CONTEXT
The shire of esperance OVERVIEW
DEMOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS
The Shire of Esperance is a vibrant coastal community in the Great Southern region of Western Australia with a population of over 14,200.2 The Shire spans over 42,000 square kilometres, with over 430 kilometres of coastline and over 5,900 square kilometres of National Parks and Reserves. There are 6 national parks, and 63 Nature Reserves.3
The current residential population of the Shire of Esperance is just over 14,200 . There is an equal representation of males and females, and the median age of Shire residents is 40 years old. The most populous age group is 50-54 years, representing 7.6% of the population, followed by 5-9, 10-14, 15-19, and 45-49 year old’s, each representing 7.1% of the Shire of Esperance Population. It is noted that there is a large percentage of youth, with 32.7% of the Shires population under 24 in 2016.2
The town of Esperance is 700 kilometres east-southeast of Perth, the States capital, and almost 200km from its closest population centres of Ravensthorpe, to the west, and Norseman, to the north. There are several small townsites scattered throughout the Shire but most of the population is concentrated around the Esperance townsite (10,421). The Shire is divided into 32 localities, 8 of which are considered to be the Esperance townsite:
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Bandy Creek Castletown Chadwick Nulsen Pink Lake Sinclair West Beach, and Windabout
Esperance Airport is located 22 kilometres north of the townsite on the Coolgardie-Esperance Highway. The airport operates flights daily between Esperance and Perth. Trans Perth operates buses to Esperance from Perth via Wagin and Ravensthorpe, and offers connecting services from Kalgoorlie and Albany. The Shire has a mixed economy with the main employing industries being agriculture, forestry and fishing. In 2018 there were 1,750 businesses operating in the Shire, and an employment rate of 95.5%.2 There are 35 sports clubs outlined in the Shire of Esperance Sports Facilities and Services Plan, with recognised growing participation in many, in line with increased participation in sports across Australian.
Table 2. Shire of Esperance age breakdown Age Group
Percentage of Population
Age Group
Percentage of Population
0-4
6.4
45-49
7.1
5-9
7.1
50-54
7.6
10-14
7.1
55-59
6.8
15-19
7.1
60-64
5.7
20-24
5.0
65-69
5.3
25-29
5.8
70-74
4.2
30-34
5.7
75-79
3.1
35-39
5.6
80-84
1.8
40-44
6.7
85+
1.8
Tourism & Visitors Esperance was nominated for the 2019 GWN7 Top Tourism Town Award and claimed the Bronze Award behind Exmouth and south coast neighbours Albany. The Shire sees considerable seasonal fluctuations of visitor numbers, with annual visitor numbers calculated at 223,400 between 2016-2018. Almost 16 times the population of the Shire. The average length of stay is 4 days and 63% of domestic visitors, and 90% of international visitors are holiday makers. The most popular age group to visit the Shire of Esperance is 20-34 years old, 32% of domestic visitors and a huge 50% of international visitors fall into this age group.5 Research between 2017-2019 discovered 7% of Australians had a cycle holiday experience in WA. In addition, 26% of Western Australians undertook a daytrip in WA involving cycling.6 Cycling facilities and dedicated mountain bike trails in the Shire of Esperance will further enhance Western Australia’s cycle tourism offerings.
Shire of Esperance Mountain Bike Feasibility Study
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