Somerset Region
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Somerset Region

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Somerset Region

The Somerset Region is a local government area located in the West Moreton region of South East Queensland, Australia, northwest of the City of Brisbane. The region is centred on the town of Esk, which also serves as the council seat. Somerset was created in 2008 from a merger of the shires of Esk and Kilcoy, and is known as the Brisbane Valley, owing to the Brisbane River which courses through the region. However, significant parts of the region lie outside the hydrological Brisbane Valley.

The original shires of Esk and Kilcoy were amalgamated to consolidate the water catchments (or reservoirs) of the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams. The Local Government Reform Commission identified that the long-term future of Somerset would be as a major water catchment area for the South East Queensland region, with farming constituting the main economic activity within a water catchment management regime. The "planning strategy and land use policies" implemented by the Somerset Regional Council are therefore "directed this end".

The Somerset Regional Council, which administers the region, has an estimated operating budget of A$50 million. (Council's 2011/2012 budget adopted in June 2012 showed total operating revenue of A$50,049,250). The Somerset region comprises the primary water catchments for the Somerset and Wivenhoe Dams that form an essential part of the water supply grid for South East Queensland.

In the 2021 census, the Somerset Region had a population of 25,057 people.

Duungidjawu (Kabi Kabi, Cabbee, Carbi, Gabi Gabi) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Duungidjawu country. The Duungidjawu language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Somerset Region and the City of Moreton Bay, particularly the towns of Caboolture, Kilcoy, Woodford and Moore.

Garumngar (also known as Dalla, Garumga. See also Wakka Wakka related languages/dialects) is a language of the Upper Brisbane River catchment. The Garumngar language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Ipswich, Brisbane, Moreton Bay and Somerset, particularly the towns of Dayboro and Esk extending east towards Moggill.

Prior to 2008, the new Somerset Region was an entire area of two previous and distinct local government areas:

The traditional owners of the Brisbane Valley district include the Jagera, Yuppera, Ugarapul and Dungibara people who occupied the region for thousands of years prior to European settlement.

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