Clarence Valley Council - Misplaced Pages

The council services an area of 10,441 square kilometres (4,031 sq mi) and draws its name from the Clarence River, which flows through most of the council area. The area under management is adjacent to the Pacific Highway, the Gwydir Highway and the North Coast railway line. The Clarence Valley region includes the coastal plain and lower valleys of the Clarence and Nymboida river. Most of the valley is agricultural; however, the oceanside towns of Yamba and Iluka are popular holiday resorts.

The council was formed in February 2004 by the merger of the City of Grafton and Maclean Shire, and parts of Copmanhurst, Pristine Waters and Richmond Valley local government areas, and the activities of North Coast Water and Clarence River County Council.

The mayor of Clarence Valley Council is Peter Johnstone.

Towns and localities

Towns and localities in the Clarence Valley Council are:

Heritage listings

The Clarence Valley Council has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

High Conservation Value Old Growth forest

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 49,665 people in the Clarence Valley local government area, of these 49.4 per cent were male and 50.6 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5.7 per cent of the population which is more than double the national and state averages of 2.5 per cent. The median age of people in the Clarence Valley Council area was 46 years; some 10 years higher than the national median. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.6 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 21.3 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 49.3 per cen% were married and 14.6% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the Clarence Valley Council area between the 2006 census and the 2011 Census was 3.15 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.32 per cent, population growth in the Clarence Valley local government area was lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Clarence Valley Council area was significantly below the national average, being one of the factors that place the Clarence Valley Council area in an area of social disadvantage.

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Clarence Valley local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 82 per cent of all residents (national average was 65.2 per cent). In excess of 64 per cent of all residents in the Clarence Valley Council area nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was above the national average of 50.2 per cent. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Clarence Valley local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.1 per cent) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4 per cent); and a significantly higher proportion (94.0 per cent) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8 per cent).

Selected historical census data for Clarence Valley local government area
Census year		2006	2011	2016
Population	Estimated residents on census night	48,146	49,665	50,671
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		46th	45th
	% of New South Wales population		0.72%	0.68%
	% of Australian population	0.24%	0.23%	0.22%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian		34.6%	33.2%
	English		31.9%	31.4%
	Irish		9.0%	9.1%
	Scottish		8.3%	8.6%
	German		3.4%	3.4%
Language, top responses (other than English)	German	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
	Cantonese	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%
	Spanish	n/c	0.1%	0.1%
	Mandarin	n/c	n/c	0.1%
	Dutch	0.1%	0.2%	0.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	No religion	15.3%	19.0%	26.4%
	Anglican	32.0%	30.6%	25.7%
	Catholic	22.5%	22.1%	20.0%
	Not stated	n/c	n/c	10.4%
	Presbyterian and Reformed	7.4%	6.7%	6.0%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income	A$333	A$396	A$477
Personal income	% of Australian median income	71.5%	68.6%	72.1%
Family income	Median weekly family income	A$631	A$924	A$1133
Family income	% of Australian median income	61.4%	62.4%	65.3%
Household income	Median weekly household income	A$781	A$768	A$910
Household income	% of Australian median income	66.7%	62.2%	63.3%

Council

Current composition and election method

Clarence Valley Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Independents	8
	Greens	1
	Total	9

The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election, is:

	Party	Notes
Jeff Smith	Independent	Deputy Mayor
Debrah Novak	Independent
Ian Tiley	Independent
Alison Whaites	Independent
Bill Day	Independent
Greg Clancy	Greens
Peter Johnstone	Independent	Mayor
Karen Toms	Independent
Steve Pickering	Independent

Election results

2024

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Northern Rivers § Clarence Valley results.

2024 New South Wales local elections: Clarence Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Cristie Yager (elected)	4,773	15.0
	Independent National	Peter Johnstone (elected)	3,832	12.0	+4.8
	Greens	Greg Clancy (elected)	2,998	9.4	+0.9
	Independent	Ray Smith (elected)	2,486	7.8
	Independent	Shane Causley (elected)	2,432	7.6
	Independent National	Allison Whaites (elected)	2,318	7.3	−0.5
	Independent	Lynne Cairns (elected)	2,057	6.5
	Independent	Debrah Novak (elected)	1,893	6.0	−5.8
	Independent	Amanda Brien	1,556	4.9
	Independent	Karen Toms (elected)	1,435	4.5	−0.9
	Independent	Andrew Baker	1,173	3.7
	Independent	Steve Pickering	1,144	3.6	−1.4
	Independent	Melissa Hellwig	1,043	3.3
	Independent	James Allan	904	2.8
	Independent	Des Schroder	833	2.6
	Independent	Justin James	723	2.3
	Independent	Phillip Provest	234	0.7
Total formal votes			31,834	90.8	−2.1
Informal votes			3,227	9.2	+2.1
Turnout			35,061	83.7	−2.0

2021

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Northern Rivers § Clarence Valley.

