The Shire is named after the region's major geographical feature, the Macedon Ranges. It has become one of Victoria's most popular tourist attractions[4] and contains some of its most sought-after real estate.[5]
It is governed and administered by the Macedon Ranges Shire Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Kyneton, it also has service centres located in Gisborne, Romsey and Woodend. .
Old logo used up to early 2013
Macedon Ranges was one of the highest-rated areas in Australia in the Quality of Life Index 2008. It was the highest rated in Victoria (outside Melbourne), and was 13th of 590 Australian local government areas.[6]
The council is composed of three wards and nine councillors, with three councillors per ward elected to represent each ward.[7]
Ward
Councillor
Notes
East
Annette Death
Mayor
Geoff Neil
Bill West
South
Dominic Bonanno
Rob Guthrie
Anne Moore
West
Jennifer Anderson
Deputy Mayor
Janet Pearce
Mark Ridgeway
Administration and governance
The Council meets in the Council chambers at Gisborne, which is also the location of one of the Council's administrative centres. It also provides customer services at both its administrative centre in Kyneton, and its service centres in Gisborne, Romsey and Woodend.
Education
Gisborne Secondary College, the largest Secondary School in the shire, is located in Gisborne and provides both academic and vocational programs for over 1000 students from across the Macedon Ranges. Kyneton Secondary College is Kyneton's state secondary school, along with Sacred Heart College (Catholic), and Braemar College east of Woodend (Ecumenical, co-educational) as the largest non-government secondary schools in the shire. In addition to a range of primary schools across the shire, Candlebark Primary School and Alice Miller High School (whose principal is John Marsden, Australian author and educator) provide alternative education options.
Townships and localities
In the 2021 census, the shire had a population of 51,458 compared to 46,100 in the 2016 census.[8]
^Local Government in Victoria. "Macedon Ranges Shire Council". Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. State Government of Victoria. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
