Shire of Macedon Ranges

Template:Use Australian English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox Australian place The Shire of Macedon Ranges is a region in Central Victoria, Australia, best known for its native forests, geographical attraction Hanging Rock, and artisan food and wine industries. The region covers an area of Template:Convert.<ref name=ABSLGA/> It is located in between the cities of Bendigo and Melbourne. In August 2021 the shire had a population of 51,458.<ref name=ABSLGA/> It includes the towns of Gisborne, Gisborne South, Kyneton, Lancefield, Macedon, Malmsbury, Mount Macedon, New Gisborne, Riddells Creek, Romsey and Woodend.

The Shire is named after the region's major geographical feature, the Macedon Ranges. It has become one of Victoria's most popular tourist attractions<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and contains some of its most sought-after real estate.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

It is governed and administered by the Macedon Ranges Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Kyneton, it also has service centres located in Gisborne, Romsey and Woodend.

File:Old Macedon Ranges Shire Council logo.jpg

Old logo used up to early 2013

Macedon Ranges was one of the highest-rated areas in Australia in the Quality of Life Index 2008. It was the highest rated in Victoria (outside Melbourne), and was 13th of 590 Australian local government areas.<ref name="BankWest">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Council

Current composition

The Shire of Macedon Ranges was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Romsey, Shire of Gisborne, Shire of Newham and Woodend, and most of the Shire of Kyneton.<ref name="Gazette" />

The council is composed of three wards (East, South and West) and nine councillors, with three councillors per ward elected to represent each ward.<ref name="Council">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Since October 2024, Macedon Ranges has consisted of the following councillors:<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Ward	Councillor	Notes
East Ward	Cassy Borthwick
	Daniel Young
	Andrew Scanlon
South Ward	Dom Bonanno	Mayor
	Alison Joseph
	Christine Walker
West Ward	Jennifer Anderson
	Kate Kendall	Deputy Mayor
	Janet Pearce

Administration and governance

The Council meets in the Council chambers at Gisborne, which is also the location of one of the Council's administrative centres. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Kyneton, and its service centres in Gisborne, Romsey and Woodend.

Education

Gisborne Secondary College, the largest secondary school in the shire, is located in Gisborne, and provides both academic and vocational programs for over 1000 students from across the Macedon Ranges.Template:Cn

Kyneton Secondary College is Kyneton's state secondary school, along with Sacred Heart College (Catholic), and Braemar College east of Woodend (Ecumenical, co-educational) as the largest non-government secondary schools in the shire.Template:Cn

Candlebark School (R-12, near Romsey) and Alice Miller School (7-12, near Macedon), both founded by Australian author and educator John Marsden, provide alternative education options.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

There are several primary schools across the shire.

Townships and localities

In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 51,458 compared to 46,100 in the 2016 census.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	196	242
Template:VICcity	107	95
Template:VICcity	*	#
Template:VICcity	135	138
Template:VICcity	197	185
Template:VICcity	645	714
Template:VICcity^	131	117
Template:VICcity	13	25
Template:VICcity	327	382
Template:VICcity	56	68
Template:VICcity	106	111
Template:VICcity^	320	303
Template:VICcity	70	104

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	402	402
Template:VICcity^	150	148
Template:VICcity^	283	294
Template:VICcity	94	103
Template:VICcity^	104	125
Template:VICcity	8,999	10,142
Template:VICcity	799	854
Template:VICcity	227	253
Template:VICcity^	54	60
Template:VICcity	168	178
Template:VICcity	81	83
Template:VICcity	6,951	7,513
Template:VICcity	124	116

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	2,455	2,743
Template:VICcity	236	247
Template:VICcity	2,040	2,073
Template:VICcity^	831	905
Template:VICcity	218	207
Template:VICcity	1,335	1,450
Template:VICcity	2,387	2,509
Template:VICcity	506	533
Template:VICcity	48	75
Template:VICcity	38	51
Template:VICcity	159	189
Template:VICcity	3,947	4,390

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Template:VICcity	71	71
Template:VICcity	4,746	5,797
Template:VICcity	13	28
Template:VICcity^	198	200
Springfield	3	9
Template:VICcity	*	#
Template:VICcity^	448	524
Template:VICcity^	724	818
Template:VICcity^	153	181
Template:VICcity^	535	645
Template:VICcity	5,806	6,732
Template:VICcity	304	315

Template:Columns-end ^ - Territory divided with another LGA
* - Not noted in 2016 Census
# - Not noted in 2021 Census

External links

• Macedon Ranges Shire Council official website
• Residents association
• Metlink local public transport map
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
• Gisborne & Mount Macedon Districts Historical Society
• Template:Victorian local government areas pre-1994 vs present map link