Boroondara Council
It has an area of 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi). In June 2018 the city had a population of 181,289.
City of Boroondara participates in the Victorian Government's state-wide, Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey. This is conducted annually by an independent research company, JWS Research. In 2022 City of Boroondara achieved an index score of 71 on ‘Overall Performance’. This is significantly higher than the average ratings for metropolitan councils (index score of 65) and the state-wide average (index score of 59) and places Boroondara in the top-performing councils metro and state-wide.
History
This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation.
In 1837, John Gardiner (after whom Gardiners Creek was named) and his family were the first Europeans to settle in the area. Robert Hoddle surveyed the area in 1837 and declared it the "Parish of Boroondara". The area was densely wooded, so he took a word from the Woiwurrung language (as spoken by the Wurundjeri), meaning "where the ground is thickly shaded".
The first Local Government body was the Boroondara District Road Board, formed on 11 July 1854 and incorporating the areas which were to become the City of Hawthorn, City of Kew and City of Camberwell. Hawthorn and Kew were created as separate municipalities in 1860 and the remaining area of the Road Board became Shire of Boroondara on 17 November 1871, which later became the City of Camberwell.
In the 1990s, the City of Hawthorn, the City of Kew and the western part of the City of Camberwell were originally planned to be amalgamated to form the "City of Riversdale". The three municipalities, including the whole of the City of Camberwell, were eventually amalgamated in June 1994 to create the City of Boroondara. Existing councillors from the three municipalities were replaced initially by three commissioners - David Glanville (chair), David Thomas and Marion Macleod. The commissioners were in turn replaced by ten councillors following elections in 1996.
Council
Boroondara City Council is the third tier of government and deals with services such as waste and recycling collection, leisure centres, building and planning permits and approvals, roads, drainage, health services, youth services, children's services, food safety, parks and gardens, library services, pets, street parking permits and the collection of rates and charges.
Current composition and election method
Boroondara City Council is composed of eleven councillors, each representing one of eleven wards. On Thursday 9 July 2020, the Minister for Local Government formally announced a change to Boroondara's electoral structure. This change follows a review by the Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC), which was completed in June 2019. This change included an increase in ward and councillor numbers from 10 to 11. The new 11th ward is named Riversdale Ward, and is located to the south-west where it shares a boundary with Glenferrie, Junction and Gardiner Wards. This addition resulted in a number of boundary changes across the municipality.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic threatened to disrupt the local elections, with some arguing that the inability to campaign in-person would benefit incumbents with name-recognition, or resource rich candidates who could invest in letter box campaigns with leaflets. A decision was made, on public health grounds, that it was safe to proceed with the elections and voters were only able to return their ballots via postal voting.
All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office, with the most recent election being held in October 2024. Councillors were sworn in at a Special Meeting of Council on Monday 11 November 2024. The Mayor will be decided in a council meeting on the 18th of November.
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Independent | 8 | |
| Liberal | 1 | |
| Greens | 2 | |
| Total | 11 | |
| Ward | Party | Name | Elected | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bellevue | Independent | Michael Nolan | 2024 | |
| Cotham | Liberal | Felicity Sinfield | 2012 | |
| Gardiner | Independent | Victor Franco | 2020 | |
