Shire Profile

Vision

To be a focussed community valuing Gunnedah's identity and quality lifestyle.

 

Mission

To promote, enhance and sustain the quality of life in Gunnedah Shire through balanced economic, environmental and social management in partnership with the people.

 

Organisational values

Equity Integrity Leadership Openness and accountability Customer satisfaction Commitment to safety Efficient & effective use of resources

 

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MESSAGE FROM THE MAYOR

This Community Profile is intended to illustrate the many and varied opportunities the Gunnedah Shire has to offer both developers and investors. The Community Profile is a business document providing factual data on the resources and potential of our Shire.

The Community Profile contains specific, detailed information on industry, business, agriculture, tourism, recreation and the environment.

Gunnedah Shire council has recently adopted a management plan which sets the direction of Council over the ensuing three years. It provides the community with information on the works and services Council provides and the goals and objectives Council has set for the community. Economic Development and Tourism form an integral part of this management plan.

Gunnedah Shire Council and it’s Management Team have demonstrated a keen and pro-active approach towards the ongoing improvement of Council's services and facilities. We recognise the opportunity for economic growth within the Council area and are keen to work with investors and developers to achieve this potential.

Council will utilise the many resources available throughout the Shire to attract and encourage development within our Council area.

I am confident that this Community Profile will provide the information that is required by prospective developers and investors. If any further information is required on our Shire, this Community Profile or any other ways we can help, please do not hesitate to contact myself, senior staff or Council's Manager Economic Development and Tourism. We are only too happy too assist.

Councillor Gae Swain
MAYOR

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COUNCILLORS AND SENIOR STAFF

• Mayor
  Councillor Gae Swain
• Deputy Mayor
  Councillor Stephen Smith
• Councillors
  • Councillor Stephen Benham
  • Councillor Gerard Broekman
  • Councillor Colleen Fuller
  • Councillor Gwen Griffen
  • Councillor Tony Jones
  • Councillor Adam Marshall
  • Councillor Kevin Martin

• General Manager Mr Max Kershaw
• Group Manager Corporate/Client Services Mr Tim Muldoon
• Group Manager Services Mr Brett Stonestreet

Staff can be contacted at the Gunnedah Shire Council Administration Building located at:
63 Elgin St, (PO Box 63)
GUNNEDAH NSW 2380
Phone+61 2 6740 2100
Fax+61 2 6740 2119

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

If you're thinking business, consider the possibilities that Gunnedah has to offer:

• A well developed transport infrastructure linked to the rest of Australia by air, rail and road, and from the seaports and airports of Newcastle, Sydney and Brisbane, a pathway to the world.
• A labour pool with ready access to training and education facilities.
• A well structured business incentive program with a supportive and forward thinking Council.
• An abundant supply of energy, raw materials and open space for manufacturing facilities.
• Ready access to the Internet, and technical support services.

Whether your firm is ready to expand or relocate, or you are considering a new enterprise, Gunnedah Shire Council can provide professional assistance.

As an advisory and business introduction contact, Council's Economic Development Section is the vital link for firms wanting to know more about our vibrant region and how they can access the various assistance schemes and identify the right mix of resources and infrastructure requirements from our business partner program.

Collectively our partners offer an attractive combination of benefits and incentives that can be tailored into a seamless investment package for any new business venture in Gunnedah.
In short, it represents a compelling business case -
no wonder we refer to it as the Land of Opportunity.

To find out more about what Gunnedah has to offer business,
contact Chris Frend, Manager Economic Development & Tourism

Tel: +61 2 6740 2147
Fax: +61 2 6740 2119
E-mail: business@infogunnedah.com.au
Web: www.infogunnedah.com.au

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OVERVIEW OF THE GUNNEDAH SHIRE

The Shire of Gunnedah in the North West of New South Wales covers an area of 5,092 square kilometres and has a population of 12,819. It is located in the Upper Namoi Valley and is bordered by the Tamworth Regional Council and Shires of Liverpool Plains (Quirindi), Narrabri and Coonabarabran.

Gunnedah is the service hub of the Shire. Outlying villages include Curlewis and Breeza to the southeast, Carroll to the east and Tambar Springs and Mullaley to the southwest.

