The Bass Coast Shire is a

local government area A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...

in Victoria, Australia, located in the southeastern part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 35,327. It includes the towns of Bass,

Cape Paterson Cape Paterson () is a cape and seaside village located near the town of Wonthaggi, south-east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for the disc ...

, Cape Woolamai,

Corinella Corinella is a town in Victoria, Australia, located 114 km south-east of Melbourne via the M1 and the Bass Highway, on the eastern shore of Western Port. The town serves as a holiday destination, with a focus on recreational fishing, and h ...

, Coronet Bay,

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

, Inverloch,

Kilcunda Kilcunda is a seaside town located south east of Melbourne between Phillip Island and Wonthaggi near Dalyston via the South Gippsland Highway on the Bass Highway, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally as ...

Lang Lang Lang Lang (; born 14 June 1982) is a Chinese pianist who has performed with leading orchestras in China, North America, Europe, and elsewhere. Active since the 1990s, he was the first Chinese pianist to be engaged by the Berlin Philharmonic, ...

, Newhaven,

Rhyll Rhyll is a small fishing town on Phillip Island in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the north-east corner of the island. It is named after Rhyl, a holiday resort in Denbighshire, Wales. At the , Rhyll had a population of 568. The first ...

, San Remo, Summerlands and

Wonthaggi Wonthaggi is a seaside town located south east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass Highways, in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. Known originally for its coal mining, it is now the largest town in South Gippsl ...

as well as the historic locality of Krowera. It also includes the popular tourist destination

Phillip Island Phillip Island ( Boonwurrung: ''Corriong'', ''Worne'' or ''Millowl'') is an Australian island about south-southeast of Melbourne, Victoria. The island is named after Governor Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, by explore ...

. It was formed in 1994 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Bass, Shire of Phillip Island, Borough of Wonthaggi, parts of the Shire of Woorayl,

Shire of Korumburra The Shire of Korumburra was a local government area located about southeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1891 until 1994. History Originally part of the Shire of Bu ...

and City of Cranbourne. The Shire is governed and administered by the Bass Coast Shire Council; its

seat of local government The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority". In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...

and administrative centre is the council headquarters in Wonthaggi, with other service centres located in Cowes, Grantville and Inverloch. The Shire is named after its most precious asset, the coasts of Bass Strait and Western Port.

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of three wards and nine councillors, with three councillors elected to represent each ward.

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Wonthaggi Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Wonthaggi, and its service centre in Cowes.

Towns and suburbs

In June 2018 the shire had a population of 35,327.

Facilities

* Local markets

Cape Paterson

* Swimming Rockpool – Safety Beach, Browns Bay, Surf Beach Road *

Bunurong Marine Park The Bunurong Marine and Coastal Park () collectively are a marine park and a coastal park located along the reef and coast of Harmers Haven, Cape Paterson and Inverloch in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. Collectively, the ...

Wonthaggi

* Lower Powlett Road – Williamsons Beach, Powlett River,

Wonthaggi Wind Farm Wonthaggi wind farm is a wind power station at Wonthaggi in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It has 6 wind turbines, with a total generating capacity of 12 MW of electricity. Technical Details Each of the turbines is a German made Senvion (for ...

and Victorian Desalination Plant (tours and walking/cycling/horse riding) *

Bass Coast Rail Trail The Bass Coast Rail Trail is a Rail trail located in the Bass Coast Shire of Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. The trail has been constructed along a section of the former Wonthaggi line. The trail starts at the former Anderson station and finis ...

– walk/cycle/horse trot * Historic mine

whistle A whistle is an instrument which produces sound from a stream of gas, most commonly air. It may be mouth-operated, or powered by air pressure, steam, or other means. Whistles vary in size from a small slide whistle or nose flute type to a lar ...

– sounds 12 noon every day in the centre of

mine shaft Shaft mining or shaft sinking is the action of excavating a mine shaft from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom. Shallow shafts, typically sunk for civil engineering projects, differ greatly in execution method from ...

tower, Apex Park, Murray Street * Wonthaggi Museum – open Saturday mornings, Murray Street * State Coal Mine – museum and tours, Garden Street * Coal mine

ruins Ruins () are the remains of a civilization's architecture. The term refers to formerly intact structures that have fallen into a state of partial or total disrepair over time due to a variety of factors, such as lack of maintenance, deliberate ...

– Number 5 Brace & the McBride tunnel entry, off West Area Road Wonthaggi and scattered around the region * Wonthaggi

Golf Course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

– 18 hole, par 72, ACR 70, easy walk, McKenzie Street * Large

chain store A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

s * Wonthaggi Hospital – Smoking ban, Graham Street

Phillip Island

* Phillip Island Penguin Parade * Australian motorcycle Grand Prix *

Pyramid Rock Festival The Pyramid Rock Festival was an Australian New Year's Eve camp-out rock music festival at Ventnor on Phillip Island. The original festival in 2004 was organised by local resident, Angus Cameron, and his two cousins. History Beginning as a sing ...

on New Year's Eve *

Nobbies Centre The Nobbies Centre is an ecotourism destination located at Point Grant, on the western tip of Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia. Once known as the Seal Rocks Sea Life Centre, the centre is managed by the Phillip Island Nature Park, and features ...

at Seal Rocks

Krowera

* Garlic Farm, Olive Farm, Wayside Lookout, Dairy Farms

Kilcunda

Trestle Bridge

Inverloch

* Inverloch Shell Museum and Dinosaur Exhibition

Protected areas

Collecting The hobby of collecting includes seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining items that are of interest to an individual ''collector''. Collections differ in a wide variety of respects, most obvio ...

empty

seashells A seashell or sea shell, also known simply as a shell, is a hard, protective outer layer usually created by an animal or organism that lives in the sea. The shell is part of the body of the animal. Empty seashells are often found washe ...

driftwood __NOTOC__ Driftwood is wood that has been washed onto a shore or beach of a sea, lake, or river by the action of winds, tides or waves. In some waterfront areas, driftwood is a major nuisance. However, the driftwood provides shelter and fo ...

twigs A twig is a thin, often short, branch of a tree or bush. The buds on the twig are an important diagnostic characteristic, as are the abscission scars where the leaves have fallen away. The color, texture, and patterning of the twig bark are ...

sea glass Sea glass and beach glass are naturally weathered pieces of glass, which often have the appearance of tumbled stones. "Sea glass" is physically and chemically weathered glass found on beaches along bodies of salt water. These weathering proc ...

and other non-living materials or interesting

rubbish Rubbish may refer to: *Waste *Garbage * ''Rubbish'' (magazine), a fashion magazine * ''Rubbish'' (radio series), a British radio series *"Rubbish", a song by Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine *An adjective which is colloquially used in British En ...

of small size and in small quantities is legal from most beaches along the Bass Coast, with the exception of

Wilsons Promontory Wilsons Promontory, is a peninsula that forms the southernmost part of the Australian mainland, located in the state of Victoria. South Point at is the southernmost tip of Wilsons Promontory and hence of mainland Australia. Located at nea ...

, the

Bunurong Marine National Park The Bunurong Marine National Park () is a protected marine national park located off the coast of Cape Paterson in the South Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The marine national park is located about southwest of and about off the ...

and most of

. On

most beaches are off-limits for shell collecting and are run by Phillip Island Nature Parks, with the exceptions of Ventnor, Cowes, Rhyll and Newhaven. The

is a middle outstretching section of

along the coastline of Harmers Haven,

and Inverloch. The restricted zone (Bunurong Marine National Park inside Bunurong Marine Park) is an area south-west past Cape Paterson's Safety Beach and Undertow Bay; namely The Oaks, Twin Reefs, Shack Bay and Eagles Nest.

References

External links

Bass Coast Shire Council official websiteMetlink local public transport mapLink to Land Victoria interactive mapsBass Coast Security
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