| Glenferrie | Greens | Wes Gault | 2020 | |
| Junction | Independent | Mal Osborne-Smith | 2024 | |
| Lynden | Independent | Lisa Hollingsworth | 2016 | |
| Maling | Independent | Shima Ibuki | 2024 | |
| Maranoa | Independent | Chris Pattas | 1996-2004, 2024 | |
| Riversdale | Independent | Rob Baillieu | 2024 | |
| Solway | Greens | John Friend-Pereira | 2024 | |
| Studley | Independent | Sophie Torney | 2024 |
Mayors
Past councillors
1996−present
| Year | Bellevue | Cotham | Gardiner | Glenferrie | Junction | Lynden | Maling | Maranoa | Riversdale | Solway | Studley | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | ||||||||||||
| 1996 | Eric Risstrom (Ind.) |
Geoff Hayes (Liberal) | Will Charlton (Ind.) |
Nigel Kirby (Ind.) |
Lilian Weinberg (Ind.) |
Ian Wallace (Ind.) |
Loreto Davey (Ind.) |
Chris Pattas (Ind.) |
10 wards (1996−2020) | Keith Walter (Ind.) |
Paula Davey (Liberal) | |||||||||||
| 1999 | Meredith Butler (Liberal) | Martina Hayes (Ind.) |
Judith Voce (Ind.) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2002 | Coral Ross (Ind.) |
Jack Wegman (Ind.) |
Heinz Kreutz (Ind.) |
Dennis Whelan (Ind.) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | Gina Goldsmith (Ind.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Gina Goldsmith (Liberal) | Lachlan Williams (Liberal) | Dick Menting (Ind.) |
Nicholas Tragas (Liberal) | Mary Halikias-Byrnes (Labor) | Phillip Healey (Liberal) | ||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Phil Meggs (Ind.) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008 | Brad Miles (Ind.) |
David Bloom (Liberal) | Phil Meggs (Ind.) |
Kevin Chow (Labor) | ||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Jim Parke (Ind.) |
Felicity Sinfield (Liberal) | Steve Hurd (Ind. Labor) | Jane Addis (Ind.) |
Philip Mallis (Ind.) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Lisa Hollingsworth (Liberal/Ind.) |
Cynthia Watson (Liberal) | Garry Thompson (Liberal/Ind.) | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Victor Franco (Ind.) |
Wes Gault (Greens) | Di Gillies (Ind.) |
Susan Biggar (Ind.) |
Nick Stavrou (Liberal) | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024 | Michael Nolan (Ind.) |
Mal Osborne-Smith (Ind.) |
Shima Ibuki (Ind.) |
Chris Pattas (Ind.) |
Rob Baillieu (Ind.) |
John Friend-Pereira (Greens) | Sophie Torney (Ind.) | |||||||||||||||
Election results
2024
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independents | 55,852 | 57.70 | +0.34 | 8 |  3
| ||
| Independent Liberal | 27,946 | 28.87 | –3.73 | 1 |  4
| ||
| Greens | 8,155 | 8.42 | +2.99 | 2 | 1
| ||
| Independent Labor | 3,323 | 3.43 | +1.75 | 0 | 
| ||
| Victorian Socialists | 1,523 | 1.57 | +1.57 | 0 |
| ||
| Formal votes | 96,799 | 98.01 | +0.16 | ||||
| Informal votes | 1,962 | 1.99 | –0.16 | ||||
| Total | 98,761 | 100.00 | 11 | ||||
| Registered voters / turnout | 117,377 | 84.14 | |||||
2020
| Party | Votes | % | Swing | Seats | Change | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independent | 60,052 | 57.36 | 5 |
| |||
| Burwood Liberals | 31,700 | 30.28 | 5 |
| |||
| Greens | 5,999 | 5.43 | 1 | 1
| |||
| Independent Liberal | 2,745 | 2.32 | 0 |
| |||
| Animal Justice | 2,122 | 2.03 | 0 |
| |||
| Independent Labor | 1,929 | 1.68 | 0 | 1
| |||
| Independent Greens | 990 | 0.90 | 0 |
| |||
| Formal votes | 104,695 | 97.85 | |||||
| Informal votes | 2,295 | 2.15 | |||||
| Total | 106,990 | 100.00 | 11 | 1
| |||
Townships and localities
The 2021 census, the city had a population of 167,900 up from 167,231 in the 2016 census
| Population | ||
|---|---|---|
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Ashburton | 7,751 | 7,952 |
| Balwyn | 13,312 | 13,495 |
| Balwyn North^ | 20,406 | 21,302 |
| Camberwell | 22,081 | 21,965 |
| Canterbury | 8,056 | 7,800 |
| Deepdene | 2,035 | 2,101 |
| Glen Iris^ | 25,268 | 26,131 |
| Hawthorn | 23,511 | 22,322 |
| Hawthorn East | 14,321 | 14,834 |
| Kew | 24,605 | 24,499 |
| Kew East | 6,635 | 6,620 |
| Mont Albert^ | 4,840 | 4,948 |
| Surrey Hills^ | 13,605 | 13,655 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA
Infrastructure
The council is responsible for the management of stormwater collection and removal. The water supply authority is Yarra Valley Water.
