| Type: | lga |
| Wollondilly Shire | |
| State: | nsw |
| Area: | 2560 |
| Coordinates: | -34.1833°N 186°W |
| Est: | 7 March 1906 |
| Seat: | Picton[1] |
| Mayor: | Matt Gould |
| Region: | Macarthur Blue Mountains Central Tablelands Greater Western Sydney |
| Url: | http://www.wollondilly.nsw.gov.au |
| Stategov: | Wollondilly |
| Fedgov: | Hume |
| Fedgov2: | Cunningham |
| Near-Nw: | Blue Mountains |
| Near-N: | Penrith |
| Near-Ne: | Camden |
| Near-W: | Oberon |
| Near-E: | Campbelltown |
| Near-Sw: | Upper Lachlan |
| Near-S: | Wingecarribee |
| Near-Se: | Wollongong |
Wollondilly Shire is a periurban local government area, located on the south west fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia, parts of which fall into the Macarthur, Blue Mountains and Central Tablelands regions in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wollondilly is seen as the transition between Regional NSW and the Greater Sydney Region, and is variously categorised as part of both. Wollondilly Shire was created by proclamation in the NSW Government Gazette on 7 March 1906, following the passing of the Local Government (Shires) Act 1905, and amalgamated with the Municipality of Picton on 1 May 1940.
Wollondilly Shire is named after the Wollondilly River. The area is traversed by the Hume Highway and the Southern Highlands railway line. Wollondilly Shire contains several small towns and villages broken up by farms and sandstone gorges. To its west is wilderness and includes the Nattai Wilderness and the Burragorang Valley. The majority of the Shire is either national park or forms part of the water catchment for Sydney's water supply. The Shire provides 97% of Sydney's water supply.
The Mayor of Wollondilly Shire is Cr. Matt Gould, an independent politician.
Towns, villages and localities in the Wollondilly Shire are:
Wollondilly Shire was constituted by proclamation in the NSW Government Gazette on 7 March 1906, following the passing of the Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 (Shire No. 122 of 134), and included a wide area bounded by the local government areas of Camden, Campbelltown and Picton and Nepean Shire.[2] A temporary council of five members was appointed on 16 May 1906, which comprised: Richard Henry Antill of Jarvisfield, Picton, Thomas Donohue of Burragorang, George Frederick Litchfield of Yerranderie, George Macarthur-Onslow of Camden Park, Menangle, and John Simpson of Macquarie Dale, Appin.[3] The council first met on 15 June 1906, electing Macarthur-Onslow as Chairman of the Temporary Council and C. A. Thompson as secretary and shire clerk.[4] [5] A. P. Minton, was later appointed Shire Clerk in June 1907.[6]
The first elections for the council were held on 24 November 1906 for six councillors in three ridings of two councillors each: A Riding, B Riding and C Riding:[7]
| Riding | Councillor | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A Riding | John Edward Moore | Shire President 1907–1908 |
| Alfred Leonard Bennett | Shire President 1909–1910 | |
| B Riding | James Oswald Moore | Shire President 1908–1909 |
| George Frederick Litchfield | Temporary Councillor | |
| C Riding | John Simpson | Temporary Councillor |
| George Macarthur-Onslow | Chairman 1906, Shire President 1906–1907 |
The final meeting of the Temporary Council and the first meeting of the elected Council was held on 3 December 1906 at The Oaks, at which the chairman of the Temporary Council, George Macarthur-Onslow was elected at the first Shire President of Wollondilly.[8] However, on 11 January 1907, Macarthur-Onslow resigned as president, citing the distance between the shire offices and his home at Camden Park, and John E. Moore was elected Shire President in his place.[9] [10] On 13 February 1908, James O. Moore was elected as Shire President, and re-elected to a second term in February 1909.[11] [12] Following the resignation of James O. Moore in June 1909, Alfred Leonard Bennett was elected Shire President of the on 8 June 1909.[13] [14]
