Shire of Moreton

Infobox Australian Place | type = lga
name = Shire of Moreton
state = qld
pop =
area =
est = 1917
seat = Churchill
region = South East Queensland
_noautocat = yes

The Shire of Moreton was a local government area in South East Queensland, Australia, located about convert|50|km|mi|0 southwest of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. It represented an area surrounding but not including Ipswich, and existed from 1917 until 1995, when it merged into the City of Ipswich.

History

In 1879, the Divisional Boards Act was passed, allowing boards to be created to provide amenities and charge rates, but with limited independence. In a proclamation on 11 November 1879, several Divisional Boards were proclaimed in the Ipswich area—Bundanba, Brassall, Mutdapilly, Purga and Walloon. [cite news | title = Divisional Boards Act 1879 - Order in Council | work = Queensland Government Gazette | page = 1879:990 | date = 11 November 1979] On 25 October 1890, Rosewood and Normanby followed. The Local Authorities Act 1902 abolished the divisional boards, replacing them with shire or town councils with the same powers plus the jurisdiction to create by-laws. On 31 March 1903, its provisions took effect, replacing the above boards with Shires. On 4 July 1905, Mutdapilly merged into the Shire of Rosewood.

On 13 October 1916, after maps of a "Greater Ipswich" were put on display, the Shires of Bundamba, Brassall, Purga were merged together to form the new Shire of Ipswich, with some land from Bundamba and Brassall becoming part of the City, and the Shire of Walloon merged into Rosewood. [cite news | title = Local Authorities Act 1902 - Order in Council | work = Queensland Government Gazette | page = 1916:1093 | date = 13 October 1916] The Shire was renamed Moreton on 28 July 1917. Its boundaries were extended on 16 August 1930 to include part of the Shire of Waterford.

At this point, the City of Ipswich, Shire of Moreton and Shire of Rosewood represented the area. In 1948, a new Local Government Act was enacted, and effective from 29 January 1949, the Shire of Rosewood and part of the Shire of Normanby were merged into the Shire of Moreton, while parts of the Shire itself were incorporated into the City. [cite news | title = Local Government Acts 1936-1948 - Order in Council | work = Queensland Government Gazette | page = 1949:343 | date = 29 January 1949]

Council meetings were held in Ipswich until 4 March 1961, when it moved to Churchill.

On 22 March 1995 the Shire merged into the City of Ipswich, [cite web|url=http://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/LEGISLTN/REPEALED/L/LocGovBrisEskIpR94_01A_.pdf|title=Local Government (Brisbane, Esk, Ipswich, Logan and Moreton) Regulation 1994|date=13 May 1997|origdate=16 December 1994] as part of an effort to reform local government and create "super-cities". This occurred in tandem with the Shire of Albert merging into the Gold Coast city, and the Shire of Mulgrave merging into the City of Cairns. ["Queensland Times", 11 March 2005"] Its final chairman, John Nugent, won the mayorship of the combined City and continued to lead for another nine years.

Wards

Initially, the Shire of Moreton had six divisions each with two councillors, and the Shire of Rosewood had four divisions with three representing the first, and two representing each of the others. After the 1949 amalgamation, Moreton was resubdivided into three divisions, one with four councillors, and the others with three each.

Population

Chairmen

References

External links

* [http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/about_council/council_history/ Council History - Boundary Changes]
* [http://www.ipswich.qld.gov.au/documents/heritage/moreton_shire_councillors.pdf Moreton Shire Councillors]
* [http://www.archivessearch.qld.gov.au/Search/AdvancedSearch.aspx Queensland State Archives]