The Town of South Coast was a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a federated state, state, province, division (politica ...

South East Queensland South East Queensland (SEQ) is a Bioregion, bio-geographical, Megalopolis, metropolitan and Statistics, statistical Regions of Queensland, region of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland in Australia, with a population of ...

, Australia.

History

On 11 November 1879, the Nerang Division and Coomera Division were created as two of 74 divisions within Queensland under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879''. On 14 July 1883, Southport Division was formed from parts of Nerang and Coomera Divisions. On 9 Feb 1889, part of Southport Division was separated to be a municipal Shire of Southport but this shire was abolished on 30 June 1892 and the original division was restored. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', the entire Southport Division became the Shire of Southport on 31 March 1903. On 12 April 1918, the Shire of Southport became the Town of Southport.

Amalgamations in 1948

On 9 December 1948, as part of a major reorganisation of local government in

, an Order in Council replacing ten former local government areas between the

City of Brisbane The City of Brisbane is a local government area (LGA) which comprises the inner portion of Greater Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, Australia. Its governing body is the Brisbane City Council. The LGAs in the other mainland state capitals ...

and the

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

border with only four. The former ten were: * Beaudesert * Beenleigh *

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

* Coolangatta * Coomera * Nerang *

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

* Tamborine * Tingalpa *

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

The four resulting local government areas were: * the new Town of South Coast, an amalgamation of the Towns of Southport and Coolangatta with the Burleigh Heads part of Shire of Nerang * the new Shire of Albert: a merger of Beenleigh, Coomera, Nerang (except for the Burleigh Heads area), the southern part of Tingalpa and the eastern part of Waterford * an enlarged Shire of Beaudesert, an amalgamation of Beaudesert and Tamborine with the western part of Waterford * the new Redland Shire, an amalgamation of Cleveland and the northern part of Tingalpa (which later became

Redland City Redland City, also known as the Redlands and formerly known as Redland Shire, is a Local government in Australia, local government area (LGA) and a part of Brisbane, Greater Brisbane in South East Queensland, Australia. With a population of 159 ...

) The Order came into effect on 10 June 1949, when the first elections were held.

Controversy surrounding name

The proposed name ''South Coast'' was not very popular and many people agitated for a name that would better reflect the beautiful beaches and the popularity of the area for holidays, e.g. ''Pacific Paradise'', ''Sun Coast''. During the 1950s, the nickname ''Gold Coast'' became a popular way to refer to the South Coast area and on 23 October 1958, the Town of South Coast changed its name to Town of Gold Coast. Soon after, on 16 May 1959, it became

City of Gold Coast The City of Gold Coast is the Local government in Australia, local government area spanning the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, and surrounding areas. With a population of 606,774, it is the second most populous local ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:South Coast Town Former local government areas of Queensland 1879 establishments in Australia 1949 disestablishments in Australia