Yass Valley Council

This article is about the local government area. For the regional town, see Yass, New South Wales.

Yass Valley New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates
Population	16,270 (2013 est)
• Density	4.0685/km2 (10.537/sq mi)
Established	1980
Area	3,999 km2 (1,544.0 sq mi)
Mayor	Rowena Abbey (Independent)
Council seat	Yass
Region	Southern Tablelands
State electorate(s)	Goulburn
Federal Division(s)	Hume
Website	Yass Valley
LGAs around Yass Valley: Harden Boorowa Upper Lachlan Gundagai Yass Valley Goulburn Cootamundra ACT Palerang

Yass Valley Council is a local government area in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales, Australia. The area is located adjacent to the Hume and Barton Highways and the Main Southern railway line.

The Shire includes Yass, Binalong, Bookham, Bowning, Gundaroo, Murrumbateman, Sutton, Wee Jasper and Brindabella.

Yass Shire was proclaimed on 1 January 1980 following the amalgamation of Goodradigbee Shire and the Municipality of Yass. Yass Shire in turn was dissolved and merged into the Yass Valley Council on 11 February 2004, following a further amalgamation of Yass Shire and parts of Gunning and Yarrowlumla Shires.

The Mayor of Yass Valley Council is Cr. Rowena Abbey, an independent politician.

Demographics

Population: On census night, 7 August 2001, there were 9,675 people (4,825 males and 4,850 females) counted in Yass. This represents an increase of 6.4% since the 1996 Census, and an increase of 10.6% since the 1991 Census. Of those people counted on Census Night, 95.7% were counted at home. Yass Shire has an area of 3298 square kilometres, giving a population density of 2.9 people per square kilometre.

Indigenous Origin: There were 190 people (2.0%) who identified as being of Indigenous origin in the 2001 Census. The median age of people in the 2001 Census was 38 years.

Country Of Birth: The number of people born overseas in the 2001 Census was 902 (9.3%). Of those born overseas, the three main countries of birth in the 2001 Census were:

United Kingdom: 348 (3.6%)
New Zealand: 107 (1.1%) and
Germany: 53 (0.5%).

Ancestry: In the 2001 Census, the three most common ancestries identified with were:

Australian: 4905 people (50.7%)
English: 3722 people (38.5%) and
Irish: 1307 people (13.5%).

Language: English was stated as the only language spoken at home by 9,220 people (95.3%) in the 2001 Census. The three most common languages spoken at home other than English in the 2001 Census were:

German: 30 (0.3%)
Croatian: 27 (0.3%) and
Italian: 22 (0.2%).

Computer Usage: In the week preceding the 2001 Census, 4381 people (45.3%) had used a personal computer at home. The total number of persons who had used the Internet in the week preceding the 2001 Census was 3632. There were 621 people (6.4%) who had used the Internet at work only, 1762 people (18.2%) who had used the internet at home only and 319 people (3.3%) who had used the internet elsewhere only.

Marital Status: In the 2001 Census, there were 4335 married people (57.9%), 242 separated people (3.2%), 528 divorced people (7.1%), 505 widowed people (6.7%) and 1874 people who had never been married (25.0%).

Education: In the 2001 Census, 285 (3.8%) people (152 males and 133 females) held a postgraduate degree, graduate diploma or graduate certificate; 760 (10.2%) people (343 males and 417 females) held a bachelor's degree; 1741 (23.3%) people (1097 males and 644 females) with an advanced diploma, diploma or certificate; and 4697 (62.8%) people (2096 males and 2601 females) did not have a qualification.

Unemployment: In the 2001 Census, 215 people were unemployed, representing 4.3% of the labour force. The labour force participation rate was 80.1%.

Industry Of Employment: In the 2001 Census, 207 (4.3%) people were employed in the Manufacturing industry; 364 (7.6%) people employed in the Construction industry; 659 (13.7%) people employed in the Retail Trade industry; 453 (9.4%) people were employed in the Property and Business Services industry; 323 (6.7%) people employed in the Education industry; and 395 (8.2%) people employed in the Health and Community Services industry.

Income: The median weekly individual income for people aged 15 years and over in the 2001 Census was $400–$499.

Journey To Work: On Census day, 7 August 2001, 3 (0.1%) people travelled to work by train only, 63 (1.3%) people took the bus only and 0 (0.0%) people took both the train and bus. There were 3018 (62.4%) people who travelled to work by car, either as the driver or as a passenger and 283 (5.9%) people either rode a bike or walked to work.

Families: In the 2001 Census, there were 1280 couple families with children (which comprised 47.0% of all families in occupied private dwellings), 1110 couple families without children (40.7%), 313 one parent families (11.5%) and 22 other families (0.8%).

Dwellings: In the 2001 Census, there were 3346 separate houses (92.3%), 120 semi detached, row or terrace houses and townhouses (3.3%), 93 flats, units or apartments (2.6%) and 62 other dwellings (1.7%). Of all occupied private dwellings in the 2001 Census, 2670 were either fully owned or being purchased, which represents (73.6%) of all occupied private dwellings, while 707 (19.5%) were being rented.

Council

Current composition and election method

Yass 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 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	9
	Total	9

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election, is:

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Geoff Frost	Independent
	Greg Butler	Independent
	Cecil Burgess	Independent
	Jasmin Jones	Independent
	Michael McManus	Independent Deputy Mayor
	Rowena Abbey	Independent	Mayor
	Garry Ware	Unaligned
	David Needham	Independent
	Ann Daniel	Independent

Transport facilities

Yass Valley is serviced by the following transport facilities:

• Hume Highway (National Highway 31)
• Barton Highway (National Highway 25)
• Lachlan Valley Way (State Route 81)
• Main Southern Railway (NSW TrainLink)
• Transborder Express (A local bus & coach firm)