City of Greater Taree

Towns and localities included in the former GTCC were: • Taree • Bobin • Bohnock • Brinawa • Burrell Creek • Cedar Party • Coopernook • Coralville • Croki • Crowdy Head • Cundletown • Diamond Beach • Dumaresq Island • Dyers Crossing • Elands • Ghinni Ghinni • Glenwarrin • Hallidays Point • Hannam Vale • Harrington • Johns River • Jones Island • Kippaxs • Killabakh • Kolodong • Koorainghat • Krambach • Langley Vale • Lansdowne • Manning Point • Marlee • Mitchells Island • Mooral Creek • Moorland • Mount George • Old Bar • Oxley Island • Pampoolah • Possum Brush • Purfleet • Rawson River • Rocks Crossing • Stewarts River • Tinonee • Upper Lansdowne • Waitui • Wallabi Point • Wang Wauk • Wherrol Flat • Wingham ==Demographics==

At the last 2011 Census performed for the local government area, there were people in the GTCC government area, of these 48.7% were male and 51.3% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.4% of the population, double the national average. The median age of people in the City of Greater Taree was 46 years; some nine years higher than the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 22.5% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 50.0% were married and 14.8% were either divorced or separated. Population growth in the GTCC between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census has been 5.39%; and in the subsequent five years was 3.09%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the GTCC local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the GTCC was significantly below the national average, being one of the factors that place the GTCC in an area of social disadvantage. At the 2011 Census, the last to be performed for the former council, the proportion of residents in the local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 83% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 62% of all residents in the GTCC had nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was higher than the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the GTCC government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.4%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (93.3%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%). == Council ==

GTCC was last formed with nine councillors, including the mayor, for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor was directly elected while eight other councillors were elected proportionally as one entire ward. The last election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the council when it was amalgamated into the Mid-Coast Council, including the mayor, was as follows: == History ==

The first movement to establish the GTCC began in November 1959. The Taree Municipal Council applied to the Department of Local Government to extend its boundaries to the coastal area between Old Bar and Seal Rocks. At an inquiry of the Boundaries Commission at Taree in 1976, the Dungog Shire proposed that the areas covered by the shires of Dungog, Gloucester, Great Lakes and Manning and the municipalities of Taree and Wingham be combined into two areas "to elevate local government to its proper role". At this stage, Taree Municipal Council proposed only their merger with the Municipality of Wingham. A decision was postponed for five years. A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal had recommended the merger of a number of adjoining councils. In the initial proposal, the City of Greater Taree was not included in any amalgamation proposals. The amalgamation of the Gloucester, Great Lakes and Greater Taree councils was proclaimed on 12 May 2016, and followed the submission for such an amalgamation by Gloucester Shire Council. ==References==