By road Gunnedah is approximately 450 kilometres from Sydney, 655 kilometres from Brisbane and just over 1,000 kilometres from Melbourne. It is serviced daily by air, rail and road having its own airport, being on the North-West rail line and having easy access to main highways.

Agriculture and Coal Mining are two important industries together with many light industries. Together they provide wealth and the rare opportunity for secondary and tertiary industry to establish close to both sources of energy and a wide variety of raw materials.

Tourism is also a large and growing industry and the Shire offers a broad range of facilities and interesting activities for both visitors and the resident community. Because of its visible, healthy koala population, Gunnedah is the Koala Capital of the World. The district has connections with Australia's most well known poet, Dorothea Mackellar who gained much inspiration from the surrounding landscape for her many works. Many annual events occur through the year, such as the Ag-Quip Field Days, the Week of Speed, Two Rivers Festival or the National Tomato Contest, helping to promote Gunnedah and drawing large crowds.

Residents also enjoy the advantages of a more relaxed but convenient country lifestyle combined with a high standard of community services. Education and health needs are well catered for along with care for the disabled and aged care facilities second to none.

The community has access to and participates enthusiastically in a wide variety of sporting and cultural activities. Such activities help bring people together. Gunnedah offers many sports, including the contact of the three football codes plus soccer to cricket and the calm paces of chess. Gunnedah, while having it’s own sporting and cultural activities, occasionaly hosts activities that are of State or even Commonwealth level.

Gunnedah Shire has the best of all worlds when it comes to the environment. The Shire has adequate rainfall, clean water, a climate that has moderate temperatures, plenty of sunshine, and much fauna and flora. Peoples views of today put the preservation of the environment as one of the important issues affecting them. The Gunnedah Shire Council is committed to environment preservation, while at the same time incorporating town expansion.

Gunnedah is a town that continues to thrive. It is a great place to raise a family or to do business. It is hoped that this propectus will convince you that Gunnedah is the answer.

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ENVIRONMENT

TOPOGRAPHY

The Gunnedah Shire is situated 264 metres above sea level on the Liverpool Plain in the Namoi River Valley. The predominant topographical features are level flood plains of the Namoi and Mooki Rivers and Cox's Creek with 85% of the Shire having a land slope of less than 3 degrees. These plains are in long corridors which range from 15 to 40 kilometres across before the landform becomes slightly undulating. Three residual hill ridge systems rise from 300 to 500 metres above sea level but land slopes of greater than 15 degrees are found on only 1% of the Shire area.

In Appendix One, Table One shows land slope classes for the Gunnedah Shire.

From the plains the land rises in the west of the Shire to low slopes and thence to hilly country and steep slopes. In the east, the slopes change more rapidly from less than 1 degree to greater than 15 degrees. The highest point in the Shire is located on Mount Surprise and is 889 metres above sea level. This mountain is part of the Nandewar Range, which dominates the northern horizon. Closer to Gunnedah town is Blackjack Mountain with a height of 670 metres. Other significant hills in the region are King Jack Mountain with 761 metres and to the west, Tambar Mountain with 805 metres.

The Topography of the Gunnedah Shire is illustrated in Map One of Appendix Six.

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CLIMATE

Situated between the tropical and temperate climatic zones, Gunnedah experiences very warm to hot summers and cool to mild winters. Average maximum temperatures vary from 33.7 degrees Celsius in January to 16.8 degrees in July while average minima range from 18.2 degrees in January and February to 2.9 degrees in July. Extremes exceeding 35 and as low as minus 5 degrees C have been recorded.

Average maximum and minimum temperatures can be seen in the following table.

Autumn and spring months tend to be generally mild with occasional erratic temperature fluctuations.

Average annual rainfall across the Shire is between 500 and 600 millimetres and tends to be summer dominant with 43% falling in the four months November to February.

Source: Bureau of Meteorology.

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RELATIVE HUMIDITY

Relative humidity is higher during the winter months when temperatures are lower. Average 9am readings range from 80% in June to 55% in November and December while 3pm readings range from 56% in June to 36% in November and December.

Relative humidity can been seen expressed in the diagram below.

Source: Bureau of Meteorology.

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EVAPORATION

Average evaporation exceeds 150 millimetres in all months October to March and reaches a maximum of 237.6 millimetres in December. Minimum evaporation of 64.2 millimetres occurs in June.

Table Two in Appendix One gives the evaporation data for Gunnedah.

