The City of Canterbury was a
local government area
A local government area (LGA) is an administrative division of a country that a local government is responsible for. The size of an LGA varies by country but it is generally a subdivision of a State (administrative division), state, province, divi ...
in the
southwest
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
region of
Sydney
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
. The city was primarily residential and light industrial in character, and was home to over 130 nationalities. With a majority of its residents being born overseas, the council marketed itself as the "City of Cultural Diversity." First incorporated as the Municipality of Canterbury in 1879, the council became known as the City of Canterbury in 1993.
The last
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
of the City of Canterbury Council was
Cr. Brian Robson, a member of the
Labor Party, until 12 May 2016 when the City was amalgamated with the
City of Bankstown
The City of Bankstown was a local government area in the south-west region of Sydney, Australia, centred on the suburb of Bankstown, from 1895 to 2016. The last Mayor of the City of Bankstown Council was Clr Khal Asfour, a member of the Labor ...
, forming the
City of Canterbury-Bankstown
The City of Canterbury Bankstown (also known as Canterbury-Bankstown Council) is a local government, local government area located in the South Western Sydney, South Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on ...
.
Suburbs in the local government area
Suburbs in the former City of Canterbury were:
*
Ashbury
*
Belfield
*
Belmore
*
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Bev ...
*
Campsie
*
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
*
Clemton Park
Clemton Park is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 13 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown. The suburb is approximately bounded by ...
*
Croydon Park
*
Earlwood
Earlwood is a suburb in Southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Earlwood is located 10 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, and is part of the St George area. It is in the local government areas of ...
*
Hurlstone Park
Hurlstone Park is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hurlstone Park is located nine kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is mostly in the local government area of the City of Cante ...
*
Kingsgrove
Kingsgrove is a suburb in Southern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Kingsgrove is south of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Canterbury-Bankstown, Bayside Council and the Geo ...
*
Lakemba
*
Narwee
*
Punchbowl
*
Riverwood
*
Roselands
Roselands is a suburb to the south-western Sydney, south-west of the Sydney CBD, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Roselands is located 16 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the City of Canterbury-Banksto ...
*
Wiley Park
Wiley Park is a suburb in south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wiley Park is located 17 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the City of Canterbury-Bankstown.
History
The now comprising ...
;Notes:
History
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
lived in this area for thousands of years. In 1770, the land along the
Cooks River
The Cooks River, a semi-mature tide-dominated drowned valley estuary, is a tributary of Botany Bay, located in south-eastern Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The course of the long urban waterway has been altered to accommodate various deve ...
was explored by officers from
HM Bark Endeavour
HMS ''Endeavour'' was a British Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Australia and New Zealand on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771.
She was launched in 1764 as the collier ''Earl of Pembroke'', ...
. In 1793, the area's first land grant was made to the
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
of the
First Fleet
The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command ...
, the Reverend
Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to:
Academics
* Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic
* Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering
* Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...
, and given the name Canterbury Vale.
Residential development began picking up in the area during the 1880s and the was extended to Canterbury in 1895, encouraging further suburban development which led to the area becoming heavily populated. A leading developer at this time was
Frederick Gibbes
Frederick Jamison Gibbes (31 October 183917 January 1888) was an Australian politician.
He was born at Regentville near Penrith to William Gibbes and Harriet Eliza Jamison. His middle name was sometimes spelt Jamieson. He attended a variety o ...
, a Member of Parliament for the seat of
Newtown.
After much petitioning of the
State Government
A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...
by local residents, the Municipality of Canterbury was proclaimed on 17 March 1879. The council first met in the home of the first mayor, Alderman John Sproule and premised were then leased in the St Paul's Church schoolroom at 47-49 Canterbury Road, Canterbury. The Canterbury Town Hall, located on Canterbury Road between Canton and Howard Streets, was opened in 1889 by the Premier of New South Wales,
Sir Henry Parkes
Sir Henry Parkes, (27 May 1815 – 27 April 1896) was a colonial Australian politician and longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales, the present-day state of New South Wales in the Commonwealth of Australia. He has be ...
