Fleurieu and Kangaroo Island
In South Australia, one of the states of Australia, there are many areas which are commonly known by regional names. Regions are areas that share similar characteristics. These characteristics may be natural such as the Murray River, the coast ...
region of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
. The Alexandrina Council was formed on 1 July 1997 by the amalgamation of the
District Council of Port Elliot and Goolwa
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
District Council of Willunga
The District Council of Willunga, was a local government area in South Australia seated at Willunga from 1853 until 1997.
History
The District Council of Willunga was established on 18 August 1853 to govern the Hundred of Willunga and the southe ...
. The council is divided into five wards: Nangkita Kuitpo, Angas Bremer, Port Elliot Middleton, Strathalbyn and Goolwa Hindmarsh Island.
The district relies on a diverse range of industries including agriculture, fishing,
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
,
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...
and tourism to supply its economy. Many of the towns encompassed in the council are popular tourist towns not far from
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
.
Economy
The economy of the Alexandrina Council is very diverse, which may be attributed to the great diversity of landscapes within its boundaries, allowing for diverse rural, fishing and tourism industries to occur.
The largest part of the economy comes from agriculture, with a wide variety of farming practices including dairy, beef and sheep farming, with areas around Goolwa and Mount Compass prominent in the dairy industry. A number of crops including
cereals
A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food ...
, as well as lucerne are planted in the district. Langhorne Creek and Currency Creek are well known for their
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...
Shiraz
Shiraz (; fa, شیراز, Širâz ) is the fifth-most-populous city of Iran and the capital of Fars Province, which has been historically known as Pars () and Persis. As of the 2016 national census, the population of the city was 1,565,572 p ...
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...
is prominent, with large tracts of
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts ...
present.
The district borders two bodies of water,
Encounter Bay
Encounter Bay is a bay in the Australian state of South Australia located on the state's south central coast about south of the state capital of Adelaide. It was named by Matthew Flinders after his encounter on 8 April 1802 with Nicolas Baudi ...
and Lake Alexandrina, which are commercially exploited for a variety of fish and
crustaceans
Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean gro ...
. The coast produce
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
Australian salmon
''Arripis trutta'', known as kahawai in New Zealand and as the Australian salmon in Australia, is a South Pacific marine fish and one of the four extant species within the genus '' Arripis'', native to the cooler waters around the southeastern ...
, as well as huge numbers of Goolwa cockles which are exported all over South Australia. Commercial fishing above the locks has become highly regulated to conserve native fish species but
golden perch
The golden perch (''Macquaria ambigua'') is a medium-sized, yellow or gold-coloured species of Australian freshwater fish found primarily in the Murray-Darling River system, though a subspecies is found in the Lake Eyre-Cooper Creek system, an ...
and Murray cod are still caught, and a number of operators have found markets for the invasive
European carp
The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...
.
The area also has a significant tourism industry, particularly based around the
Murray River
The Murray River (in South Australia: River Murray) (Ngarrindjeri: ''Millewa'', Yorta Yorta: ''Tongala'') is a river in Southeastern Australia. It is Australia's longest river at extent. Its tributaries include five of the next six longest ...
Port Elliot
Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of t ...
SteamRanger
The SteamRanger Heritage Railway is a long broad gauge tourist railway, formerly the Victor Harbor railway line, South Australia, Victor Harbor railway line of the South Australian Railways (SAR). It is operated by the not-for-profit South ...
''Cockle Train'' operates from Goolwa and stops at Port Elliot on the way to Victor Harbor.
Demographics
In the (held on 8 August 2006), there were 20,715 people who were usually resident in Alexandrina Council's bounds: 49.2% were males and 50.8% were females. Of the total population, 1.1% were Indigenous persons.
It was found that 18.2% of the population usually resident in Alexandrina Council were aged between 0–14 years, and 36.2% were persons aged 55 years and over. The median age of persons was 45 years, compared with 37 years for persons in Australia.
In the , 76.5% of people stated they were born in Australia, with lower numbers
immigrating
Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...
from a number of countries, with the most prominent being: England 9.4%,
Netherlands
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0.8%, Germany 0.8%,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
0.8% and New Zealand 0.8%.
The most common responses for religious affiliation for persons usually resident were: No Religion 28.4%, Anglican 15.6%,
Uniting Church
The Uniting Church in Australia (UCA) was founded on 22 June 1977, when most congregations of the Methodist Church of Australasia, about two-thirds of the Presbyterian Church of Australia and almost all the churches of the Congregational Unio ...
14.1%, Catholic 10.4% and
Lutheran
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
4.7%.
Localities
The main towns and localities within the council are:
* Ashbourne
*
Clayton Bay
Clayton Bay is a town in South Australia located on Lake Alexandrina and Lower Murray River, part of the lower lakes and Coorong region at the end of the Murray River System. The town is located north of the north-east tip of Hindmarsh Island ...
Hindmarsh Island
Hindmarsh Island (Ngarrindjeri: Kumerangk) is an inland river island located in the lower Murray River near the town of Goolwa, South Australia, Goolwa, South Australia.
The island is a tourist destination, which has increased in popularity si ...
Milang
Milang ( ) is a town and locality located in the Australian state of South Australia on the west coast of Lake Alexandrina (South Australia), Lake Alexandrina about south-east of the state capital of Adelaide city centre, Adelaide and about nor ...
Port Elliot
Port Elliot is a town in South Australia toward the eastern end of the south coast of the Fleurieu Peninsula. It is situated on the sheltered Horseshoe Bay, a small bay off the much larger Encounter Bay. Pullen Island lies outside the mouth of t ...
Bletchley
Bletchley is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. It is situated in the south-west of Milton Keynes, and is split between the civil parishes of Bletchley and Fenny Stratford and West Bletchley.
Bletchley is best know ...
Mundoo Island Mundoo is the name of several geographic localities:
* Mundoo, Queensland, a town in Australia
* Mundoo (Laamu Atoll), an island in the Maldives
* Mundoo Island, an island in Lake Alexandrina in South Australia
** Mundoo Island, South Australia ...
Point Sturt
Point Sturt is a locality in the Australian state of South Australia located on the Sturt Peninsula on the west side of Lake Alexandrina about south-east of the state capital of Adelaide and about east of the municipal seat of Goolwa.
It is ...
Woodchester
Woodchester is a Gloucestershire village in the Nailsworth (or Woodchester) Valley, a valley in the South Cotswolds in England, running southwards from Stroud along the A46 road to Nailsworth. The parish population taken at the 2011 census was ...
List of parks and gardens in rural South Australia
List of parks and gardens in rural South Australia refers to parks and gardens that located within the rural areas of South Australia as distinguished from those located within the Adelaide metropolitan area.
Adelaide Hills
The following p ...