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Shire of Ashburton facts for kids

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Shire of Ashburton
Western Australia
Ashburton LGA WA.png
Location in Western Australia
Established 1972
Area 105,647 km2 (40,790.5 sq mi)
Shire President Kerry White
Council seat Tom Price
Region Pilbara
State electorate(s) North West Central
Federal Division(s) Durack
Logo of Shire of Ashburton.svg
Website Shire of Ashburton
LGAs around Shire of Ashburton:
Indian Ocean Karratha Port Hedland
Exmouth Shire of Ashburton East Pilbara
Carnarvon Upper Gascoyne Meekatharra

The Shire of Ashburton is one of the four local government areas in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, covering an area of 105,647 square kilometres (40,791 sq mi). It is named after the Ashburton River.

The shire's administration centre is in the town of Tom Price. It had a population of about 13,000 as at the 2016 Census, most of whom live in the mining towns or in nearby mining camps. Most of the land is taken up by pastoral leases or protected areas (including the Karijini National Park). Other than agriculture, industries important to Ashburton include mining, oil, natural gas, fishing, and tourism.

History

It was established on 27 May 1972 as the Shire of West Pilbara, formed by the amalgamation of the original Shire of Ashburton and the Shire of Tableland. The new shire was described at the time as "the largest workable shire in Australia". It was originally based at Onslow, with a second office at Wittenoom.

It originally had nine members divided into six wards, but by 1977 had one councillor for each of the five towns in the shire (Onslow, Pannawonica, Paraburdoo, Tom Price, Wittenoom) and four members for the rural areas of the shire.

It was renamed the Shire of Ashburton on 18 December 1987. The name was changed to provide more identity to the particular region and to discriminate from the Newman region, which is also referred to as the "West Pilbara".

It was decided to move the administration office from Onslow to the more centrally located town of Tom Price in January 1990, when the Shire's administration office was officially opened in Poinciana Street.

Wards

The Shire is divided into 6 Wards, 9 Councillors in total.

  • Tom Price (3 Councillors)
  • Paraburdoo (2 Councillors)
  • Ashburton (1 Councillor)
  • Onslow (1 Councillor)
  • Pannawonica (1 Councillor)
  • Tableland (1 Councillor)

Towns and localities

The towns and localities of the Shire of Ashburton with population and size figures based on the most recent Australian census:

Locality Population Area Map
Barrow Island 45 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Cane 5 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Chichester 41 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Fortescue 190 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Hamersley Range 197 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Innawanga 4 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Juna Downs 4 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Karijini National Park 5 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Millstream 794 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Mount Sheila 23 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Mulga Downs 37 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Nanutarra 829 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Onslow 685 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Pannawonica 1,324 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Paraburdoo 15 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Peedamulla 150 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Rocklea 82 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Talandji 2,910 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Tom Price 0 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Wittenoom 15 (SAL 2021) [convert: needs a number]
Yannarie [convert: needs a number]

Heritage-listed places

As of 2023, 84 places are heritage-listed in the Shire of Ashburton, of which six are on the State Register of Heritage Places, among them Nanutarra Station and Peedamulla Homestead.

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