Toowoomba Region
Dec 4th, 2009 by admin
The Toowoomba Region is a Local Government Area located in the Darling Downs part of Queensland, Australia with a population of approximately 155,124. Established in 2008, it was preceded by several previous local government areas with histories extending back to the early 1900s and beyond.
It has an estimated operating budget of AUD162m.
The Toowoomba Region was previously eight separate entities:
City of Toowoomba
Shire of Cambooya
Shire of Clifton
Shire of Crows Nest
Shire of Jondaryan
Shire of Millmerran
Shire of Pittsworth
Shire of Rosalie
The City had its beginning in the Toowoomba Municipality which was proclaimed on 19th November 1860 under the Municipalities Act 1858, 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.
The Toowoomba Region also encompassed four of Queenland’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 Jondayan 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.