Landscape Designers Gold Coast City

Garden Design Gold Coast City

By the late 1870s, the Government of Queensland had become preoccupied with the idea of getting local residents to pay through rates for local services, which had become a massive cost to the colony and were undermaintained in many areas. The McIlwraith government initiated the Divisional Boards Act 1879 which created a system of elected divisional boards covering most of Queensland. It was assented by the Governor on 2 October 1879, and on 11 November 1879, the Governor gazetted a list of 74 divisions which would come into existence. Four of these—Nerang, Coomera, Beenleigh and Waterford—were in the Gold Coast region. Southport was developed as both an administrative centre as well as a holiday destination with hotels and guesthouses to cater for visitors. Town dwellers had different needs to the rural landholders so Southport ratepayers lobbied the colonial government to create a separate Divisional Board so that rates monies raised by Southport landholders could be spent on town improvements. This resulted in the establishment of the Southport Division on 14 July 1883 by an amalgamation of part of Nerang Division and part of Coomera Division.
Beach foreshore at Burleigh Heads, 1932

On 31 March 1903, following the enactment of the Local Authorities Act 1902, the divisions became shires. On 12 June 1914, the Town of Coolangatta was created from part of the Shire of Nerang, and on 12 April 1918, Southport became a Town.

At the 2011 Census, there were 145,967 people in the Gold Coast City local government area, of these 48.9% were male and 51.1% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 3.2% of the population; 30% more than the national average. The median age of people in the City of Gold Coast City was 33 years, which is significantly lower than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.9% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 9.3% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 47.3% were married and 12.1% were either divorced or separated.[1]In the City of Gold Coast City between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census, the population decreased by 1.53%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 2.02%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Gold Coast City local government area was significantly below the national average.[2] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Gold Coast City was generally on par with the national average.