The City of Kogarah was a local government area in the St George region of southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The centre of the city is located south-west of the Sydney central business district and west of Botany Bay.
The Municipality of Kogarah was established on 22 December 1885 and in 2008 Kogarah became the first local government area in New South Wales to become a city by popular vote. The city was bounded by the Illawarra railway line, Georges River, Rocky Point Road, Princes Highway and Harrow Road. The name Kogarah is Aboriginal, meaning place of reeds and takes its name from the reeds that grew in the inlets along the Georges River and at the head of Kogarah Bay. On 12 May 2016, the NSW Government announced that Kogarah and Hurstville councils would merge to form Georges River Council with immediate effect.
Council history
The "Municipal District of Kogarah" was proclaimed on 23 December 1885, and the district's boundaries commenced at the intersection of the Illawarra Railway Line with the northern shore of Georges River. The Municipal District was renamed the "Municipality of Kogarah" following the passage of the Municipalities Act, 1897 on 6 December 1897. On 22 December 1916 and 1 January 1969, parts of Municipality of Rockdale were transferred to Kogarah.
Council Chambers
In 1910 the council acquired land in Belgrave Street, Kogarah, for £285. The foundation stone of the Council Chambers was laid 27 March 1912 by the Mayor W. J. Jones and was designed by Alderman Charles Herbert Halstead. The completed Council Chambers was officially opened on 7 September 1912 by the Governor, Lord Chelmsford.
The 1912 Council Chambers had had many alterations, including a first floor addition completed to a design by architects Moore & Dyer in 1937 which had required the council to hold its meetings at the St George County Council headquarters in Montgomery Street while construction occurred. The newly remodelled chambers were officially reopened by the Minister for Local Government, Eric Spooner, on 28 April 1937. In 1970 it was decided to replace the old council chambers, which were demolished to make way for the Kogarah Civic Centre, opened by Governor Sir Roden Cutler in 1973.
Amalgamation
Efforts to bring about a unified council for the St George area were raised regularly since 1901 and the 1946 Clancy Royal Commission into local government boundaries recommended the amalgamation of the municipalities of Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale and Bexley. In the following act of parliament passed in December 1948, the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the recommendations of the commission were modified, leading only to the merger of Bexley and Rockdale councils. A merger was again considered in the 1970s, but 1977 plebiscites run in Hurstville and Kogarah rejected the idea. A further idea of amalgamating Kogarah and Hurstville with Sutherland Shire to the south was raised in 1999 but did not progress. Kogarah opposed an attempt by the NSW Government to amalgamate with Hurstville and Rockdale in 2003.
A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that Kogarah merge with the City of Hurstville to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 147,000. On 12 May 2016, the NSW Government announced that Kogarah and Hurstville would merge to form Georges River Council with immediate effect.
Suburbs and localities in the former local government area
Suburbs in the City of Kogarah were:
Kogarah City Council also managed and maintained the following localities:
Demographics
At the 2011 Census, there were people in the Kogarah local government area, of these 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.4% of the population. The median age of people in the Kogarah City Council was 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.1% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 54.5% were married and 8.8% were either divorced or separated.!!2006!!2011
| |
| Sam Stratikopoulos
| Liberal
| Councillor 2012–2016
|-
| |
| Michael Platt
| Labor
| Deputy Mayor 1996–1997, 2012–2013, Mayor 2004–2005, 2014–2015
|-
| |
| Annie Tang
| Unity
| Deputy Mayor 2005–2006, 2008–2011, 2013–2016
|-
| rowspan="3"|Middle Ward
| |
| Nickolas Varvaris
| Liberal
| Deputy Mayor 2004–2005, 2006–2007, Mayor 2005–2006, 2008–2013
|-
| |
| Nathaniel Smith
| Liberal
| Councillor 2012–2016
|-
| |
| Kathryn Landsberry
| Labor
| Deputy Mayor 2007–2008
|-
| rowspan="3"|North Ward
| |
| Lachlan McLean
| Independent
| Councillor 2008–2016
|-
| |
| Stephen Agius
| Liberal
| Mayor 2013–2014, 2015–2016
|-
| |
| Nick Katris
| Labor
| Mayor 2007–2008
|-
| rowspan="3"|West Ward
| |
| Nicholas Aroney
| Liberal
| Councillor 2012–2016
|-
| |
| George Katsabaris
| Liberal
| Councillor 2012–2016
|-
| |
| Jacinta Petroni
| Labor
| Deputy Mayor 2011–2012
|}
Mayors
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!colspan="2"| Mayor
!Party
!Term
!Notes
|-
|
| Thomas Peter Lind
|
| September 1995 – September 1996
|
|-
| |
| Michael Platt
| Labor
| 13 April 2004 – 26 September 2005
|
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| Nickolas Varvaris
| rowspan=2|Liberal
| 26 September 2005 – 25 September 2006
|
|-
| Michael Kitmiridis
| 25 September 2006 – 24 September 2007
|
|-
| |
| Nickolas Katris
| Labor
| 24 September 2007 – 29 September 2008
|
|-
| rowspan=2 |
| Nickolas Varvaris
| rowspan=2|Liberal
| 29 September 2008 – 23 September 2013
|
|-
| Stephen Agius
| 23 September 2013 – 22 September 2014
|
|-
| |
| Michael Platt
| Labor
| 22 September 2014 – 28 September 2015
|
|-
| |
| Stephen Agius
| Liberal
| 28 September 2015 – 12 May 2016
|
|}
Footnotes
Land component is
References
External links
- Kogarah City Council website (Archived)