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FROST

The incidence of frosts varies with topographical features of the area. Heavy frosts can occur from June to August throughout the Shire.

Source: Department of Land and Water Conservation - Gunnedah Research Centre.

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FLOODING

Much of the Gunnedah Shire is natural floodplain and has always been associated with flooding at times of high flow in the Namoi River and the Peel and Mooki catchments. The most extensive floods occur when high flows in the Mooki and Namoi rivers co-incide.

Occurrence of floods is irregular with critical flood levels being recorded in every month of the year, the most severe being recorded in January, February, June and July.

To some degree flood levels can be modified by management at Keepit Dam, 55 kilometres upstream of Gunnedah town and the largest storage on the Namoi river system. Its catchment area is approximately 5,700 square kilometres and its storage capacity approximately 426,000 megalitres. Keepit Dam is primarily operated as a conservation storage but can be used for flood mitigation by controlling releases of water before and after flood levels peak and preventing any release coinciding with high flood levels in the Peel River, a major tributary joining the Namoi between Keepit Dam and Gunnedah.

The frequency of floods exceeding 7.0 metres has been recorded since 1882 and is shown in Table Three of Appendix One.

Flood recurrence, that is the number of years, on average, within which a given flood height will be equalled or exceeded once, has been calculated on the basis of data collected between 1882 and 1978.

Table Four in Appendix One gives the general relationship between recurrence interval and flood height, for the Namoi River at Gunnedah.

Development in Gunnedah is regulated around a critical flood level of 7 metres and all building has been restricted on the flood plains adjacent to the Namoi River.

Gunnedah is never completely isolated by flood waters. In the past the Oxley Highway to Tamworth has been flooded but the new bridge over the Mooki River has reduced the likelihood of future cuts. The Sydney road between Gunnedah and Quirindi is occasionally cut but other roads, rail and air links remain open.

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DRAINAGE AND CATCHMENT

The Namoi and Mooki Rivers and Cox's Creek flow through the northern, south-eastern and western sections of the Shire respectively.

The Namoi River rises as the MacDonald River in the New England Plateau with elevations of between 600 to 1500 metres above sea level and flows over the lower slopes of the Great Dividing and Liverpool Ranges to the Barwon floodplain at elevations of less than 150 metres. It is one of the main tributaries of the Barwon-Darling River System, draining an approximate area of 43,000 square kilometres (17,100 square kilometres at Gunnedah), starting from Walcha in the east and flowing in a north-westerly direction to Walgett in the west of NSW.

The Mooki River drains the south-eastern portion of the Shire, including the Liverpool Plain from Breeza to Gunnedah, and enters the Namoi River four kilometres upstream of the town.

In and around the town of Gunnedah, Blackjack Creek is to the west of the Wandabah Road and Ashfords watercourse to the east of Links Road. Smaller catchment areas in the town are the Stock Road, Osric Street, Killara and Meadow Park catchments.

Cox's Creek flows through the west of the Shire passing Tambar Springs, Mullaley and Boggabri, where it enters the Namoi River.

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SOLAR RADIATION

The seasonal variation in the input of solar radiation varies from a maximum of approximately 680 cal/cm2/day in mid summer to 275 cal/cm2/day in mid winter. There is little differentiation in radiation throughout the Shire. Throughout the year, daily hours of sunshine average 8.5.

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WINDS

Wind speeds are mostly 5 kilometres per hour (km/hr) or less but strong winds (over 50 km/hr) can occur, most frequently during spring. These can be south-easterlies gusting up to 70 km/hr associated with deep depressions off the mid and north coasts of NSW or violent squalls associated with severe local storms.

Appendix One gives data for wind speed and wind direction occurrences. This data is in Tables Five and Six respectively.

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VEGETATION

Vegetation throughout the Shire has gradually changed due to landholders clearing dry sclerophyll forest and tall or savannah woodland so that the country now resembles tree savannah or grassland.

Four major plant communities, based on structural form and species composition, were identified in 1976 by the Department of Conservation and Land Management.

These four categories are:

These Four categories are covered in more detail in Appendix Two.

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GEOLOGY

The Gunnedah Shire lies within the Gunnedah basin which extends from Bellata to the Liverpool Ranges. The basin was formed in the Late Carboniferous/Early Permian period during which time it was covered by a shallow sea, subsequently being filled with alluvial material and forming vast peats which are now the coal seams of the Upper Coal Measures.