On 31 May 1911 part of the Blue Mountains Shire was transferred to the Wollondilly Shire and part of Wollondilly Shire was transferred to the Nepean Shire from 21 March 1940.[15] [16] [17]
When created in 1906, Wollondilly did not include the township of Picton, which had already been incorporated as the Borough of Picton on 15 March 1895.[18] The Borough of Picton became the Municipality of Picton on 31 December 1906 with the passing of the Local Government Extension Act, 1906.[19]
The Picton Municipal Council held a voluntary poll on 1 April 1939, at the request of residents, on the question of the union of the Picton Municipality and the Wollondilly Shire.[20] The poll was resolved in the affirmative, with 197 for and 178 against.[21] The proposal for a "Picton Shire" was subsequently gazetted on 25 August 1939 and on 20 November 1939 the Department of Works and Local Government held an inquiry in Picton on the various issues relating to amalgamation.[22] [23]
From 1 May 1940 the Municipality of Picton was amalgamated into Wollondilly Shire and the Shire Council was then expanded to consist of eight councillors representing four ridings. The first Provisional Council comprised: George John Adams and Edgar Henry Kirk Downes for A Riding; Eric Moore and Septimus Ernest Prosser for B Riding; James Thomas Carroll and Edward Wonson for C Riding' and John Bradburn Cartwright and Roy Carrington Pearce for D Riding.[24] The council seat was subsequently moved from The Oaks to Picton.[25]
At the, there were 48,519 people in the Wollondilly local government area, with an equal proportion of males and females. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.4% of the population which is on par with the national average. The median age of people in the Wollondilly Shire was 36 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 23.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.8% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 54.9% were married and 10.4% were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the Wollondilly Shire between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 9.18%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 7.23%. This was higher than the population growth for Australia from 2001 to 2006 (5.78%) but less than the national figure for 2006 to 2011 (8.32%). The median weekly income for residents within the Wollondilly Shire was marginally higher than the national average.
At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Wollondilly local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon was more than 63% (national average was 65.2%). More than 69% of Wollondilly Shire residents nominated a religious affiliation of Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was well above the national average of 50.2%. Compared to the national average, there was a lower than average proportion of households in the Wollondilly local government area (8.3%) where two or more languages were spoken (national average was 20.4%), and a significantly higher proportion (91.2%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).
| Selected historical census data for Wollondilly local government area | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Census year | 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | |
| Population | ||||||
| Average population growth p/a | 1.84% | 1.45% | 2.43% | 2.23% | ||
| LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales | 54th | 49th | 47th | 46th | ||
| % of New South Wales population | 0.59% | 0.62% | 0.63% | 0.65% | 0.67% | |
| % of Australian population | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.21% | 0.21% | |
| Median weekly incomes | ||||||
| Personal income | Median weekly personal income | A$502 | A$617 | A$738 | A$877 | |
| % of Australian median income | 107.7% | 106.9% | 111.5% | 108.9% | ||
| Family income | Median weekly family income | A$1,186 | A$1,661 | A$2,032 | A$2,350 | |
| % of Australian median income | 115.5% | 112.2% | 117.2% | 110.8% | ||
