earth's atmosphere headed for Western Australia and the Indian Ocean. It broke up during reentry and much of it landed in Esperance. In turn, the Shire issued a facetious A$400 fine to NASA for littering. It remained outstanding until April 2009, when radio show host Scott Barley of Highway Radio raised the funds from his morning show listeners, and paid the fine on behalf of NASA.[4]
The main industry in the region is farming. The Department of Agriculture established a research station at Gibson finding the local soils to be deficient in trace elements and nitrogen. In 1953 there were 130 farms in the area, increasing to 347 in 1961 and over 650 in 1968.[3]
Wards
The shire is divided into two wards. Prior to the 2005 elections, a 13-councillor setup with North, West and East wards each with two councillors was in place. The shire president is elected from amongst the councillors.
- Town Ward (six councillors)
- Rural Ward (three councillors)
Towns and localities
The Shire of Esperance is divided into 32 localities:[5]
- Esperance
- Beaumont
- Boyatup
- Buraminya
- Cape Arid National Park
- Cape Le Grand National Park
- Cascade
- Condingup
- Coomalbidgup
- Dalyup
- East Munglinup
- Gibson
- Grass Patch
- Howick
- Israelite Bay
- Lort River
- Merivale
- Monjingup
- Mount Ney
- Neridup
- North Cascade
- Salmon Gums
- Scaddan
- Wittenoom Hills
Heritage-listed places
As of 2021, 89 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Esperance,[6] of which twelve are on the State Register of Heritage Places.[7]
References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Esperance (Local Government Area)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
- ^ "Municipality Boundary Amendments Register" (PDF). Western Australian Electoral Distribution Commission. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ a b "Government members Mining and National Development Committees fact finding tour July 1968" (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
- ^ Hannah Siemer. ""Littering fine paid - Local News - News - General - Esperance Express". Archived from the original on 11 July 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2009." The Esperance Express, 17 April 2009.
- ^ "General Information". Shire of Esperance. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
- ^ "Shire of Esperance Heritage Places". inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au. Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
- ^ "Shire of Esperance State Register of Heritage Places". inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au. Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
