# Golden Plains Shire

The Golden Plains Shire is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central-western part of the state. It covers an area of 2,703 square kilometres (1,044 sq mi) and in June 2018, had a population of 23,120. It includes the towns of Bannockburn, Inverleigh, Lethbridge, Linton, Rokewood, Smythesdale, Teesdale and Meredith.
The Shire was formed on 6 May 1994 by the amalgamation of the Shire of Bannockburn (the part remaining after part of it was amalgamated with several other councils to form the new City of Greater Geelong in May 1993), Shire of Leigh, part of the Shire of Grenville and part of the Shire of Buninyong. Upon its creation, it was known as the Southern Rural Shire, intended to exist temporarily until the Local Government Board drew up final council boundaries for the Ballarat region. However, a few months later it was decided to make the municipality permanent, and it was renamed to its current name on 1 October 1994.
The Shire is governed and administered by the Golden Plains Shire Council. Its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the Golden Plains Civic Centre in Bannockburn, and it also has a service centre located in Smythesdale.

## Council
### Current composition

The council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality. The current councillors are:
| Ward | Party | Councillor |
| Unsubdivided | Independent | Sarah Hayden |
| Unsubdivided | Independent | Des Phelan |
| Unsubdivided | Independent | Brett Cunningham |
| Unsubdivided | Independent | Emma Robbins |
| Unsubdivided | Independent | Helena Kirby |
| Unsubdivided | Independent | Owen Sharkey |
| Unsubdivided | Greens | Gavin Gamble |

### Administration and governance

The council meets on alternate months in the council chamber at the Golden Plains Civic Centre in Bannockburn, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities, and at The Well in Smythesdale. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Bannockburn, and its service centre in Smythesdale.

## Climate

Climate data for She Oaks (She Oaks 1991–2020, records 1990–2020) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 43.7 (110.7) | 45.2 (113.4) | 39.3 (102.7) | 33.4 (92.1) | 26.6 (79.9) | 23.6 (74.5) | 20.8 (69.4) | 23.2 (73.8) | 28.4 (83.1) | 35.2 (95.4) | 39.1 (102.4) | 42.0 (107.6) | 45.2 (113.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 26.1 (79.0) | 25.5 (77.9) | 23.1 (73.6) | 19.3 (66.7) | 15.6 (60.1) | 12.9 (55.2) | 12.3 (54.1) | 13.3 (55.9) | 15.5 (59.9) | 18.4 (65.1) | 21.2 (70.2) | 23.8 (74.8) | 18.9 (66.0) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 19.3 (66.7) | 19.2 (66.6) | 17.2 (63.0) | 14.1 (57.4) | 11.5 (52.7) | 9.2 (48.6) | 8.7 (47.7) | 9.3 (48.7) | 10.9 (51.6) | 12.9 (55.2) | 15.2 (59.4) | 17.2 (63.0) | 13.7 (56.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 12.4 (54.3) | 12.8 (55.0) | 11.2 (52.2) | 8.8 (47.8) | 7.3 (45.1) | 5.5 (41.9) | 5.1 (41.2) | 5.3 (41.5) | 6.2 (43.2) | 7.3 (45.1) | 9.1 (48.4) | 10.5 (50.9) | 8.5 (47.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 2.0 (35.6) | 2.9 (37.2) | −0.9 (30.4) | −2.2 (28.0) | −2.9 (26.8) | −3.5 (25.7) | −4.2 (24.4) | −3.1 (26.4) | −2.5 (27.5) | −1.8 (28.8) | −0.2 (31.6) | −0.6 (30.9) | −4.2 (24.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 34.3 (1.35) | 39.9 (1.57) | 24.6 (0.97) | 38.8 (1.53) | 38.3 (1.51) | 41.8 (1.65) | 40.8 (1.61) | 43.8 (1.72) | 48.2 (1.90) | 51.9 (2.04) | 59.5 (2.34) | 30.6 (1.20) | 493.6 (19.43) |
| Average rainy days | 7.4 | 7.5 | 8.3 | 11.1 | 14.8 | 15.7 | 17.5 | 17.0 | 15.7 | 13.1 | 10.3 | 8.5 | 146.9 |
| Average afternoon relative humidity (%) | 47 | 48 | 49 | 54 | 66 | 72 | 70 | 65 | 63 | 58 | 56 | 48 | 58 |
| Source: ||||||||||||||

## Townships and localities

In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 24,985, up from 21,688 in the 2016 census.
Population :
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Anakie^ | 690 | 734 |
| Bamganie | 37 | 44 |
| Bannockburn | 5,283 | 6,470 |
| Barunah Park | 27 | 33 |
| Batesford^ | 952 | 1,141 |
| Berringa | 167 | 194 |
| Berrybank^ | 40 | 37 |
| Cambrian Hill | 251 | 292 |
| Campbelltown^ | 55 | 51 |
| Cape Clear | 125 | 148 |
| Corindhap | 132 | 131 |
| Cressy^ | 175 | 176 |
| Dereel | 533 | 664 |
| Durdidwarrah | 9 | 12 |
| Durham Lead^ | 392 | 408 |
| Enfield | 538 | 574 |
Population :
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Garibaldi | 123 | 131 |
| Gheringhap | 155 | 132 |
| Glengower^ | 13 | 15 |
| Grenville^ | 99 | 113 |
| Haddon | 1,194 | 1,276 |
| Happy Valley | 85 | 87 |
| Hesse | 19 | 14 |
| Illabarook | 32 | 41 |
| Inverleigh^ | 1,474 | 1,746 |
| Lethbridge | 1,014 | 1,181 |
| Linton^ | 580 | 635 |
| Mannibadar | 80 | 65 |
| Maude | 223 | 211 |
| Meredith^ | 788 | 821 |
| Morrisons^ | 128 | 118 |
Population :
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Mount Bute^ | 58 | 61 |
| Mount Cameron^ | 9 | 15 |
| Mount Mercer | 69 | 94 |
| Murgheboluc | 131 | 132 |
| Napoleons | 553 | 555 |
| Newtown | 122 | 189 |
| Nintingbool | 173 | 168 |
| Piggoreet | 37 | 17 |
| Pitfield | 48 | 14 |
| Pittong^ | 15 | 12 |
| Rokewood | 217 | 208 |
| Rokewood Junction | 32 | 34 |
| Ross Creek | 1,153 | 1,221 |
| Russells Bridge | 67 | 70 |
| Scarsdale | 744 | 855 |
Population :
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| She Oaks | 107 | 126 |
| Shelford | 253 | 263 |
| Smythes Creek^ | 1,467 | 1,762 |
| Smythesdale^ | 1,032 | 1,189 |
| Springdallah | 26 | 35 |
| Staffordshire Reef | 45 | 63 |
| Steiglitz | 53 | 61 |
| Stonehaven | 81 | 79 |
| Stony Creek | 6 | 0 |
| Sutherlands Creek | 108 | 129 |
| Teesdale | 1,721 | 2,308 |
| Wallinduc | 37 | 42 |
| Werneth^ | 60 | 66 |
| Willowvale | 7 | 10 |
| Wingeel^ | 23 | 26 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA