__NOTOC__ The District Council of Barmera (formerly the District Council of Cobdogla) was 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 the Australian state 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 ...

from 1924 to 1996.Matthews, 1986, pages 44 and 45 It came in existence as a result of a

soldier settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlemen ...

being developed on land adjoining Lake Bonney from 1919 onwards. Known as the Cobdogla Irrigation Area, the district was governed directly by the state Department of Lands until December 1923 when local residents proposed that a district council be formed.Hosking, 1936, page 526 The district council was gazetted on 17 January 1924 with its seat being located in the township of

Barmera Barmera is a town in the Riverland region of South Australia. It is on the Sturt Highway A20, 220 kilometres north-east of Adelaide, the capital of the state of South Australia. It is primarily an agricultural and viticultural town and is l ...

. The district council consisted of two wards – Barmera and Cobdogla which were represented by three and two councillors respectively.Matthews, 1986, page 44 In 1936, it was reported that produce grown within the district included currants,

dried fruits Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed either naturally, through sun drying, or through the use of specialized dryers or dehydrators. Dried fruit has a long tradition of use dating back to th ...

, Lexia raisins and sultanas intended for direct consumption and muscatels grown specifically for wine production within the district and in other places including the "Barossa district." During the 1920s, a proposal to rename the district council as the ‘District Council of Barmera’ was discussed by the District council with the councillors representing the Cobdogla ward advising opposition to it. A referendum held in 1928 resulted in residents voting in favour of the proposal and the District Council petitioned the George Jenkins, the Minister of Local Government, to ask that the name change be gazetted. However, a cross-petition from residents opposing the name change was received and the Minister declined to allow the name change. The change of name was finally gazetted in 1937. In 1986, the council was described as covering an area of including subject to permanent water inundation, and having a population of about 4400 people. Primary industry consisted of

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, ran ...

where grapes were produced for wine production within both the Riverland and the Barossa Valley, and

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

consisting of

stone fruit In botany, a drupe (or stone fruit) is an indehiscent fruit in which an outer fleshy part (exocarp, or skin, and mesocarp, or flesh) surrounds a single shell (the ''pit'', ''stone'', or ''pyrena'') of hardened endocarp with a seed (''kernel'') ...

production intended for

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although u ...

and

drying Drying is a mass transfer process consisting of the removal of water or another solvent by evaporation from a solid, semi-solid or liquid. This process is often used as a final production step before selling or packaging products. To be considered ...

, and

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumer A consumer is a person or a group who intends to order, or uses purchased goods, products, or s ...

s producing vegetables for sale in

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 ...

.Matthews, 1986, pages 47-49 It was amalgamated with the District Council of Berri on 1 October 1996 to form the

Berri Barmera Council Berri Barmera Council is a local government area in the Riverland region of South Australia. It includes the towns of Barmera, Berri, Cobdogla, Glossop, Katarapko, Loveday and Winkie, and parts of Monash and Overland Corner. History The ...

.Berri Barmera Council, 2016

Chairmen

The following persons were elected to serve as chairman of the council for the following terms:Matthews, 1986, page 46Hosking, 1936, page 528 *Charles Jesse Panter Bruce (1924) *Alan Harcourt Kelly (1928–39) *Cecil Claude Marcelin Chabrel (1938–39) *Donald Hamilton Brooke (1939) and (1943–45) *Bernard Revell Cant (1939–40) *lbenezer Farmer (1940–42) and (1946–48) *Eric Davies Sims (1942–43) *John Stewart MacDonald (1943–53) *Edward Norman Hill (1945–46) *Henry Gunter Anderson (1948–55) *Jack Victor Foot (1955–59) *John McNaught Aird (1959–60) *Sydney Edward Fletcher (1960–68) *Donald Davis Thomas (1968–71) *Denys Murray Trevelyan (1971–75) *Bruce John Scott Vasey (1975–87)

Citations and references

;Citations ;References * * * {{Former local government areas in South Australia