On 11 November 1879, the
Nerang Division was created as one of 74 divisions within Queensland under the
Divisional Boards Act 1879 with a population of 652. On 6 July 1883,
Southport Division was formed from part of subdivision No. 1 of Nerang Division and part of subdivision No. 1 of
Coomera Division. With the passage of the
Local Authorities Act 1902, the Nerang Division became the Shire of Nerang on 31 March 1903. On 12 June 1914, part of Nerang Shire was separated to enable the establishment of the
Town of Coolangatta. In 1927 the council met in their offices at
Mudgeeraba. The former ten were: •
Beaudesert •
Beenleigh •
Cleveland •
Coolangatta •
Coomera • Nerang •
Southport •
Tamborine •
Tingalpa •
Waterford The four resulting local government areas were: • 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 •
Town of South Coast, an amalgamation of the Towns of Southport and Coolangatta with the Burleigh Heads part of Nerang (which later became
City of Gold Coast) • 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) The Order came into effect on 10 June 1949, when the first elections were held. ==Chairmen==