In the Triassic period deposition of these alluvials continued forming beds of sandstones and mudstones. These outcrop in a belt which runs parallel to the Mooki and Goondiwindi fault regions, forming an non-marine wedge that was derived partly from the New England Tablelands.

Volcanic activity in the late Triassic or early Jurassic periods caused the eruption of basalts in the Mullaley district between Gunnedah and Coonabarabran. It was also in this period that the Liverpool Range was formed.

The Liverpool Plains were formed mainly by the deposition of sediments originating from the Liverpool Ranges to the south and the New England Tablelands to the east.

More geological detail together with the age, lithology and stratigraphy of the Tamworth Trough and Gunnedah Basin are given in the Appendix Three.

Map 3 of Appendix Six illustrates the geology of the Shire.

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SOILS

The soils in the Gunnedah Shire are some of the most richly fertile in Australia. In 1976 they were categorised by the Department of Conservation and Management into six mapping units which are based on:

• surface cracking of the soil;
• soil texture;
• topography;
• apparent erodability.

The six units, including the dominant soil types found within each, are summarized below and a more detailed description of each group can be found in Appendix Three.

1. Cracking Clay Soils
   Black Earths, Red, Brown and Grey Clays.
2. Skeletal Soils (Associated with steep topography)
   Lithosols
3. Duplex and "Gravelly Soils"
   Solodic soils and gravelly red brown earths.
4. Clay and Loam Soils (Associated with river flood plains)
   Red, Brown and Grey clays, covered by a thin layerof recent alluvium.
5. Highly Erodible Hard setting loam soils
   Red, Brown Earths, Structured loams and Non Calcic Brown soils.
6. Clay Loam soils with Red Clay subsoils, Neutral to Alkaline pH.
   Euchrozems

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WATER RESOURCES

Sources of supply - domestic

Gunnedah has had a good water supply and this has no doubt played a major part in the towns expansion during recent years.

All of Gunnedah's water requirements are sourced underground from bores located north of the Namoi River.

The water bearing acquifers are at various depths from 10 metres to 118 metres below surface level. Wells #1 and #2 have been abandoned and all water is now sourced from 11 bores ranging in depths from 26 metres to 120 metres.

The quantities of water obtained from each source are as follows:

The overall effective above surface storage is 17.9Ml provided by 5 reservoirs as follows:

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Reticulation

The water is reticulated throughout the area by means of a network of underground pipes or mains ranging in size from 80mm diameter to 450mm diameter.

Approximately 120 km of mains infrastructure exist in the Gunnedah Shire.

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Metering

All water connections excepting those in the main commercial area are metered. Metering has the effect of keeping wastage by consumers to a minimum and also provides a record of consumption so that excess water charges can be determined.

There are approximately 3280 metres installed in Gunnedah and are read twice per year.

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Revenue

Each year, Council fixes a water rate of x cents in the dollar based on the unimproved capital value (U.C.V) of the property. The payment of this rate then provides Council with the revenue required to provide the water supply.

The 2000/2001 rate is .657 cents in the dollar with a minimum of $240.00 per annum. On these figures, if the U.C.V of the property is $36,530 or less, the minimum rate of $240.00 is payable. If the U.C.V is greater than $36,530, the amount payable is calculated using the 0.657 cents in the dollar rate.

This payment only entitles the owner to a certain amount of water based on a charge of 50 cents per kilolitre. Eg. The minimum rate of $240.00 allows consumption of 440 kilolitres. Consumption above this figure is known as excess water and an additional charge also at the rate of 55 cents per kilolitre.

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The future

Although the existing water supply system can meet present demands, investigations are being carried out on an ongoing basis to determine ways of improving the system to meet the future expected demands.

The Water Management Bill 2000 is currently before State Parliament. This Bill is to consolidate many water related Acts as well as to provide for a robust, functioning environment. It is also designed to strengthen community/government partnerships in managing water resources and clarify and strengthen water rights.

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Sources of supply - Agricultural

The Shire's water is supplied from the Namoi and Mooki River, Lake Keepit and numerous bores. Water resources are currently monitored by the Department of Land and Water Conservation and allocations are issued for various users.

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Sources of supply - Domestic