The District Council of Laura was a
local government area in
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 ...
. It was created on 1 May 1932 with the amalgamation of the
Corporate Town of Laura and the
District Council of Booyoolie
The District Council of Booyoolie was a local government area in 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 ...
.
It reunited the whole cadastral Hundred of Booyoolie within the same district council, as had previously been the case when the Booyoolie council was first proclaimed in 1876.
The Laura merger had occurred after a much broader 1931 merger proposal, which would have seen the Corporate Town of Laura,
District Council of Gladstone
The District Council of Gladstone was a local government area in South Australia. It was proclaimed on 10 August 1876 as the District Council of Yangya, named for the cadastral Hundred of Yangya, but was renamed Gladstone after its main town on 1 ...
,
Corporate Town of Gladstone and
District Council of Caltowie merge into a drastically enlarged District Council of Booyoolie, was abandoned after meeting strong opposition from both the Laura and Gladstone communities.
The council chambers were initially located in the Laura Town Hall, which had formerly been the Laura Institute.
It was divided into six wards, each electing one councillor: East Laura, North Laura and West Laura Wards in Laura itself, and South (later Pine Creek), Stone Hut and Whyte Cliff Wards in the rural areas.
The council area had a total population of 1,062 persons in 1936.
The earlier town hall was replaced by a new Civic Centre in 1968. Amongst the council's later projects was a 1980s-era collaboration with the South Australian Housing Trust to build a number of pensioner cottages in the town.
The council ceased to exist on 1 May 1988 when it merged with the
District Council of Georgetown The District Council of Georgetown was a local government area in South Australia, centred on the town of Georgetown.
History
It was proclaimed on 2 March 1876 as the District Council of George Town, encompassing the cadastral Hundred of Bundale ...
and the
District Council of Gladstone
The District Council of Gladstone was a local government area in South Australia. It was proclaimed on 10 August 1876 as the District Council of Yangya, named for the cadastral Hundred of Yangya, but was renamed Gladstone after its main town on 1 ...
to form the short-lived
District Council of Rocky River
The District Council of Rocky River was a local government area in South Australia from 1988 to 1997, seated at Gladstone.
History
The council came into existence on 1 May 1988 with the amalgamation of the District Council of Georgetown, Dis ...
.
Chairmen
* John Leo Kennedy (1932)
* John Holbeach Acott (1922-1933)
* George Edwin Cleggett (1933-1936)
* John Leo Kennedy (1936-1939)
* George William Smith (1939-1943)
* Victor Walter Blesing (1944-1948)
* Charles Amey (1948-1953)
* Louis Ernest Karger (1953-1954)
* Charles Amey (1954-1956)
* Charles Leonard Smith (1956-1957)
* William Mark Coe Weston (1957-1960)
* Norman Theodore Pech (1960-1966)
* George William Paxton Smith (1966-1967)
* Brian Robert Middlemiss (1967-1973)
* Vernon William Charles Taylor (1973-1977)
* Max Erwin Zanker (1977-1982)
* Peter Edwin Hill (1982-1983)
* Allan Glen Woolford (1983-?)
References
{{Authority control
Laura
Laura