Shire of Hepburn

The Shire of Hepburn is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central part of the state. It covers an area of 1,473 square kilometres (569 sq mi) and, in the 2021 Census the shire had a population of 16,604.^[1]

Hepburn Shire Council Victoria
Location in Victoria
Population	16,604 (2021)[1]
• Density	11.272/km2 (29.195/sq mi)
Established	1995
Gazetted	19 January 1995[2]
Area	1,473 km2 (568.7 sq mi)[1]
Mayor	Brian Hood
Council seat	Daylesford
Region	Grampians
State electorate(s)	Macedon Ripon
Federal division(s)	Ballarat
Website	Hepburn Shire Council
LGAs around Hepburn Shire Council: Central Goldfields Mount Alexander Mount Alexander Pyrenees Hepburn Shire Council Macedon Ranges Ballarat Moorabool Macedon Ranges

It includes the towns of Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford, Hepburn Springs and Trentham and the villages of Glenlyon, Allendale, Kingston, Leonard's Hill, Lyonville, Newlyn, Denver and Smeaton.

It was formed in 1995 from the amalgamation of the Shire of Creswick, Shire of Daylesford and Glenlyon and parts of the Shire of Kyneton and Shire of Talbot and Clunes.^[2]

The shire is governed and administered by the Hepburn Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Daylesford. It also has a service centre located in Creswick. The shire is named after an early squatter named John Hepburn, who established the Smeaton Hill pastoral run, which was located a few kilometres north of present-day Creswick.^[3]

Council

Current composition

The council is composed of five wards and seven councillors, with two councillors per ward elected to represent each of the Creswick and Birch wards, and one councillor per remaining ward elected to represent each of the other wards. As of 2020, the councillors are:^[4]

Ward	Party		Councillor	Notes
Birch		Independent	Jen Bray
		Independent	Lesley Hewitt
Cameron		Independent	Tessa Halliday
Coliban		Independent	Brian Hood
Creswick		Independent	Don Henderson
		Greens	Tim Drylie
Holcombe		Independent	Juliet Simpson

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Daylesford Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Daylesford, and its service centre in Creswick.

Election results

2024

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 Victorian local elections in Grampians § Hepburn results.[edit]

2024 Victorian local elections: Hepburn ^[5]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Don Henderson (elected 1)	2,440	23.48
	Independent	Brian Hood (elected 2)	1,540	14.82
	Independent	Lesley Hewitt (elected 3)	1,079	10.38
	Greens	Tim Drylie (elected 5)	963	9.27
	Independent	Pat Hockey (elected 6)	768	7.39
	Independent	Tony Clark (elected 4)	660	6.35
	Independent	Shirley Cornish (elected 7)	618	5.95
	Independent	Christian Porochowsky	537	5.17
	Independent	Derek Sedgman	492	4.73
	Independent	Cameron Stone	438	4.21
	Independent	Bernie Winfield-Gray	434	4.18
	Independent	Benny Pettersson	423	4.07
Total formal votes			10,392	94.29
Informal votes			629	5.71
Turnout			11,021	83.30

Townships and localities

In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 16,604, up from 15,330 in the 2016 census.^[6]

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Allendale	166	185
Bald Hills^	107	114
Basalt	10	23
Blampied	212	237
Broomfield	228	213
Bullarook^	99	77
Bullarto	73	89
Bullarto South^	33	48
Bung Bong^	51	63
Cabbage Tree	18	10
Campbelltown^	55	51
Clunes	1,728	1,844
Clydesdale	58	62
Coomoora	252	308
Creswick^	3,170	3,279
Creswick North	58	55
Daylesford	2,548	2,781
Dean	120	132
Denver^	150	148
Drummond^	283	294

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Drummond North^	187	203
Dry Diggings	25	41
Eganstown	203	206
Elevated Plains	37	39
Evansford^	131	147
Fern Hill^	104	125
Franklinford^	66	71
Glengower^	13	15
Glenlyon	389	431
Guildford^	333	330
Hepburn	599	631
Hepburn Springs	329	368
Kingston	177	190
Kooroocheang	28	41
Korweinguboora^	168	196
Langdons Hill	21	23
Lawrence	17	8
Leonards Hill	45	47
Lillicur^	29	85

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Little Hampton	62	74
Lyonville	175	189
Malmsbury^	831	905
Mollongghip^	89	105
Mount Beckworth	9	15
Mount Cameron^	9	15
Mount Franklin	89	99
Mount Prospect	41	41
Musk	150	177
Musk Vale	132	170
Newbury	71	84
Newlyn	128	136
Newlyn North	174	230
North Blackwood	51	50
Porcupine Ridge	122	149
Rocklyn	62	43
Sailors Falls	62	79
Sailors Hill	81	72
Shepherds Flat	66	71

Population
Locality	2016	2021
Smeaton	231	245
Smokeytown	31	32
Spring Hill^	198	200
Springmount	181	184
Stony Creek	6	0
Strangways^	87	101
Sulky^	232	234
Taradale^	448	524
Tarilta^	21	26
Trentham^	1,180	1,382
Trentham East^	153	181
Tylden^	535	645
Tylden South	*	#
Ullina	34	25
Wattle Flat^	97	104
Waubra^	275	308
Werona^	46	43
Wheatsheaf	241	252
Yandoit	154	181

^ - Territory divided with another LGA
* - Not noted in 2016 Census
# - Not noted in 2021 Census

Traditional owners

The traditional owners of the Shire of Hepburn are the Dja Dja Wurrung.^[7]