The Copper Coast is famous for having some of South Australia's best holiday beaches. Located a comfortable hour and a half drive from Adelaide, this region of the Yorke Peninsula is rich in history and thriving with coastal developments. Its many attractions and accommodation make the Copper Coast an ideal tourist destination for both local and international visitors.
Located in the Copper Coast region are the Peninsula's three largest urban centres of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo. Smaller towns and settlements are located throughout the Council area including the coastal towns of Port Hughes, North Beach and Moonta Bay and the rural settlement of Paskeville, home of the renowned Yorke Peninsula Field Days.
The Region's prosperity is largely attributed to the diversified arable farming activities based on cereal grains, oilseeds and pulses, together with livestock. The Yorke Peninsula and Wakefield Plains region encompass some of South Australia's most fertile land and with recent advances in technology and effective crop diversification, the region has consistently achieved high yields.
The agriculture sector is a major employer within the region and is well supported by significant bulk grain handling and commodity facilities at the deep-sea port of Wallaroo. Growth in the manufacturing sector has been strong, due to increased production in the agricultural sector and associated value-adding industries. Other manufacturing activities within the region include the production of transport equipment, building, construction and other related services.
The region also hosts significant extractive industries, including limestone, granite, dolomite, gypsum, copper and sand mining.
The Copper Coast has a healthy fishing industry supporting scale fish, prawn, crab and abalone fisheries. Oyster and mussel farming are fast emerging as an industry of the future as is the growing of brine shrimp in the regions many saltpans.
The region has well-developed transport and communication networks, together with a soundly established business and service infrastructure. In recent years there has been strong growth in the health and community services, clerical, sales and services, professional and associate professional occupation sectors.
Yorke Peninsula's retail sector is largely based around the Copper Coast's urban centres of Kadina, Wallaroo and Moonta. The Central Business Districts of each of these major towns offer a diversity of general and specialist stores supported by many smaller retail outlets and business services.
Extensive parklands have been established in the major townships of Kadina, Wallaroo, Moonta, Port Hughes and Paskeville that cater for a wide range of recreational and sporting activities. The Copper Coast Sport & Leisure Centre as a regional sporting venue caters for indoor and ancillary pursuits.
The Victoria, Queen and Davies Town Squares of Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo respectively continue to provide an important open space, reflecting the civic pride of each town community.
Generous areas of foreshore reserve, with their sandy beaches and safe swimming are set-aside at Port Hughes, Moonta Bay, Wallaroo and North Beach. The Port Hughes, Moonta Bay and Wallaroo jetties provide popular recreational fishing venues. Excellent boat launching facilities are provided at Port Hughes, including a boat service pontoon, protective breakwater and extensive trailer parking. A new facility has been completed and is operational at Wallaroo as part of the Copper Cove Marina Development.
Numerous active and passive cultural pursuits are supported by the region's many facilities, including libraries, galleries, performing arts, historical buildings, local histories and museums. The Ascot Theatre in Kadina provides a modern venue for live and cinematic theatre and Art and Community Gallery display facilities have been developed in the former public library to provide a permanent home for the Kernewek Lowender Art Collection.
The Biennial Kernewek Lowender Festival of Cornish heritage is recognised as one of South Australia's leading cultural events. The annual Antique and Collectables Fair, held at Moonta, continues to grow in its reputation, since the inaugural event in 1997.
The Farm Shed Museum and Tourism Centre at Kadina provides excellent visitor information services, supporting the Region's tourism aspirations.
The Copper Coast is fast emerging as a special place in which to live, conduct business and visit. Enjoying a Mediterranean 'just right' mild climate, the districts population, both permanent and visitors, continues to grow as people seek to enjoy the relaxed lifestyle and the regions many assets.
The Narungga people were the original inhabitants of the Yorke Peninsula. Their country extends as far north as Port Broughton and east to the Hummock Ranges.
European history of the area now known as the "Copper Coast" commenced with the leasing of land for pastoral purposes under the Waste Lands Act in 1851.
