Wattle Range Council is a local government area in the

Limestone Coast The Limestone Coast is a name used since the early twenty-first century for a South Australian government region located in the south east of South Australia which immediately adjoins the continental coastline and the Victorian border. The ...

region of South Australia. It stretches from the coast at

Beachport Beachport is a small coastal town in the Australian state of South Australia about south-east of the state capital of Adelaide and about north-west of the municipal seat in Millicent, located at the northern end of Rivoli Bay. Beachport has a ...

east to the Victorian border. It had a population of over 11,000 as at the 2016 Census. The council is divided into four

ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

s; ''Kintore'', ''Riddoch'', ''Sorby Adams'' and ''Corcoran'' wards, with two or more

councillors A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

representing each ward. The council seat is located at Millicent.

History

The

aboriginal people Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

of the region were composed of five powerful

tribe The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to confli ...

s, each occupying its own territory which was strictly defined, and territorial rights guarded jealously. Each had different dialects and the names of the tribes were

Bungandidj The Bungandidj people are an Aboriginal Australian people from the Mount Gambier region in south-eastern South Australia, and also in western Victoria. Their language is the Bungandidj language. Bungandidj was historically frequently rendered a ...

, Pinegunga, Mootatunga, Wichitunga and Polingunga, of which the first was the most powerful. The tract of country occupied by the Booandik extended from the mouth of the Glenelg River to Rivoli Bay North (

) for about 30 miles inland. European settlers first moved into the area in the late 1840s, and by the 1860s opened up tracts of land for farming

cereal crops A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...

became an important port during the 1880s, further increasing the population of the area. The first local government areas were set up around the three towns of Millicent, Penola and

in the late 19th century, with each operating independently of each other until 1997. The Wattle Range Council was formed in 1997 from the amalgamation of the

District Council of Beachport A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

, the

District Council of Millicent The District Council of Millicent (formerly the District Council of Mayurra) was a local government area in South Australia seated at Millicent. History According to South Australian local government historian Sue Marsden "development of South ...

and the District Council of Penola.

Geography

The council includes the towns and localities of

, Burrungule, Comaum, Coonawarra, Furner, German Flat, Glencoe, Glenroy,

Hatherleigh Hatherleigh is a small market town in west Devon, England. It hosts an arts festival in July, and a carnival in November featuring two flaming tar barrel runs. The Walruses meet on New Year's Day to jump into the River Lew to raise money for ...

, Kalangadoo, Kangaroo Inn, Koorine, Krongart, Maaoupe, Magarey, Millicent, Moerlong, Monbulla,

Mount Burr B, or b, is the second letter of the Latin-script alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''bee'' (pronounced ), plural ''bees''. It rep ...

, Mount McIntyre, Nangwarry, Penola, Rendelsham, Rocky Camp,

Sebastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

Short Short may refer to: Places * Short (crater), a lunar impact crater on the near side of the Moon * Short, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * Short, Oklahoma, a census-designated place People * Short (surname) * List of people known as ...

Southend Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authority area with borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north side of the Thames Estuary, east of central London. It is bordered ...

, Thornlea, Wattle Range and Wattle Range East, and parts of

Bool Lagoon Bool may refer to: People *Al Bool (1897–1981), American baseball player *Henry Bool (1846–1922), American anarchist Places *Bool (Ludhiana East), a village in Punjab, India *Bool, Tagbilaran, a barangay (suburb) in the Philippines *Bool Isla ...

, Bray, Canunda, Clay Wells, Nora Creina, Tantanoola and Wepar.

Economy

The local economy is dependent on wide range of activities, with agriculture, fishing,

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and tourism making up the major components. Sheep and cattle farming are the prominent agricultural venture, with

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history th ...

common also.

Cereal crop A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

ping is also prevalent in the nutrient-rich soils of the

South East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

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, ...

is well established in the council area, with one of South Australia's premier wine growing regions, the

Coonawarra wine region The Coonawarra wine region is a wine region centred on the town of Coonawarra in the Limestone Coast zone of South Australia. It is known for the Cabernet Sauvignon wines produced on its " terra rossa" soil. The name has been said to have orig ...

, located in its bounds, with rich terra rossa soil aiding the wine quality.

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

and milling have also been important to the district, with processing plants at Nangwarry and Millicent. Tourism is a diverse, growing aspect of the economy, with seaside towns such as Beachport attracting tourists for the seaside atmosphere, and others such as Coonawarra, for the wine growing industry. A niche tourism activity is cave diving in the water-filled

caves A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

and

sinkhole A sinkhole is a depression or hole in the ground caused by some form of collapse of the surface layer. The term is sometimes used to refer to doline, enclosed depressions that are locally also known as ''vrtače'' and shakeholes, and to openi ...

s present in the southern part of the council's area as well as in the adjoining local government area of the

District Council of Grant The District Council of Grant is a local government area located in the Limestone Coast region of South Australia, and is the southernmost council in the state. The council was formed on 1 July 1996 after the amalgamation of the District Cou ...

. This activity attracts cave divers from around the globe. Popular sites include ''

Fossil Cave Fossil Cave (5L81), formerly known as The Green Waterhole, is a cave in the Limestone Coast region of south-eastern South Australia. It is located in the gazetted locality of Tantanoola about north-west of the city of Mount Gambier, only ...

'', ''Pines'' and ''Tank Cave''.

Elected Members

Wattle Range Council has a directly elected mayor. A councillor is appointed by council as deputy mayor at the start of each term in office.

References

External links