The City of Warrnambool is a local government area in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia, located in the south-western part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018 had a population of 34,862.
History
Warrnambool was first incorporated as a municipality on 7 December 1855. It became a borough on 1 October 1863, and a town on 2 February 1883. It was proclaimed as a city on 8 April 1918. On 25 October 1955 and 1 October 1978, it annexed part of the south riding of the Shire of Warrnambool, expanding its area progressively to by the time of Victoria's local government amalgamations.
In 1993, the new Kennett Liberal government announced a program of local government reform, in which many of Victoria's 210 councils were to be amalgamated. The southwest region containing 23 councils was the first to be reviewed, and the City of Warrnambool sought to be part of the process early on. Warrnambool's strength in tertiary education and manufacturing was taken into account. By June, it was clear that Warrnambool would be the only municipality in the region to be spared, and that it would gain Allansford and some other rural areas from the Shire of Warrnambool. On 23 September 1994, the council was dismissed and replaced with a Government-appointed commissioner. It first held elections for a new council in March 1996.
Council
Current composition
The council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an unsubdivided municipality.
The most recent council election was declared on 10 November 2020, with the Councillors sworn into office on 23 November 2020. At their first meeting, Councillors resolved to elect both a Mayor and Deputy Mayor, each for a term of 12 months.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Ward!! colspan="2" |Councillor!!Notes
|-
| rowspan="7" |Unsubdivided
| | || Vicki Jellie || Deputy Mayor
|-
| | ||Otha Akoch
|
|-
| | ||Angie Paspaliaris
|
|-
| | ||Debbie Arnott
|
|-
| | ||Ben Blain
|Mayor
|-
| | ||Max Taylor
|
|-
| | ||Richard Ziegeler
|
|-
|}
Former wards
Prior to the statewide amalgamations of the 1990s, the council had four wards and twelve councillors, with three councillors per ward elected to represent each ward; the former wards were Albert, Hopkins, Merri and Victoria.
Former wards from 1996 to 2004:
- Botanic Ward
- Cassady Ward
- Levy Ward
- Pertobe Ward
- Proudfoot Ward
- Sherwood Ward
- Wollaston Ward
Administration and governance
The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Warrnambool Civic Centre, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its administrative centre in Warrnambool.
Geography
The city of Warrnambool is dominated by the Warrnambool urban area, which represents , or 29.0%, of the city's area and at the 2006 census had a population of 28,150.
Townships and localities
The 2021 census, the city had a population of 35,406 up from 33,655 in the 2016 census
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! colspan="3" | Population
|-
! Locality !! 2016 !! 2021
|-
| ^ || 1,521 || 1,410
|-
| ^ || 571 || 596
|-
| ^ || 1,907 || 1,994
|-
| ^ || 304 || 304
|-
| ^ || 29,661 || 31,308
|-
| ^ || 361 || 436
|-
| ^ || 111 || 113
|}
^ – Territory divided with another LGA
See also
- Warrnambool
- List of localities in Victoria
- List of places of worship in the City of Warrnambool
References
External links
- Warrnambool City Council official website
- Metlink local public transport map
- Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
- Warrnambool & District Historical Society