Development of the region was initially slow being constrained by heavily timbered plains, lack of water and isolation from the main population centres.
The discovery of copper near the present day settlement of Wallaroo Mines in 1857 led to the first major influx of European settlers. This was followed shortly thereafter with further discoveries of copper near the present day site of Moonta.
Settlement within the district initially was a random affair, the mining companies allowing the Cornish miners and their families to settle on small mining leases, in clusters of residential development adjacent to the mine workings. In this manner a number of residential areas containing hundreds of small cottages developed around both the Kadina and Moonta mine workings.
Demand for housing was such that as early as 1861 the Township of Kadina was gazetted, to be followed in 1863 by the gazettal of the Moonta Township. Despite the establishment of these settlements, the majority of residential development continued around the mine sites with these unofficial settlements housing upward of 6,000 people in the mid 1860's.
The importance of the Moonta and Wallaroo mines to the economy of South Australia was such that by 1890 the population of the district had risen to some 30,000 people.
Whilst the mining enterprises were expanding, agricultural development commenced at Green Plains near Kadina in 1866 with the first plantings of wheat.
Legislative and technological changes in farming practice throughout the 1860's and 1870's saw agriculture on the Peninsula grow rapidly and Kadina increasingly became a service centre for the local farming community.
The closure of the Moonta and Wallaroo mines in 1923 resulted in a major population decline as families deserted the area seeking job opportunities elsewhere. Agriculture became the primary mainstay of the three "Copper Triangle" towns.
More recently, the region has become the focus of holiday and recreational activity, and the Townships of Moonta and Kadina derive substantial economic benefit from tourists to the area.
The greatest strength of the "Copper Coast" region is its relatively close proximity to the City of Adelaide, its coastal areas that attract holidaymakers and residents and its strong agricultural base. The region also has a strong cultural link with the early Cornish miners and the influence they brought the mining heritage of the region.
Future planning policy for the Council area therefore needs to provide opportunities for the protection of its agricultural hinterland, expansion of industrial and residential areas to ensure that sufficient land is available to meet foreseeable demand whilst preserving the historical nature of the townships and maintaining a high level of residential amenity.
Planning policy also needs to recognise and address the problems arising from past controls, which have resulted in an unsatisfactory mix of residential, commercial and industrial development, which has seen the loss of historically important buildings.
Policy also needs to identify opportunities for an expanded tourism industry for the region.
The Development Plan should also seek to establish new planning policies which are responsive to the demographic, commercial and social changes which are occurring within the Council area, to reserve land for the expansion of existing urban areas, to preserve areas of important historical or natural significance and, finally, to promote the rational, economic and coordinated growth of the Council area.
The District Council of the Copper Coast is a progressive and successful Local Government Authority, committed to further developing the community's quality lifestyle and by making living easy.
Council will continue to strive to achieve the best outcome for its community through active facilitation of social, environmental, economic, cultural and governance initiatives in a high growth region.
The District Council covers an area of some 773 square kilometres, servicing a population of approximately 13,000 people and over one hundred thousand visitors annually. Population trends indicate a slight growth of 7% is expected over the next decade.
Further residential developments in Kadina, Port Hughes, Wallaroo, North Beach and Moonta/Moonta Bay are further indicators for potential population growth and demographic shifts for the region.
The 3 urban areas currently occupy approximately 19 sq. kms of the total Council area with rural farms constituting 97.5% of the district.
Provisional development plan consents approved by the Council's Development Assessment Panel in 2004/05 were valued in excess of $31 Million and included 161 new residential dwellings. Residential land divisions in the same period created in excess of 800 allotments. This development trend has seen a constant increase in residential development resulting in a corresponding growth in community wealth.
Formed in May 1997 through the amalgamation of the District Council of Northern Yorke Peninsula and the Corporation of the Town of Wallaroo. Up until the 2010 Local Government elections, the Council area was divided into four wards, before being changed to an area council with no wards. It is represented by a Mayor and ten Councillors.
