The Shire of Gatton was a local government area located in the

Lockyer Valley The Lockyer Valley is an area of rich farmlands that lies to the west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and east of Toowoomba. The Lockyer Valley is rated among the top ten most fertile farming areas in the world, and the intensively cultiv ...

region between the cities of

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line ...

, and about west of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

, the state capital of

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1880 until its merger with the

Shire of Laidley The Shire of Laidley was a Local government in Australia, local government area located in the Lockyer Valley, Queensland, Lockyer Valley region between the cities of Toowoomba, Queensland, Toowoomba and Ipswich, Queensland, Ipswich, and about ...

to form the

Lockyer Valley Region The Lockyer Valley Region is a local government area in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, between the cities of Ipswich and Toowoomba. It was created in 2008 from a merger of the Shire of Gatton and the Shire of Lai ...

on 15 March 2008.

History

Tarampa Division was created on 15 January 1880 under the ''Divisional Boards Act 1879'', and its board held its first meeting on 20 February 1880. On 25 April 1888, the Laidley Division area broke away and separately incorporated, and on 25 January 1890, the Forest Hill area moved from Tarampa Division to Laidley Division. With the passage of the ''Local Authorities Act 1902'', Tarampa Division became the Shire of Tarampa on 31 March 1903. On 3 September 1938, the Shire of Tarampa was renamed the Shire of Gatton. On 19 March 1949 it grew to incorporate part of the former Shires of Drayton and Highfields, while losing some of its original area to the

City of Toowoomba The City of Toowoomba was a local government area in the Darling Downs region of Queensland, Australia, encompassing the centre and inner suburbs of the regional city of Toowoomba. The City covered an area of , and existed as a local governmen ...

and Shire of Crows Nest. On 15 March 2008, under the ''Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007'' passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Gatton merged with the

to form the

Structure

The Shire of Gatton was divided into three divisions electing a total of eight councillors, plus a popularly elected mayor. * Division One (4 councillors)—eastern area, including Gatton. * Division Two (2 councillors)—central area, including Grantham and Helidon. * Division Three (2 councillors)—western area, including Withcott.

Towns and localities

The Shire of Gatton included the following settlements: * Gatton * Blanchview * Caffey * Carpendale * College View *

Flagstone Creek Flagstone Creek is a rural locality in the Lockyer Valley Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , Flagstone Creek had a population of 220 people. Geography ''Flagstone Creek'' (the watercourse) flows through from west to north-east. Histor ...

* Fordsdale *

Grantham Grantham () is a market and industrial town in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road. It lies some 23 miles (37 km) south of the Lincoln and ...

* Helidon * Ingoldsby * Iredale * Junction View * Lake Clarendon * Lawes * Lower Tenthill * Ma Ma Creek * Mount Sylvia * Mount Whitestone * Murphys Creek * Postmans Ridge * Ropeley * Thornton * Upper Tenthill * Withcott *

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

Population

Mayors

* Bernie Sutton (1993–2000) * Ray Ferdinand (2000-2001) * Jim McDonald (2002–2004) * Steve Jones (2004–2008)

References

External links

University of Queensland: Queensland Places: Gatton Shire
*