Wingecarribee Shire is the

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 ...

of the Southern Highlands in the state of

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 ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The Wingecarribee Shire is around southwest of

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and is part of regional

Capital Country Capital Country was the name of one of the sixteen tourism regions of New South Wales, Australia. This geographical division is made for improving commerce, specifically tourism, in the state. The Capital area is one of the oldest settled area ...

and to some extent can be considered part of the

Southern Tablelands The Southern Tablelands is a geographic area of New South Wales, Australia, located south-west of Sydney and generally west of the Great Dividing Range. The area is characterised by high, flat country which has generally been extensively cl ...

. Wingecarribee Shire covers an area of that is typically referred to as the ''Southern Highlands''. Wingecarribee Shire is an important catchment area for water supply to Sydney,

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

and the Northern Shoalhaven. The Council seat and Chambers is in

Moss Vale Moss Vale is a town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. Moss Vale is the administrative centre of Wingecarribee Shire local government area. It is located south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. The Illawarra Hi ...

. However, the centre of commerce of the Shire is in

Bowral Bowral () is the largest town in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia. It is south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It is the main business and entertainment precinct of the Wingecarribee Shire and the Southern Highl ...

. The Shire came into existence on 1 January 1981 as an amalgamation of the three previous local government areas that made up the Southern Highlands;

Mittagong Shire Mittagong Shire was a local government area in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. Mittagong Shire was proclaimed (as Nattai Shire) on 7 March 1906, one of 134 shires created after the passing of the ''Local Government ...

(itself an amalgamation of Nattai Shire and Mittagong Municipality), Bowral Municipality and the former Wingecarribee Shire (based in Moss Vale). In 2012, the Wingecarribee Shire Council won a landmark

class action A class action is a form of lawsuit. Class Action may also refer to: * ''Class Action'' (film), 1991, starring Gene Hackman and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio * Class Action (band), a garage house band * "Class Action" (''Teenage Robot''), a 2002 e ...

against

Lehman Brothers Lehman Brothers Inc. ( ) was an American global financial services firm founded in 1850. Before filing for bankruptcy in 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the United States (behind Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Merril ...

Australia in the Federal Court after it was found that Lehman Brothers failed to give sound financial advice to the Wingecarribee Shire and other councils through exposure to high-risk investments known as collateralised debt obligations. Wingecarribee Council suffered A$1.5 million of losses on its investments. The Federal Court found that the council was entitled to an initial award of A$9 million. In 2016 Council announced they had recovered $9.5 million of the $11 million in total losses, recovering 85.6% of all losses. Council's total legal costs of $724,894 were also recovered. Before the council was suspended in 2021 and an administrator was appointed, the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Wingecarribee Shire was Cr. Duncan Gair. On 20 May 2021, Lisa Miscamble was appointed General Manager.

Major towns and villages

The major towns in the Shire are

Mittagong Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands (New South Wales), Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is si ...

Robertson Robertson may refer to: People * Robertson (surname) (includes a list of people with this name) * Robertson (given name) * Clan Robertson, a Scottish clan * Robertson, stage name of Belgian magician Étienne-Gaspard Robert (1763–1837) Plac ...

and Bundanoon. Villages include: , Balmoral Village, , , , , , , , , Willow Vale, and Yerrinbool.

Etymology

The current shire retains the name of the former Wingecarribee Shire because the Wingecarribee River is one of the most significant geographical features that is found in all the three previous local government areas that made up the Highlands prior to amalgamation. The word ''Wingecarribee'' is from the

Dharawal language The Dharawal language, also spelt Tharawal and Thurawal, and also known as Wodiwodi and other variants, is an Australian Aboriginal language of New South Wales. Phonology Consonants Vowels Vowels are phonemically /a i u/. Vocabulary Bel ...

(an

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

language) which loosely translates into ''"a flight of birds"'', or ''"waters to rest beside"''. Moreover, the term "Wingecarribee" was used as the name of the area by the first settlers of the area, the Oxley Family (''See, History of Bowral'') and

Governor Macquarie Major General Lachlan Macquarie, CB (; ; 31 January 1762 – 1 July 1824) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Scotland. Macquarie served as the fifth Governor of New South Wales from 1810 to 1821, and had a leading role ...

in 1816 recorded it as "Winge Karribee". In 1838, the contemporary spelling was adapted by Surveyor Mitchell.

Geology and geography

The Shire is crossed by the

Hume Highway The Hume Highway, including the sections now known as the Hume Freeway and the Hume Motorway, is one of Australia's major inter-city national highways, running for between Melbourne in the southwest and Sydney in the northeast. Upgrading of t ...

and the

Southern Highlands railway line The Southern Highlands Line (SHL) is an intercity rail service that services the Macarthur, Southern Highlands and Southern Tablelands regions of New South Wales. First operating in 1869, the service runs from across the Main Southern railw ...

