Municipality of Strathfield

The Municipality of Strathfield, also known as Strathfield Council, is a local government area located west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

This article is about the local government area. For the suburb, see Strathfield, New South Wales.

Municipality of Strathfield
New South Wales
Population
 • Density2,859/km2 (7,405/sq mi)
Established2 June 1885 (1885-06-02)
Area14.1 km2 (5.4 sq mi)
MayorAntoine Doueihi (Liberal)
Council seatStrathfield
RegionMetropolitan Sydney
State electorate(s)
Federal Division(s)
WebsiteMunicipality of Strathfield
LGAs around Municipality of Strathfield:
Parramatta Canada Bay Canada Bay
Cumberland Municipality of Strathfield Burwood
Canterbury-Bankstown Canterbury-Bankstown Burwood

Strathfield Council was incorporated on 2 June 1885. The Council area originally included the suburbs of Redmire, Homebush and Druitt Town. The name "Strathfield" was adopted as the name of the new council upon incorporation. In 1886, the suburb of Redmire was renamed Strathfield, as was the railway station. The area of Druitt Town became known as Strathfield South in the early 1890s. Only Homebush survives as an original location name.

Strathfield Council currently comprises an area of 14.1 square kilometres (5.4 sq mi) and as at the 2016 census had an estimated 40,312 residents.[1] The Council area is made up of residential neighbourhoods and town centres, with significant local heritage, open space, lifestyle amenities, public and private schools and access to tertiary institutions such as a campus of Australian Catholic University and the University of Sydney and TAFE Sydney Institute.

The Mayor of Strathfield Municipal Council is Cr. Antoine Doueihi, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia. The Deputy Mayor is Cr. Karen Pensebene [3]

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

The Strathfield local government area comprises:

Demographics
Overseas-born birthplaces based on 2001 Australian Census data for the Strathfield local government area.

At the 2016 census there were 40,312 people in the Strathfield local government area, of these 50.7 per cent were male and 49.3 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.3 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The median age of people in the Strathfield local government area was 32 years; significantly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.7 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.7 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 48.1 per cent were married and 11.7 per cent were either divorced or separated.[1] Strathfield has become an important multicultural centre (for Korean, Chinese and Sri Lankan minority populations).

Population growth in the Strathfield local government area between the 2001 census and the 2006 census was 15.14 per cent; while in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 10.02 per cent. At the 2016 census, the population in the Municipality increased by 14.56 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in Strathfield local government area was significantly higher than the national average.[1][4][5][6] The median weekly income for residents within the Municipality of Strathfield was on par with the national average.

Historical census data for Strathfield local government area
Census year2001[4]2006[5]2011[6]2016[1]
PopulationEstimated residents on census night27,777 31,983 35,188 40,312
LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales55th 53rd
% of New South Wales population0.51% 0.54%
% of Australian population0.15% 0.16% 0.16% 0.17%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry,
top responses		Chinese (excludes SARs and Taiwan)9.3% 17.8%
Indian8.0% 11.1%
South Korean7.5% 7.9%
English7.7%
Australian39.8% 7.5%
Language,
top responses
(other than English)		Mandarin4.2% 6.4% 8.0% 10.0%
Korean7.0% 8.4% 8.9% 8.8%
Cantonese8.7% 8.4% 8.0% 7.0%
Tamil6.4% 5.8% 5.3% 5.6%
Arabic5.8% 5.8% 5.7% 5.0%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation,
top responses		Catholic34.0% 30.7% 27.5% 23.0%
No religion, so described10.2% 12.3% 15.0% 21.6%
Hinduism9.0% 10.3% 13.2% 16.4%
Buddhismn/c 6.4% 6.8% 5.7%
Not statedn/cn/cn/c9.3%
Median weekly incomes
Personal incomeMedian weekly personal incomeA$458A$558Data
to be
released
in
October
2017
% of Australian median income98.3%96.7%
Family incomeMedian weekly family incomeA$458A$1,595
% of Australian median income106.4%107.7%
Household incomeMedian weekly household incomeA$1,256A$1,421
% of Australian median income107.3%115.2%

Current composition and election method
See also: List of mayors of Strathfield

Strathfield Municipal Council is composed of seven councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected bi-annually by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council. The most recent election was held on 9 September 2017, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:[7]

PartyCouncillors
  Liberal Party of Australia 3
  Australian Labor Party 2
  Independents 1
  1 Total 7