| Household income | Median weekly household income | A$1,321 | A$1,478 | A$1,871 | A$2,151 | |
| % of Australian median income | 112.8% | 119.8% | 130.1% | 123.2% | ||
| Selected historical census data for Camden local government area | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ancestry, top responses | |||||||||
| 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | |||||
| No Data | No Data | Australian | 33.9% | Australian | 33.3% | Australian | 43.5% | ||
| English | 29.2% | English | 28.2% | English | 39.5% | ||||
| Irish | 7.9% | Irish | 7.7% | Irish | 10.3% | ||||
| Scottish | 6.2% | Scottish | 6.4% | Scottish | 9.1% | ||||
| Italian | 2.9% | Italian | 3.4% | Scottish | 5.4% | ||||
| Country of Birth, top responses | |||||||||
| 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | |||||
| Australia | 81.1% | Australia | 81.9% | Australia | 83.1% | Australia | 82.1% | Australia | 84.2% |
| England | 5.2% | England | 4.5% | England | 4.3% | England | 3.8% | England | 3.3% |
| New Zealand | 0.9% | New Zealand | 1.0% | New Zealand | 1.0% | New Zealand | 1.0% | New Zealand | 1.0% |
| Scotland | 0.7% | Scotland | 0.6% | Scotland | 0.6% | Scotland | 0.5% | Scotland | 0.5% |
| Italy | 0.6% | Italy | 0.5% | Italy | 0.5% | Italy | 0.4% | Italy | 0.4% |
| Germany | 0.6% | Germany | 0.5% | Germany | 0.4% | Germany | 0.4% | Malta | 0.4% |
| Language, top responses (other than English) | |||||||||
| 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | |||||
| Italian | 0.8% | Italian | 0.8% | Italian | 0.8% | Italian | 0.7% | Italian | 0.7% |
| Arabic | 0.5% | Arabic | 0.5% | Arabic | 0.4% | Arabic | 0.6% | Arabic | 0.7% |
| Maltese | 0.5% | Maltese | 0.4% | Maltese | 0.4% | Spanish | 0.4% | Spanish | 0.5% |
| German | 0.4% | Greek | 0.3% | Greek | 0.3% | Maltese | 0.4% | Maltese | 0.4% |
| Estonian | 0.4% | German | 0.3% | German | 0.3% | Greek | 0.3% | Croatian | 0.3% |
| Religious affiliation, top responses | |||||||||
| 2001 | 2006 | 2011 | 2016 | 2021 | |||||
| Anglican | 33.4% | Anglican | 32.3% | Anglican | 32.5% | Catholic | 30.2% | No Religion | 31.9% |
| Catholic | 29.3% | Catholic | 30.1% | Catholic | 30.9% | Anglican | 27.5% | Catholic | 28.8% |
| No Religion | 11.2% | No Religion | 13.7% | No Religion | 15.4% | No Religion | 21.4% | Anglican | 21.1% |
| United Church | 5.3% | United Church | 4.2% | United Church | 3.8% | Uniting Church | 3.0% | United Church | 2.0% |
| Presbyterian and Reformed | 3.2% | Presbyterian and Reformed | 2.8% | Presbyterian and Reformed | 2.4% | Presbyterian and Reformed | 2.0% | Christian (Undefined) | 1.7% |
Wollondilly Shire Council is composed of nine councillors elected proportionally as two wards, each electing 4 councillors as well as a popularly elected mayor who is elected at large. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office.
| Party | Councillors | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Independents | align=right | 9 | ||
| Total | align=right | 9 | ||
The current council was elected in December 2021, with the current Mayor Matt Gould being the first popularly elected mayor in the history of the shire. Prior to this the mayor was elected by the councillors for a period of 2 years. The Mayor and Councillors are also allocated one or more portfolios that they have strategic oversight of. The current members of the council are:
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Portfolios | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mayor[26] | Matt Gould | Independent | Agriculture, Indigenous Matters | Mayor Dec 2021–present, Deputy Mayor 2018–2020 | ||
| East Ward[27] | Matthew Deeth | Independent | Customer Experience & Corporate Services | Deputy Mayor Dec 2021–present, Mayor 2018–2020 | ||
| Paul Rogers | Independent | Roads | ||||
| Michael Banasik | Independent | Environment, Mining & Energy | Mayor 2004–2005, 2008–2009, 2010–2011, Deputy Mayor 2020–2022 | |||
| Suzy Brandstater | Independent | Arts & Culture, Sustainable Growth & Planning | ||||
