Gannawarra Shire Heritage Study Stage One Volume One Thematic ...

After complaints had been received from overlanders unable to access roads because of fencing used by
pastoralists, in 1871 the Roads Board resolved to direct all owners of fences to remove them from main roads.
7.2 Municipalities
The Shire of Swan Hill, the same area of 15,000 square miles that formed the Roads District was
proclaimed in 1871 and continued to be governed from Kerang. In 1872-3 it was divided into three Ridings:
East Loddon, West Loddon, and Lower Murray. Petitions from settlers resulted in the severance of a southern
area to create the Gordon Shire in 1885. The Mildura Shire, created through the severing of the north-west
portion of the Lower Murray Riding, was proclaimed in 1890. The balance of the Lower Murray Riding, and
northern parts of the East and West Loddon Ridings became the Castle Donnington Shire in 1893. On 31
December 1898, the remaining area of the Swan Hill Shire was renamed the Shire of Kerang. After lobbying
by the Cohuna Severance League led by J. H. Nichol, on 8 March 1922 parts of the North East and South East
Ridings were severed and incorporated as the Shire of Cohuna. In 1938, a referendum instigated by the
Chamber of Commerce resulted in the severance of the township of Swan Hill to form the Swan Hill Borough
Council in 1939. The area around Kerang was incorporated as the Borough of Kerang on 1 April 1966.
At various times over the years, residents in the west of the Shire have formed severance movements.
In 1893, for example, residents in the parishes of Quambatook, Tittybong, Towaninny, Budgerum West and
Budgerum East who believed the district was not receiving its fair share of expenditure raised from rates
formed an association to lobby for severance from the Shire.
In January 1995, despite protests from the Cohuna Shire, through state wide amalgamation of councils
the present-day Shire of Gannawarra was formed by merging the Borough of Kerang, the Shire of Kerang
(excluding the Tresco area) and the Shire of Cohuna (excluding the Gunbower area).
7.3 Policing
A police paddock was in existence at Mount Kerang (the present day site of Kerang) by 1845. A new
police residence was constructed in 1912 in Victoria Street Kerang, and a new police station opened in 1966-7
in Albert Street.
The first courthouse in Kerang was built in 1861 and a small lockup was situated out of town. A new
courthouse was constructed in Kerang in 1877 where the Licensing Court was held in addition to Petty and
County Court sessions. The current building was erected in 1912. 116 Both Koondrook and Gunbower had a
police presence in the 1870s, and a police station was established in Cohuna in later years.
116 "A Brief History of Court House and Police at Kerang". Ibis Heritage Newsletter of the Kerang and District Family
History Group, no. 31, October 1995.
Gannawarra Shire Heritage Study Stage One Volume One Thematic Environmental History
Robyn Ballinger (History in the Making) December 2008
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