Shire of Ashburton

Infobox Australian Place | type = lga
name = Shire of Ashburton
state = wa


imagesize= 180
caption = Location in Western Australia
pop = 6,078 (2006 census)
area = 101240
est = 1972
seat = Tom Price
mayor = Leanne Corker
region = Pilbara

url = http://www.ashburton.wa.gov.au/
stategov = North West, Pilbara
fedgov = Kalgoorlie
near-nw = Indian Ocean
near-n = Roebourne
near-ne = Port Hedland
near-e = East Pilbara
near-se = Meekatharra
near-s = Upper Gascoyne
near-sw = Carnarvon
near-w = Exmouth

The Shire of Ashburton is one of the four Local Government Area in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, covering an area of convert|101240|km2|sqmi|0. The Shire's seat of government is the town of Tom Price. It has a population of about 6,800 (ABS 2001), most of whom live in the mining towns.

Most of the land in Ashburton is taken up by pastoral leases. Other industries important to Ashburton include iron ore mining, oil, natural gas, fishing and tourism. Ashburton also contains the Karijini National Park.

Climate

The climate of Ashburton is dry and very hot. Mean maximum daily temperatures range from 24°C (75°F) in July to 41°C (106°F) in January. Average annual rainfall is just 280 millimetres (11 in), but can very from less than 25 millimetres (1 in) to almost 1,000 millimetres (40 in) in years when several cyclones hit.

History

In 1887, Ashburton Road Board was gazetted, and in 1896, Tableland Road Board followed. On 1 July 1961, both became Shire Councils following changes to the Local Government Act.

On 27 May 1972 the two merged to form West Pilbara Shire, which was renamed Ashburton Shire in December 1987. [WA Electoral Commission, "Municipality Boundary Amendments Register" (release 2.0), 31 May 2003.]

Wards

The Shire is divided into 6 wards, most with one councillor:

* Tom Price (3 councillors)
* Paraburdoo (2 councillors)
* Ashburton
* Onslow
* Pannawonica
* Tableland

Towns

* Tom Price, the administrative centre
* Paraburdoo
* Onslow
* Pannawonica
* Wittenoom

References

Further reading

* (1993) "Ashburton Shire - brief history, named Shire of Ashburton 18 Dec. 1987 with the main offices in Tom Price, crest described" Shire of Ashburton directory, 1993, p.13

External links

* [http://www.ashburton.wa.gov.au/ Shire of Ashburton]