| North Ward[28] | Hilton Gibbs | Independent | Traffic Management & Transport, Community Facilities | Deputy Mayor 2015–2016 | ||
| Blair Briggs | Independent | Emergency Management, Economic Development, Sport & Wellbeing | ||||
| Judy Hannan | Independent | Tourism, Heritage | Mayor 2007–2008, 2016–2018 | |||
| Beverley Spearpoint | Independent | Community | ||||
| Chairman | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 June 1906 | 3 December 1906 | [29] | ||||
| Shire President | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes | ||
| – | 3 December 1906 | 11 January 1907 | ||||
| John Edward Moore | 11 January 1907 | 13 February 1908 | ||||
| James Oswald Moore | 13 February 1908 | 3 June 1909 | ||||
| Alfred Leonard Bennett | 8 June 1909 | 3 October 1913 | [30] [31] [32] | |||
| – | John Edward Moore | 7 October 1913 | 12 February 1915 | [33] | ||
| Charles Green Moore | 12 February 1915 | 21 September 1918 | [34] [35] [36] [37] | |||
| – | John Edward Moore | 25 September 1918 | 11 December 1925 | [38] [39] [40] | ||
| Edgar Henry Kirk Downes | 11 December 1925 | 10 December 1926 | [41] | |||
| – | 10 December 1926 | 12 September 1931 | [42] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] | |||
| George Joseph Spearing | 18 September 1931 | 18 December 1931 | [48] [49] | |||
| – | Edgar Henry Kirk Downes | 18 December 1931 | 4 December 1936 | [50] [51] [52] | ||
| Eric Moore | 4 December 1936 | 7 December 1938 | [53] [54] | |||
| – | Edgar Henry Kirk Downes | 7 December 1938 | 13 December 1939 | [55] | ||
| Septimus Ernest Prosser | 13 December 1939 | 17 December 1941 | [56] [57] [58] | |||
| – | Edgar Henry Kirk Downes | 17 December 1941 | 10 May 1946 | [59] [60] [61] [62] | ||
| – | Eric Moore | 10 May 1946 | 18 December 1947 | [63] | ||
| Lachlan Nicholson | 18 December 1947 | 14 December 1950 | [64] [65] | |||
| Percy William Early | 14 December 1950 | 17 December 1953 | [66] | |||
| Murrum Edward Sweet | 17 December 1953 | 19 December 1957 | [67] | |||
| Roy Ernest Middleton | 19 December 1957 | 17 September 1977 | ||||
| Francis William McKay | 17 September 1977 | 30 June 1993 | [68] [69] | |||
| Mayor | Term start | Term end | Time in office | Notes | ||
| – | Francis William McKay | 1 July 1993 | 27 September 1993 | |||
| Charles John Desmond Ayliffe | 27 September 1993 | 26 September 1994 | [70] | |||
| Christine Towndrow | 26 September 1994 | 23 September 1996 | ||||
| Marina Voncina | 23 September 1996 | 28 September 1998 | ||||
| – | Christine Towndrow | 28 September 1998 | 27 September 1999 | [71] | ||
| Helen Kuiper | 27 September 1999 | 25 September 2000 | ||||
| – | Christine Towndrow | 25 September 2000 | 24 September 2001 | |||
| Colin Mitchell | 24 September 2001 | 15 April 2004 | ||||
| Michael Banasik | 15 April 2004 | 19 September 2005 | ||||
| 19 September 2005 | 16 April 2007 | |||||
| Judith Hannan | 16 April 2007 | 13 September 2008 | ||||
| – | Michael Banasik | 13 September 2008 | 21 September 2009 | |||
| – | Colin Mitchell | 21 September 2009 | 20 September 2010 | |||
| – | Michael Banasik | 20 September 2010 | 19 September 2011 | [72] | ||
| – | Colin Mitchell | 19 September 2011 | 16 September 2013 | [73] | ||
| Benn Banasik | 17 September 2013 | 15 September 2014 | [74] | |||
| – | Colin Mitchell | 15 September 2014 | 21 September 2015 | [75] | ||
| Simon Landow | 21 September 2015 | 26 September 2016 | [76] | |||
| – | Judith Hannan | 26 September 2016 | 17 December 2018 | [77] [78] | ||
| Matthew Deeth | 17 December 2018 | 15 September 2020 | [79] | |||
| Robert Khan | 15 September 2020 | 21 December 2021 | [80] | |||
| Matt Gould | 21 December 2021 | Present | [81] |
The Wollondilly Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:
Wollondilly is home to two local newspapers, the District Reporter and the Wollondilly Express. Other regional media which serve the area are radio stations, 2MCR and C91.3FM,and the "Macarthur Chronicle" a regional newspaper covering the wider Macarthur Region.