The current Council, elected in 2017, in order of election, is:

Councillor[7]PartyNotes
  Gulian Vaccari Liberal Mayor 2012–2013, 2017–2019
  Karen Pensabene Labor Deputy Mayor 2020-2021
  Nella Hall Independent Deputy Mayor 2017–2018
  Antoine Doueihi Liberal Mayor 2019-date
  Maryanne Duggan Labor
  Stephanie Kokkolis Liberal Deputy Mayor 2016–2017
  Matthew Blackmore Strathfield Independents Deputy Mayor 2018-2020

History
Strathfield Saye Plaque
Main article: History of the Strathfield area

Strathfield Council was proclaimed on 2 June 1885 by the NSW Governor, Sir Augustus Loftus. The initial boundaries included Redmire (later renamed Strathfield), the village of Homebush (the southern part of the present suburb of Homebush and the north-western part of the present-day suburb of Strathfield) and the northern part of Druitt Town (the southern part of today's suburb of Strathfield). The Council was incorporated following petitions by residents of the Redmire area to form local government. This move was opposed by residents of Homebush and Druitt Town, possibly fearing the dominance of the more affluent and politically connected residents of Redmire. Despite counter petitions, the Municipality was incorporated in 1885.[8]

Strathfield Council built the current Council Chambers in 1887. Between 1885 and 1887 the Council operated from various private homes in Strathfield, pending the building of a permanent Council Chambers.

The Strathfield Council area has expanded in geography and population over time. In 1892, an area in the west of the present-day municipality was added, including Flemington village (present-day Homebush West) in the north as well as the part of the present-day municipality that lies south of Cook's River and north of Liverpool Road, in the south, which are now the southwestern part of the suburb of Strathfield, the northeastern part of the Greenacre and a small part of the suburb of Chullora.

In 1947, the Municipality of Homebush was amalgamated with Strathfield. This local government area covered the part of present-day Homebush West (including Flemington markets) and Homebush that lies north of the railway. In 1949, the west ward of the Municipality of Enfield was added to Strathfield, with the eastern part going to the Municipality of Burwood. This added the present-day suburbs of Strathfield South, eastern part of Greenacre, and northern part of Belfield.


In 1992, a section of the northern part of the Municipality, between the A3 road and Boundary Creek, was transferred to Auburn Council to become part of the site of Sydney Olympic Park. In return, the area of and between Boundary Creek and the railway line, occupied by the former Ford factory building, was transferred from Auburn to Strathfield Council.

The municipality now includes the suburbs of Strathfield, Homebush, Homebush West, Flemington, Greenacre (part), Strathfield South, Chullora (part) and Belfield (part).

Recent council amalgamations

Throughout its history, there have been movements to amalgamate local councils in the Sydney area: the first major 'threat' was with the 'royal commission for a greater Sydney (1913)', known as 'The Greater Sydney Movement'. The Royal Commission brought together Sidney Webb, a British politician and John Fitzgerald,[9] an Australian politician, who, amongst others, believed that Sydney should be merged into a single local government area. In 1947 Homebush and Strathfield councils merged and part of Enfield was added in 1949.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the Strathfield Municipal Council merge with adjoining councils. The government proposed a merger of the Burwood, Canada Bay, and Strathfield Councils to form a new council with an area of 41 square kilometres (16 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 163,000.[10] On 6 May Strathfield Council commenced legal action in the NSW Land and Environment Court against the proposed amalgamation.[11] After the Court heard that there were legal flaws in the report from the NSW Government appointed delegate who examined the proposal for merging the councils, the NSW Government withdrew from the case and the merger proposal stalled.[12] In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Strathfield, Burwood and Canada Bay local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.[13]

Heritage listings

The Municipality of Strathfield has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Council facilities

Libraries

The Council operates a main library located on Rochester Street in Homebush. The library was demolished in 2002 and a new library was built and opened in 2004.

The Council formerly operated a branch library on High Street in Strathfield South, which was rebuilt and opened in 2008. However, the branch library was closed in 2019 and converted into a community centre, with some book lockers to continue some library services from this location.[18]

Historically, the municipality's main library was located on Parramatta Road in Homebush, inherited from the former Homebush Municipality (which governed the northern part of the modern suburb of Homebush) after it merged into Strathfield in 1947. The Parramatta Road library served as the municipality's main library until 1967, when the High Street library became the main library, and the Parramatta Road library was closed in 1976 after the Rochester Street library was opened.

