Shire of Livingstone: History
On 11 November 1879, the Gogango Division was established as one of 74 divisions around Queensland under the Divisional Boards Act 1879 with a population of 5023. It covered an area of 16,239 km2 (6,270 sq mi) surrounding but not including the town of Rockhampton—an area significantly greater than the modern Rockhampton Regional Council covers. Its administrative centre was in North Rockhampton.
Capital and people came to the area in greater numbers after the discovery of gold in 1882 at Mount Morgan, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of Rockhampton.
A bridge was built spanning the Fitzroy River in 1882, and a year later in September 1883, the Borough of North Rockhampton was proclaimed.
On 3 March 1892, part of subdivision 2 of the Broadsound Division was transferred to subdivision 3 of the Gogango Division, while another part of subdivision 2 of the Broadsound Division was transferred to the Duaringa Division.
On 6 April 1899, the part of the Gogango Division south of the Fitzroy River split away to form the Fitzroy Division.
With the passage of the Local Authorities Act 1902, Gogango Division became the Shire of Gogango on 31 March 1903, and on 8 August 1903 it was renamed Shire of Livingstone.
On 1 July 1984, the neighbouring City of Rockhampton grew to include Parkhurst (which had previously been within the Shire of Livingstone) to encompass the area where Rochampton's new water treatment facility was being constructed..
On 15 March 2008, under the Local Government (Reform Implementation) Act 2007 passed by the Parliament of Queensland on 10 August 2007, the Shire of Livingstone merged with the City of Rockhampton and the Shires of Mount Morgan and Fitzroy to form the Rockhampton Region.
In 2012, a proposal was made to de-amalgamate the Shire of Livingstone from the Rockhampton Region. On 9 March 2013, the citizens of the former Livingstone shire voted in a referendum to de-amalgamate. The Shire of Livingstone was re-established on 1 January 2014.
In 2019, a proposal was put forward that the localities of Glenlee, Rockyview and Glendale (all within the Shire of Livingstone) should become part of the Rockhampton Region. The main rationales for the change were that these localities lay in the path of suburban growth to the north of Rockhampton and that the residents of these localities used the services and facilities within the Rockhampton Region rather than those of the Shire of Livingstone. The proposal highlighted the different planning priorities between the two local governments with Rockhampton Region wishing to develop more suburban housing and associated amenities with smaller land parcels, while the Shire of Livingstone preferred to have larger land parcels to retain its rural and rural residential character. Given the unpopularity of the forced 2008 amalgamation, there was suspicion among shire residents that the proposal was another attempt to achieve amalgamation through progressive loss of localities to the Rockhampton Region. Following a number of investigations and public consultations, it was decided in October 2022 not to change the local government boundaries. …