. However, over time, Campsie became a more important centre, particularly along Beamish Street and Canterbury Council planned a gradual move of civic services there when funds became available.
In 1954 a Baby Health Centre by Davey & Brindley opened on Beamish Street, followed by a library next door by Davey, Brindley & Vickery in 1958 at a cost of £30,000, and the municipal administration finally moved in 1963.
At the time of its opening by the mayor R. J. Schofield on 26 September 1958, the Campsie Library was reputed to be the largest municipal library in Sydney.
The Canterbury Municipal Administration Building designed by architects Whitehead & Payne, built by Rex Building Company Pty Ltd, and completed at a cost of £163,000 was opened adjacent to the Library and Baby Health Centre by the mayor, James S. Scott, on 21 September 1963.
The City of Canterbury was proclaimed on 16 November 1993 by the
Governor of New South Wales
The governor of New South Wales is the viceregal representative of the Australian monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the ...
, Rear Admiral
Peter Sinclair.
Amalgamation
A
2015 review of local government boundaries by the
NSW Government
The Government of New South Wales, also known as the NSW Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of New South Wales. It is currently held by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the National Party. The Governmen ...
Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Canterbury merge with the City of Bankstown to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 351,000. Following an independent review, on 12 May 2016 the
Minister for Local Government announced that the merger with the City of Bankstown would proceed with immediate effect, creating a new council with an area of .
Council dysfunction and ICAC Operation Dasha
On 26 March 2018, the
NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) commenced investigations and a public inquiry (known as Operation Dasha) into allegations concerning actions of the former Canterbury City Council between 2013 and 2016, "where public officials including councillors Michael Hawatt and Pierre Azzi, the former general manager, Jim Montague, and the former Director City Planning, Spiro Stavis, dishonestly and/or partially exercised their official functions in relation to planning proposals and/or applications under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 concerning properties in the Canterbury City Council local area."
Among the decisions Stavis presided over were the variations of Council's controls approved by Council and justified under Section 4.6 of the ''Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979'', particularly along the Canterbury Road Corridor. With the appointment of Administrator Richard Colley as head of the new
City of Canterbury-Bankstown
The City of Canterbury Bankstown (also known as Canterbury-Bankstown Council) is a local government, local government area located in the South Western Sydney, South Western region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on ...
on 12 May 2016, Colley ordered a halt to development proposals along the corridor until a comprehensive review was completed, noting "One of the first things that I came across following the amalgamation was what I saw as the ad hoc development on Canterbury Road, most of it non-compliant with the former Canterbury Council's residential development strategy, particularly in terms of height and bulk and size, and the effect on Canterbury Road itself". Former mayor Brian Robson admitted that the last 2012-2016 Council term "started getting messy with certain councillors trying to push the barrow of individual developers ... after that we started getting messy with individual spot rezonings."
The review report presented to Council in July 2017 declared that as a result of previous actions taken by the former Council, the Canterbury Road Corridor "is a noisy, polluted and harsh environment, generally unsuitable in its current state for housing" and presented 14 recommendations including: Appropriate zoning, urban design and built-form controls along the corridor; Measures to address environmental issues, such as noise and pollution; Traffic, transport and car parking issues; Providing good access to parks, community facilities, public transport and shops; and completing a new city-wide Local Environmental Plan (LEP) by 2020, to guide all development. All the recommendations were subsequently adopted by Council, with the Canterbury Bankstown Mayor, Khal Asfour, noting on Council's rejection of one planning proposal in the corridor: "This kind of development won’t be approved on my watch, this proposal involved rezoning land reserved for employment to build an eight-storey residential complex, which would have been an inappropriate development for that location. We remain committed to our City and its residents. We will consult them and protect them from overdevelopment, and make no apology for that."
