The City of Blue Mountains is a local government area of New South Wales, Australia, governed by the Blue Mountains City Council. The city is located in the Blue Mountains, on the Great Dividing Range at the far western fringe of the Greater Sydney area. Major settlements include, Katoomba, Lawson, Springwood and Blaxland.

The mayor of Blue Mountains City Council is Councillor Mark Greenhill, a member of the Labor Party.

Towns and villages in the local government area

The urban part of the city consists of a ribbon of close or contiguous towns which lie on the Main Western railway line, served by NSW TrainLink's Blue Mountains Line, and Great Western Highway between Emu Plains and Lithgow. About 70% of the city's area is within the Blue Mountains National Park which lies north and south of the ribbon of towns. The National Park is part of the much larger Greater Blue Mountains Area World Heritage Site and the city brands itself as "The City Within a World Heritage National Park". The towns and villages are generally grouped into lower, mid, and upper mountains. The economy of the upper mountains is dependent almost entirely on tourism . The road to Sydney, the Great Western Highway, is mostly dual carriageway but is relatively slow due to the urban development and hilly terrain. The electric train service integrates into Sydney Trains, Sydney's suburban rail network.

The main towns and villages in the City of Blue Mountains are:

Demographics

Selected historical census data for the City of Blue Mountains local government area
Census year			2001	2006	2011	2016	2021
Population		Estimated residents on census night	73,675	74,067	75,942	76,904	78,121
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		28	27	31
		% of New South Wales population		1.1%	1.09%	0.99%	0.94%
		% of Australian population	0.39%	0.37%	0.35%	0.33%	0.30%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English	n/r	n/r	30.1%	30.5%	44.3%
		Australian	n/r	n/r	28.7%	26.3%	38.1%
		Irish	n/r	n/r	10.2%	11.1%	16.0%
		Scottish	n/r	n/r	8.3%	8.6%	13.3%
		German	n/r	n/r	3.2%	3.3%	4.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)		German	n/r	0.6%	0.6%	0.5%	0.5%
		Spanish	n/r	0.3%	0.4%	0.5%	0.6%
		Italian	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%	0.4%	0.3%
		Mandarin	n/r	n/r	n/r	0.4%	0.3%
		French	n/r	n/r	n/r	0.3%	0.3%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No religion (excluding not stated)	18.0%	22.0%	26.8%	35.7%	46.5%
		Catholic	22.6%	22.5%	21.5%	19.7%	17.2%
		Anglican	24.6%	22.5%	20.9%	17.0%	13.5%
		Not stated	n/r	n/r	n/r	8.4%	4.9%
		Christian (nfd)	n/r	n/r	n/r	2.9%	2.9%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	n/r	$501	$590	$688	$817
		% of Australian median income	n/r	107.5%	102.2%	103.9%	101.4%
Family income		Median weekly family income	n/r	$1,345	$1,624	$1,866	$2,235
		% of Australian median income	n/r	114.9%	109.6%	107.6%	105.4%
Household income		Median weekly household income	n/r	$1,093	$1,270	$1,468	$1,756
		% of Australian median income	n/r	106.4%	102.9%	102.1%	100.5%

Council

Current composition and election method

Blue Mountains City Council is composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as four separate wards, each electing three councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent general election was held on 4 December 2021.

Party		Councillors
	Labor Party	6
	Independents	1
	Liberal Party	3
	The Greens	2
	Total	12

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
First Ward		Kevin Schreiber	Liberal	Elected 2016.
		Sarah Redshaw	Greens	Elected 2021.
		Suzie van Opdorp	Labor	Elected 2021.
Second Ward		Claire West	Labor	Elected 2021.
		Romola Hollywood	Labor	Elected 2012. Deputy Mayor 2021–date.
		Brent Hoare	Greens	Elected 2016.
Third Ward		Daniel Myles	Independent	Elected 1999. Deputy Mayor 2004–2005. Mayor 2010–2013.
		Roza Sage	Liberal	Elected 2021.
		Mick Fell	Labor	Elected 2012.
Fourth Ward		Mark Greenhill	Labor	Elected 1999–2004, 2008–date. Deputy Mayor 2010–2012. Mayor 2013–date.
		Brendan Christie	Liberal	Elected 2012.
		Nyree Fisher	Labor	Elected 2021.

2021 election results

Mayors

#	Mayor		Party	Term start	Term end	Time in office	Notes
1		William Freelander	Independent	2 October 1947	7 December 1948	1 year, 66 days
2		Frank Walford	Independent	7 December 1948	12 December 1950	2 years, 5 days
3		Percy Edward Galwey	Independent	12 December 1950	5 December 1953	2 years, 358 days
4		Aubrey Murphy	Independent	15 December 1953	December 1955	1 year, 351 days
–		Frank Walford	Independent	December 1955	December 1956	1 year, 0 days
–		Aubrey Murphy	Independent	December 1956	December 1959	3 years, 0 days
5		Leslie Corne	Independent	December 1959	December 1960	352 days
–		Frank Walford	Independent	December 1960	December 1961	1 year, 0 days
6		Keith Bates	Independent	December 1961	December 1966	4 years, 351 days
7		Tom Hunter	Independent	December 1966	December 1967	351 days
8		Ern Lesslie		December 1967	December 1969	1 year, 351 days
9		Jack Powell		December 1969	September 1971	1 year, 274 days
10		Ian Dash		September 1971	September 1974	3 years, 0 days
–		Ern Lesslie		September 1974	September 1976	2 years, 0 days
11		William Lloyd		September 1976	September 1977	1 year, 0 days
–		Ern Lesslie		September 1977	19 December 1979	2 years, 109 days
–	John James Wickham (Administrator)			19 December 1979	December 1981	1 year, 347 days
12		Peter Quirk		December 1981	September 1987	5 years, 274 days
13		James C. Angel		September 1987	September 1988	1 year, 0 days
14		Ralph Williams		September 1988	September 1991	3 years, 0 days
15		Peter O'Toole		September 1991	February 1992	153 days
16		Bob Clarke		February 1992	September 1994	2 years, 212 days
17		Joy Anderson		September 1994	September 1995	1 year, 0 days
18		Michael Neall		September 1995	September 1999	4 years, 0 days
19		Jim Angel	Labor	September 1999	13 September 2008	9 years, 12 days
20		Adam Searle	Labor	30 September 2008	21 September 2010	1 year, 356 days
21		Daniel Myles	Liberal	21 September 2010	17 September 2013	2 years, 361 days
22		Mark Greenhill	Labor	17 September 2013	Incumbent	10 years, 290 days

Council services

Cemeteries

The City of Blue Mountains Council maintains cemeteries at Blackheath, Faulconbridge, Katoomba, Lawson, Megalong Valley, Mount Irvine, Mount Victoria, Mount Wilson, Springwood, and Wentworth Falls.

Libraries

Blue Mountains Library operates three full-time branches, three part-time branches and a service for train commuters at Springwood and Katoomba stations two days a week.

Leisure centres

Blue Mountains Leisure Centres operate from five locations. All five locations have pools and the Katoomba and Springwood locations have gyms and offer various fitness classes.

Heritage listings

The City of Blue Mountains has a number of heritage-listed sites, including the following sites listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register:

Sister cities

The City of Blue Mountains has sister city relationships with the following cities:

• Sanda, Hyōgo, Japan
• Flagstaff, Arizona, US

See also

• List of local government areas in New South Wales