Dutton Centre

The former South Strathfield Bowling Club was bought by Strathfield Council and renovated with a grant of $495,00 from the Department of Aging, Disability and Home Care. The building was opened on 3 December 2012 and named in honour of Eve Dutton who was the first female Mayor of Strathfield.[19] It houses Strathfield/Homebush Meals on Wheels and Inner West Community Transport.[20]

Culture

The population of Strathfield is made up of a number of ethnic groups, and about 48% of the population born overseas. As a result, there are a number of services for newly arrived immigrants and overseas students who live in the area. Two such organisations are the Russian Ethnic Community Council of NSW Inc (RECNSW), and the Sydney Tamil Resource Centre Inc (STRC). RECNSW provides access to information and referral to mainstream services to recent immigrants of Russian and Russian speaking background and disseminates information to remote and offshore areas on a number of issues.[21] STRC provides resources to Tamil immigrants. A number of the commercial centres in the Municipality of Strathfield feature concentrations of restaurants and shops with ethnically distinct character, such as the concentration of Korean restaurants and shops in the Strathfield town centre, Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants and shops in the Homebush West (Flemington) village centre, and Chinese, Korean and Indian restaurants in the Homebush village centre.

Strathfield also has a number of community centres, including a Rotary club, Latvian theatre, Lantern Club, and libraries. The local Rotary club provides support to the community and has a number of projects in the area,[22] as well as a Musical Society (part of Rotary?), which normally produces two shows a year in the Latvian Theatre in Strathfield. Their main social activity is rehearsing twice weekly and they present seven performances of their musical production over two weekends. Strathfield Lantern Club Voluntary is located in Strathfield and provides fundraising organisation for raising funds specifically for the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children in North Rocks.

The lyrics of the song by Radio Birdman, Murder City Nights refers to Woodward Road, Strathfield:[23]

Cruising down Woodward gotta find me some action
Looking for a lover with a power reaction.

Geography

The Strathfield Council area is located at 33°52'10" North, 151°5'59" West (33.8717, 151.0899). It covers a total area of approximately 14.1 square kilometres (5.4 sq mi) and includes the suburbs of Strathfield, Strathfield South, Homebush, Homebush West, Flemington and parts of Belfield, Chullora and Greenacre.[24] Homebush Bay Drive bounds Strathfield Council to the north, Powells Creek, The Boulevarde and Coronation Parade bounds it to the east, Punchbowl Road and Juno Parade form the southern border and Roberts Road, Chullora rail yards, Rookwood Cemetery and the Sydney Olympic Park Rail line bound the Municipality to the west.

For NSW state elections, the Municipality of Strathfield is divided between the Strathfield, Lakemba and Auburn electorates and for Federal elections it is in the electorates of Reid and Watson.

See also

References
  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2017). "Strathfield (A)". 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  2. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
  3. "Councillors".
  4. Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Strathfield (A)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  5. Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Strathfield (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  6. Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Strathfield (A)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  7. "Strathfield - Councillor Contest". NSW Local Council Elections 2017. NSW Electoral Commission. Retrieved 15 September 2017.
  8. Jones, Cathy. "Incorporation of Strathfield Council". Strathfield Council. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
  9. "Biography - John Daniel (Jack) Fitzgerald - Australian Dictionary of Biography".
  10. "Merger proposal: Burwood Council, City of Canada Bay Council, Strathfield Council" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. January 2016. p. 7. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  11. "Strathfield Council commences legal action" (Press release). Strathfield Council. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  12. Raper, Ashleigh (31 May 2016). "NSW council amalgamations: Strathfield, Burwood and Canada Bay merger stopped". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  13. Blumer, Clare; Chettle, Nicole (27 July 2017). "NSW council amalgamations: Mayors fight to claw back court dollars after backflip on merger". ABC News. Australia. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  14. "Homebush Railway Station group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01170. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  15. "St. Anne's Roman Catholic Church (former)". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H00508. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  16. "Strathfield rail underbridges (flyover)". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01055. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  17. "Strathfield Railway Station group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H01252. Retrieved 18 May 2018.
  18. Strathfield Council – Library Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  19. New home for Meals on Wheels Archived 13 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 August 2014.
  20. Inner West a Community Transport Archived 2 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  21. "Information & Referral". Archived from the original on 10 August 2004.
  22. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 20 January 2005.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  23. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 April 2012. Retrieved 28 October 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 September 2004. Retrieved 4 October 2004.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

Further reading
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