Libraries
The City of Boroondara has five libraries at Camberwell, Ashburton, Balwyn, Kew and Hawthorn, and in 2018 opened a 'library lounge' at the Greythorn Community Hub in Balwyn North.
Local area
Schools
Boroondara has one of the highest concentrations of students in Australia and contains many private schools, including Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College (MLC), Strathcona Baptist Girls' Grammar School, Camberwell Grammar School, Trinity Grammar School, Ruyton Girls' School, Rossbourne School, Carey Baptist Grammar School, Scotch College, Fintona Girls' School, Genazzano FCJ College, Preshil, and Alia College. It contains Catholic schools such as St Michael's Parish School (Ashburton) Our Lady of Good Counsel (Deepdene) and St Bede's School (Balwyn North) and a number of public schools, including Canterbury Girls' Secondary College, Balwyn High School, Kew High School, Auburn High School and Camberwell High School.
Heritage controversy
In 2023, Boroondara implemented a "community heritage nomination process", allowing residents to lodge nominations for properties to be heritage listed, limiting the ability for the owners of those properties to renovate or demolish their property. The community nominated eight properties to heritage list, seven of which were listed without the consent of the owner. This was a highly controversial change, and some residents were concerned that the process would be weaponised by community members to heritage list properties owned by people in ethnic minorities. The council rejected a proposal to pause the process until the next council election.
See also
Notes
- ^ Compared to the combined Independent Liberal and Burwood Liberals result at the 2020 election.
References
- ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Boroondara". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 7 August 2024.
- ^ "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18: Population Estimates by Local Government Area (ASGS 2018), 2017 to 2018". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018.
- ^ "History and heritage". City of Boroondara. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- ^ "Victorian Local Government Community Satisfaction Survey". JWS Research. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
- ^ "Ancestors & Past". Wurundjeri. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- ^ "History of Gardiners Creek". City of Boroondara. 23 January 2017. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
- ^ "Local History and Heritage". City of Boroondara. Archived from the original on 3 May 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2007.
- ^ Victorian Municipal Directory. Brunswick: Arnall & Jackson. 1992. pp. 327–328, 393, 406. Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.
- ^ "Municipal shake-up". The Age. 9 April 1994. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
- ^ "170 councillors sacked as 17 local councils cease to exist, Seven super-cities from today". Canberra Times. 22 June 1994. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ "First Council of City of Boroondara". Monument Australia. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ^ "City of Boroondara". City of Boroondara. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
- ^ "Council elections". City of Boroondara. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ "Victorian council elections likely to be postponed amid COVID-19 risks". 13 August 2020.
- ^ "Council elections to go ahead despite COVID-19 campaigning curbs". 13 August 2020.
- ^ "Providing safe elections".
- ^ "Council elections". City of Boroondara. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
- ^ "Past Councillors". City of Boroondara. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
- ^ "Past Council Meeting Agendas". City of Boroondara. 11 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Boroondara City Council results". Victorian Electoral Commission.
- ^ "Wes Gault". Australian Greens Victoria. Retrieved 11 November 2020.
- ^ https://greens.org.au/vic/person/john-friend-pereira
- ^ "Boroondara City Council results". VEC. Retrieved 9 November 2024.
- ^ "Boroondara City Council election". VEC. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
- ^ "Local Government Elections" (PDF). Eastsider News. October 2024. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2024. Retrieved 8 October 2024.
- ^ "Boroondara candidates". Eastsider News. Archived from the original on 8 November 2024. Retrieved 8 November 2024.
- ^ "Boroondara City Council election results 2020". Victorian Electoral Commission.
- ^ "Boroondara City Council". Burwood Liberals. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 11 January 2023.
- ^ "Libraries". City of Boroondara. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
- ^ Boroondara, City of (18 September 2018). "A visit to Greythorn Library Lounge". City of Boroondara. Retrieved 10 March 2019.
- ^ "Headspace Hawthorn doors open". headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
- ^ Boroondara, City of (22 June 2023). "Nominate a heritage place". City of Boroondara. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
- ^ Cowie, Tom (6 August 2024). "'Racism, vigilantes': Backlash over letting the public nominate homes for heritage protection". The Age. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
External links
Media related to City of Boroondara at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- Link to Land Victoria interactive maps Archived 24 March 2022 at the Wayback Machine
Boroondara travel guide from Wikivoyage