The Shire of Gannawarra 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 ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, located in the northern part of the state. It covers an area of and, in June 2018 had a population of 10,547. It includes the towns of

Cohuna Cohuna is a town situated north of Melbourne, on the Murray Valley Highway, in northern Victoria, Australia. At the , Cohuna had a population of 2,428. History A post office opened in the area on 18 September 1875, known as Mologa until 1876, ...

Kerang Kerang is a rural town on the Loddon River in northern Victoria in Australia. It is the commercial centre to an irrigation district based on livestock, horticulture, lucerne and grain. It is located north-west of Melbourne on the Murray V ...

Koondrook Koondrook ( ) is a town situated on the Murray River, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Gannawarra Local government in Australia, local government area, north west of the state capital, Melbourne. At ...

Leitchville Leitchville is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is in the Shire of Gannawarra local government area, 262 kilometres from the state capital, Melbourne. At the , Leitchville had a population of 558. History The district was ...

and Quambatook. It was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the

Borough of Kerang The Borough of Kerang was a local government area in north-western Victoria, Australia. The borough, which for most of its history was part of the surrounding Shire of Kerang, covered an area of , and existed from 1966 until 1995. History ...

and most parts of the

Shire of Kerang The Shire of Kerang was a local government area located in northwestern Victoria, Australia, along the Murray River. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1995. From 1966 onwards, Kerang itself was managed by a separate ent ...

and Shire of Cohuna. The Shire is governed and administered by the Gannawarra 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 located at the council headquarters in Kerang, it also has a service centre located in Cohuna. The Shire is named after a small town, that is Gannawarra, located between Cohuna and Koondrook. The northeastern border of the shire is 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 r ...

. The

Loddon River The Loddon River, an inland river of the northcentral catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the lower Riverina bioregion and Central Highlands and Loddon Mallee regions of the Australian state of Victoria. The headwaters ...

flows through the shire, feeding into the Murray. The

Gunbower State Forest Gunbower is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Campaspe, north of the state capital, Melbourne on the banks of Gunbower Creek Gunbower is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is located in ...

is a significant source of

River Red Gum ''Eucalyptus camaldulensis'', commonly known as the river red gum, is a tree that is endemic to Australia. It has smooth white or cream-coloured bark, lance-shaped or curved adult leaves, flower buds in groups of seven or nine, white flowers an ...

timber, supplying a historic sawmill in Koondrook.

Gunbower Island Gunbower is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is located in the Shire of Campaspe, north of the state capital, Melbourne on the banks of Gunbower Creek Gunbower is a town in northern Victoria, Australia. The town is located in ...

is the largest inland island in the local area. It is between the Murray River and the Gunbower Creek, an

anabranch An anabranch is a section of a river or stream that diverts from the main channel or stem of the watercourse and rejoins the main stem downstream. Local anabranches can be the result of small islands in the watercourse. In larger anabranches, th ...

of the Murray. The western part of the shire is predominantly used for cereal grain production. The north and east have significant dairying and milk processing. Tourists are attracted to the rivers (for fishing) and also the lakes (for bird watching and water sports).

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of four wards and seven councillors, with three councillors elected to represent the Patchell Ward, two councillors elected to represent the Yarran Ward and one councillor per remaining ward elected to represent each of the other wards. The current council was elected in October 2020.

Administration and governance

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

Main towns in shire

In the 2021 census the shire had a population of 10,683.

References

External links