Palerang Council Area

• 2004 State of the Environment Report
• 2000 State of the Environment Report (available on CD for the former shires of Yarrowlumla, Gunning and Mulwaree)

Palerang Council Area was formed in 2004 when Tallaganda Shire was amalgamated with most of Yarrowlumla Shire and small parts of Gunning and Mulwaree Shires.

Encompassing a large part of the upper reaches of the Shoalhaven, Queanbeyan and Molonglo River catchments on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales and straddling the Great Dividing Range, Palerang Council Area brings together a rich web of the natural, cultural and agricultural. The council area also incorporates a small part of the upper Moruya and Murrumbidgee River catchments and all of Lake George.

More than half of the council's 514,447 hectares are under some form of agricultural production, most commonly beef and sheep grazing, but there are also small pockets of intensive cultivation and irrigation in areas like the Araluen Valley (apples and stone fruit). There has also been a move out of traditional sheep and cattle grazing into enterprises like grapes, olives and alpacas, on small rural residential lifestyle properties within easy commuting distance to Canberra.

Large areas of state forest and national park are in the council area, and even larger national parks and state forests adjoin the council area on its eastern boundary.

Steeped in a history running back to the goldrush days, the major settlements of Bungendore, Braidwood and Captains Flat continue to be key links and service centres for small hamlets like Hoskinstown, Araluen, Mongarlowe, Majors Creek and Nerriga. Due to its proximity to Canberra, rural residential living in the council area is on the increase.

As of June 2004, some 11,325 people lived in Palerang Council Area. Read more >

Look up Palerang Council's contact details