. The pattern of development is one of small towns and villages. The eastern parts of the Shire are bounded by the

Illawarra escarpment The Illawarra escarpment, or officially the Illawarra Range, is the fold-created cliffs and plateau-eroded outcrop mountain range west of the Illawarra coastal plain south of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The range enclose ...

and

Morton National Park The Morton National Park is a national park located in the Southern Highlands, South Coast and Illawarra regions of New South Wales, Australia, situated approximately south southwest of Sydney. Location and features The most notable attracti ...

, with some remnant rainforest and heathland. The north of the Shire is characterised by rugged

eucalypt Eucalypt is any woody plant with Capsule (fruit), capsule fruiting bodies belonging to one of seven closely related genera (of the tribe Eucalypteae) found across Australia: ''Eucalyptus'', ''Corymbia'', ''Angophora'', ''Stockwellia'', ''Allosyn ...

bushland, with gullies, gorges and sandy soils. This area forms part of the catchment for

's water supply and two major storage dams (Avon and Nepean Dams) are in this area. The dams cannot be accessed by any roads within the Wingecarribee Shire but by roads leading off south-east of the

Wollondilly Shire Wollondilly Shire is a Peri-urbanisation, periurban Local government in Australia, local government area that is located on the far southwest fringe of the Sydney, Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is pa ...

. The

Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area that is located on the far southwest fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is part of the Macarthur and Blue Mountains regions. The Wol ...

and

Wingecarribee River The Wingecarribee River ( Aboriginal Dharawal: ''Winge Karrabee''), a perennial river that is part of the Hawkesbury– Nepean catchment, is located in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. Course and features Wingec ...

s flow through the west of the Shire, through deep sandstone valleys and much of this area forms part of the catchment for

Warragamba Dam Warragamba Dam is a heritage-listed dam in the outer South Western Sydney suburb of Warragamba, Wollondilly Shire in New South Wales, Australia. It is a concrete gravity dam, which creates Lake Burragorang, the primary reservoir for water supp ...

. The south of the Shire is bounded by Uringalla Creek and is a sandstone plateaux dissected by deep gorges. Wingecarribee Swamp is home to the remaining population of the endangered

Giant dragonfly ''Petalura gigantea'', the giant dragonfly or south-eastern petaltail, is a species of dragonfly in the family Petaluridae from southeastern Australia. Males have body length of and a wingspan up to , while females have body length of and a wi ...

and Wingecarribee Leek Orchid.

Demographics

Population

At the , the Wingecarribee Shire had an estimated population of 47,882 and has grown from 40,636 at the , a growth rate 1.1% per annum. The population density is 17.8 person/km². The Shire is relatively homogenous with an Australian-born population making up 77.1% of the population.

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

make up 2.0% of the population. 88.4% of the population speak English at home.

Workforce

The Shire's workforce is at a current estimate of 18,919 residents, around 40% of Shire's entire population. The Shire's workforce are 14.7% managers, 19.3% professionals, 16.2% technicians and trades workers, 9.2% community and personal service workers, 12.5% clerical and administrative workers, 9.5% sales workers, 6.3 machinery operators and drivers, and 10.7% labourers. At the 2006 census, the average median income for the workforce of the Shire was $43,052. The workforce are primarily employed in four main industries: 16% in retail trading, 12% in manufacturing, 11% in health and community services, and 9% in construction. The workforce predominately works within the Shire, with 77% of the workforce working within the Shire. Moreover, 3% travel to nearby

for employment and 20% work in Sydney. Educationally, 40% of residents of the Shire are qualified with post High School certification in which 11% hold a University Degree and 28% qualified with a Diploma or Certificate. At the 2006 census the Shire had an unemployment rate of 4.3%.

Housing and residential

Separate and detached housing make up the majority of the housing in the Shire at 90.7%. The rest is semi-detached/townhouse at 5.9% and apartments and units at 1.8%.

Council

Composition and election method

Wingecarribee Shire is composed of nine

councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...

s elected proportionally. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The

is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 10 September 2016. The council was suspended by the Minister for Local Government and gazetted on 12 March 2021 at 12:35pm. The composition of the council prior to it bein
suspended
by the Minister for Local Government on 12 March 2021 was as follows: The council elected in 2016 and suspended in 2021, in order of election, was:

Past mayors

In 1981, the first shire president was David Wood and the shire clerk was Harold Jopling. *Duncan Gair *Gordon Lewis 2004 *Dr Sara Murray 2012 *Philip Yeo *Juliet Arkwright

Election results

2024

Local media

Weekly paid local newspapers,
Southern Highland News
' and ''Southern Highlands Express''. Local online publicatio
The Bowral News
Commercial radio statio
2ST 102.9
Community radio statio
Highland FM 107.1

Local attractions

References

External links

Wingecarribee Shire
website
Official Tourism
website
Asset management information
{{Authority control Southern Highlands (New South Wales) Local government areas of New South Wales Hume Highway