2021 New South Wales local elections: Clarence Valley
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jeff Smith (elected)	6,022	19.6
	Independent	Debrah Novak (elected)	3,622	11.8
	Independent	Ian Tiley (elected)	2,637	8.6
	Independent National	Allison Whaites (elected)	2,403	7.8
	Independent	Bill Day (elected)	2,039	6.7
	Greens	Greg Clancy (elected)	2,592	8.5
	Independent National	Peter Johnstone (elected)	2,212	7.2
	Independent	Karen Toms (elected)	1,658	5.4
	Independent	Steve Pickering (elected)	1,536	5.0
	Independent Labor	Peter Ellem	1,494	4.9
	Independent	Ash Gibbons	1,189	3.9
	Independent	Pete Hanson	1,189	3.9
	Independent National	Donald Scott	702	2.3
	Independent	Phil Belletty	661	2.2
	Independent	Jeffrey Fuller	357	1.2
	Independent	Warren Lang	348	1.1
Total formal votes			30,661	92.9
Informal votes			2,358	7.1
Turnout				85.7
Party total votes
	Independent		23,850	77.8
	Independent National		5,317	17.3
	Independent Labor		1,494	4.9
Party total seats				Seats	±
	Independent			7
	Independent National			2	1
	Independent Labor			0	1

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Clarence Valley (A)". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
"3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017–18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
"Clarence Valley Social Plan". Clarence Valley Council. Archived from the original on 10 February 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2006.
"About Council and the Clarence Valley". About Council. Clarence Valley Council. 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
^ "Cr Peter Johnstone voted new Clarence Valley Mayor". Clarence Valley Council. 2023.
"High Conservation Value Old Growth forest". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01487. Retrieved 18 May 2018. Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Clarence Valley (A)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Clarence Valley (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Clarence Valley (A)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
^ "Clarence Valley Council: Summary of First Preference Votes for each Candidate". Local Government Elections 2016. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 17 September 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
"Clarence Valley - First Preference Group and Candidate Votes by Aggregated Vote Type". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 30 September 2024. Archived from the original on 10 October 2024. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
"PETER JOHNSTONE". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
"ALLISON WHAITES". New South Wales Electoral Commission. 16 August 2024. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
"Greg Clancy". Greens on Council. Archived from the original on 18 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
"Clarence Valley". ABC News.

External links

v t e Towns and Villages in Clarence Valley local government area
Angourie Banyabba Baryulgil Brooms Head Copmanhurst Coutts Crossing Dalmorton Glenreagh Grafton Gulmarrad Gurranang Harwood Iluka Junction Hill Koolkhan Kungala Lanitza Lawrence Minnie Water Maclean Mororo Nymboida Shark Creek South Grafton Townsend Tucabia Ulmarra Warregah Island Wooloweyah Wooli Woombah Yamba
Main Article: Local government areas of New South Wales

v t e Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia
Federal divisions	Cowper Page Richmond
State electorates	Ballina Clarence Lismore Tweed
Local government areas	Ballina Byron Clarence Valley Kyogle Lismore Richmond Valley Tweed
Major cities/towns	Ballina Byron Bay Casino Grafton Lismore Tweed Heads
Minor towns	Alstonville Bangalow Billinudgel Bogangar Brunswick Heads Evans Head Ewingsdale Federal Iluka Kyogle Lennox Head Maclean Mullumbimby Murwillumbah Nashua New Brighton Nimbin Nymboida Ocean Shores Pottsville South Golden Beach Suffolk Park Wollongbar Wooyung Yamba
Rivers	Back Barcoongere Beaury Bielsdown Boundary (Glen Fernaigh) Boundary (Nymboida) Byrrill Brunswick Clarence Coldstream Coopers Corindi Esk Evans Glen Fernaigh Leycester Little Nymboida Mann Nymboida Orara Oxley Richmond Rous Sandon Sandy Shannon Brook Tweed Wilsons Wooli Wooli
Ranges and mountains	Lamington Plateau McPherson Tweed Tweed Volcano Mount Warning
National parks	Border Ranges Chaelundi Nightcap Nymboida Nymboi-Binderay Richmond Range Tooloom Yabbra
Nature reserves	Andrew Johnston Big Scrub Booyong Broken Head Brunswick Heads Davis Scrub Limpinwood Numinbah Victoria Park

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