ICAC also undertook investigations into the circumstances surrounding the appointment of Stavis as Director City Planning, and whether he had been appointed through a dishonest and politically-motivated process influenced by Councillors Hawatt and Azzi.
The public inquiry heard evidence that the previous Director had resigned following sustained pressure by Hawatt and Azzi over decisions on certain development applications, and they had pressured Montague in accepting Stavis as the acceptable candidate as Director, when he was not the most qualified for the position compared to other candidates, to the point of "blackmail and threats". This included an aborted attempt by Hawatt and Azzi to dismiss Montague from his position as General Manager in a Council Meeting in January 2015, amidst allegations that "Montague had spent more than $42,000 of council funds on lunches over the past five years and that he had mishandled the recent employment of the council's new director of city planning."
In July 2018, the Liberal Member of Parliament for
Wagga Wagga
Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...
,
Daryl Maguire
Daryl William Maguire (born 25 March 1959) is a former Australian politician who was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Wagga Wagga for the Liberal Party from 1999 to 2018. On 30 March 2011, Maguire was appointed ...
, was drawn into the inquiry regarding possible corruption through his association with former Liberal councillor Hawatt. It was alleged that Maguire had acted on behalf of a "mega big" Chinese client, asking for help in buying into development-approved projects, in return for a commission from the developer for both himself and Hawatt.
As a consequence, Maguire resigned from the Liberal Party, and from his roles Parliamentary Secretary for the Centenary of ANZAC, Counter Terrorism, Corrections and Veterans. After initially refusing to resign from Parliament, Maguire resigned from parliament on 3 August 2018.
The ICAC investigations for 'Operation Dasha' are ongoing.
In March 2017 Administrator Richard Colley adopted a new Code of Conduct for Canterbury Bankstown noting: "Honesty, fairness and transparency are the values underpinning our new council’s code of conduct policies, ensuring residents can be confident the decisions we make are in their best interest". The Code of Conduct was the first in the state to be approved by ICAC.
Council
Final composition and election method
Canterbury City Council was composed of ten
Councillors
A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries.
Canada
Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...
, including the
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
, elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor was
directly elected since 1976 while the nine other Councillors were elected
proportionally as three separate
wards
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...
, each electing three Councillors. The final election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council, prior to its abolition, was as follows:
The last Council, elected in 2012 until its abolition in 2016, in order of election by ward, was:
Mayors and General Managers
Mayors
Town Clerk/General Managers
Demographics
At the
2011 Census, there were people in the Canterbury local government area, with an equal proportion of male and female residents.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
made up 0.6% of the population. The
median
In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
age of people in the City of Canterbury was 35 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.0% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.5% of the population. of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 52.9% were married and 10.8% were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the City of Canterbury between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 0.02%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 5.76%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Canterbury local government area was approximately half the national average.
The median
weekly income for residents within the City of Canterbury is significantly lower than the national average.
Coat of arms and logo
Logo
In 1990, the council's Engineering Department produced the logo in everyday usage until 2016, it consisted of two C's in black and white, intersected by a wave in light blue, which represents the Cooks River and is taken from the council arms issued in 1979.
Sister cities
*
Eunpyong-gu,
Seoul
Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
. A special friendship garden in Loft Gardens at Campsie commemorating the relationship begun in 1988, in the design of the
Taegukgi
The national flag of South Korea, also known as the Taegukgi (also spelled as ''Taegeukgi'', ) and colloquially known as the flag of Korea, has three parts: a white rectangular background, a red and blue Taegeuk in its center, accompanied by fo ...
, was unveiled in November 2000 by the mayors of Canterbury and Eunpyong-gu.
*
Patras
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, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 =
, demographics1_info2 =
, timezone1 = EET
, utc_offset1 = +2
, ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
.
References
External links
Canterbury City Council websiteHistory of Canterbury City WikiPictorial Canterbury
{{NSW Local Government amalgamations 2016, state=collapsed
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour.
...
Lists of local government leaders of places in New South Wales
City of Canterbury-Bankstown