Mayor Warren Devlin.
THE Etheridge mayor foresaw an irrigated agriculture sector and increased tourism as the answer to reversing his shire’s declining population.
Preliminary 2016 Census results showed the shire had 799 residents. There were 183 families among this number.
This is a heavily reduced number in comparison to 2011 figures. Six years ago there were 1208 residents, which included 293 families.
Mayor Warren Devlin said the population decrease was caused by the decline in the local mining industry, which also impacted local business.
“We’ve got a good relationship with state government departments so they are helping us diversify into the tourism industry and into irrigated agriculture. So look, I think this council’s going to reverse that trend.”
Chris Burns
Senior journalist
