Cowra Shire

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

The Cowra Shire is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The Shire is located adjacent to the Lachlan River, the Mid-Western Highway and the Lachlan Valley Way.

Cowra Shire New South Wales
Shire offices in Cowra
Location in New South Wales
Coordinates	33°49′S 148°44′E
Population	12,724 (2021 census)[1]
• Density	4.528/km2 (11.728/sq mi)
Established	1980
Area	2,810 km2 (1,084.9 sq mi)
Mayor	Ruth Fagan[2]
Council seat	Cowra[3]
Region	Central West
State electorate(s)	Cootamundra
Federal division(s)	Riverina
Website	Cowra Shire
LGAs around Cowra Shire: Forbes Cabonne Blayney Weddin Cowra Shire Bathurst Hilltops Hilltops Upper Lachlan

The largest town and council seat is Cowra. The municipality also has a number of small villages: Billimari, Darbys Falls, Gooloogong, Morongla, Noonbinna, Wattamondara, Woodstock, and Wyangala.

The mayor of Cowra Shire Council is Ruth Fagan.

Council

Cowra Shire Council has nine councillors elected proportionally as a single 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 by-election was held on 21 December 2021, and the makeup of the council is as follows:^[4]

Party		Councillors
	Independents and Unaligned	7
	Independent Labor	1
	Independent National	1
	Total	9

The current Council is:^[5]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Bill West
	Erin Watt	Independent Labor
	Sharon D'Elboux	Independent
	Nikki Kiss	Independent
	Cheryl Downing	Independent
	Peter Wright	Independent
	Ruth Fagan	Independent National
	Paul Smith
	Judi Smith	Independent

Election results

2024

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Central West § Cowra results.[edit]

2024 New South Wales local elections: Cowra^[6][7]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Paul Robert Smith (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Cheryl Downing (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Tony Horton (elected)	unopposed
	Independent Labor	Erin Watt (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Cheryl Speechley (elected)	unopposed
	Independent National	Ruth Fagan (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Peter Wright (elected)	unopposed
	Independent	Nikki Kiss (elected)	unopposed
Registered electors

2021

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Central West § Cowra.[edit]

2021 New South Wales local elections: Cowra^[8][9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Bill West (elected)	2,132	27.5
	Independent	Erin Watt (elected)	1,138	14.7
	Independent	Sharon D'Elboux (elected)	705	9.1
	Independent	Nikki Kiss (elected)	676	8.7
	Independent	Cheryl Downing (elected)	527	6.8
	Independent	Peter Wright (elected)	428	5.5
	Independent	Paul Smith (elected)	386	5.0
	Independent National	Ruth Fagan (elected)	265	3.4
	Independent	Donna Peters	260	3.3
	Independent National	Ian Docker	235	3.0
	Independent	Rodrick Buhr	230	3.0
	Independent	Judi Smith (elected)	216	2.8
	Independent	Michael Nobes	152	2.0
	Independent	Alex Cozadinos	145	1.9
	Independent	Rebecca Morgan	143	1.8
	Independent	Simon Bray	126	1.6
Total formal votes			7,764	94.2
Informal votes			480	5.8
Turnout			8,244	85.0

Panoramic view from Cowra Mountain at the Cowra Japanese Garden. The view takes in the gardens and the plains of the Cowra Shire across to the nearby mountains.