The Cowra Shire is a Local Government Area (LGA) of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

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The largest town and council seat is Cowra

Cowra, New South Wales

Cowra is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia in the Cowra Shire. It is located on the Mid-Western Highway, 317 kilometres west of Sydney on the banks of the Lachlan River at an altitude of 310 metres above sea level. At the 2006 census Cowra had a population of 8,430...

. It is on the Lachlan River

Lachlan River

- Course :The river rises in the central highland of New South Wales, part of the Great Dividing Range, 13 km east of Gunning. Its major headwaters, the Carcoar River, the Belubula River and the Abercrombie River converge near the town of Cowra. Minor tributaries include the Morongla Creek...

, the Mid-Western Highway

Mid-Western Highway

The Mid-Western Highway starts at Bathurst New South Wales, where it joins with the Great Western Highway over the Blue Mountains from Sydney.It proceeds via Blayney, Carcoar and Cowra. It then heads west through Grenfell to West Wyalong where it crosses the Newell Highway...

, the Olympic Highway and the Lachlan Valley Way

Lachlan Valley Way

Lachlan Valley Way is a New South Wales state highway running from Booligal on the Cobb Highway to north of Yass on the Hume Freeway.-References:**...

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The Local Government Area is between the Council areas of Blayney

Blayney, New South Wales

Blayney is a farming town and administrative centre with a population of 2,745 in 2006, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia...

, Cabonne Shire, Forbes

Forbes, New South Wales

-Notable residents:*Carolyn Simpson - Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales; Member of the first all-female bench to sit in an Australian court*NSW Deputy Premier Carmel Tebbutt was born and raised in Forbes....

, Weddin Shire

Weddin Shire

Weddin Shire is a Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia. Its only significant town is Grenfell....

, Young

Young, New South Wales

-Demographics:On census night, 7 August 2001, there were 6,821 people counted in Young. There were 238 people who identified as being of Indigenous origin in the 2001 Census...

 and Boorowa

Boorowa, New South Wales

Boorowa is a farming town in the South West Slopes of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Boorowa had a population of 1,070 people. It is located in a valley 243 km west of Sydney and 487 m above sea-level...

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The Shire has a number of small villages consisting of Billimari

Billimari, New South Wales

Billimari is a small village, approximately 25 kilometres out of Cowra, New South Wales in the Cowra Shire. From the last census, it has a population of 80.Category:Towns in the Central West, New South Wales...

, Darbys Falls, Morongla

Morongla Creek, New South Wales

Morongla Creek is a small town, or hamlet, in New South Wales, Australia, in Cowra Shire. It is 13 km South of Cowra by road. Other near-by districts and/or villages are: Neila Creek, Cocomingla, Cucumgilliga, Wattamondara, and Noonbinna. Just south of the village rises the well-known...

, Woodstock

Woodstock, New South Wales

Woodstock is a village in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. Itcontains remains of a brief goldrush during the late 19th century which left behind a number of substantial buildings before the village relapsed into relative isolation. It includes a restored railway station, hotel,...

, Gooloogong

Gooloogong, New South Wales

Gooloogong is a village located in central New South Wales, Australia. At the 2006 census, Gooloogong and the surrounding area had a population of 852....

, Noonbinna, Wyangala and Wattamondara.

Council

Cowra Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally. The mayor is not directly elected. The current makeup of the council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Independents Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...  and Unaffiliated	9
	Total	9

The current council, elected in 2008, is:

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Peter Wright	Unaffiliated
	Ian Brown	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...	Deputy Mayor
	Raymond Walsh	Unaffiliated
	Judi Smith	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
	Bill West	Unaffiliated	Mayor
	Rob Watt	Unaffiliated
	Robert Bridges	Unaffiliated
	Jack Mallon	Independent Independent (politician) In politics, an independent or non-party politician is an individual not affiliated to any political party. Independents may hold a centrist viewpoint between those of major political parties, a viewpoint more extreme than any major party, or they may have a viewpoint based on issues that they do...
	Bruce Miller