Hornsby Shire is 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 ...

situated in

Northern Sydney Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney is ...

(

Upper North Shore The North Shore is a region within Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia, generally referring to suburbs located on the northern side of Sydney Harbour up to Wahroonga, and suburbs between Middle Harbour and the Lane Cove ...

), as well as parts of the Hills District, in the state of

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 shire stretches from the

M2 Hills Motorway The Hills Motorway (also known as the Hills M2 Motorway, M2 Motorway or simply M2) is a tollway in north-western Sydney, Australia, owned by toll road operator Transurban. It forms majority of Sydney's M2 route and part of the 110 km Sydn ...

in the south to the

Hawkesbury River The Hawkesbury River, or Hawkesbury-Nepean River, is a river located northwest of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, almost encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney. ...

town of

Wisemans Ferry Wisemans Ferry is a cable ferry across the Hawkesbury River in New South Wales, Australia. The ferry operates from the eponymous community of Wisemans Ferry on the south bank, to a point on the north bank downstream of the Hawkesbury River's ...

, some to the north, making it the largest local government council in the Greater Sydney Metropolitan region by total area. As of the the shire had an estimated population of . 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 ...

of Hornsby Shire is Cr

Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock (born 12 March 1943 in Canberra) is an Australian politician and the current mayor of Hornsby Shire. Ruddock is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia and currently the state president of the party's New South W ...

, a member of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...

, who was elected on 9 September 2017.

Suburbs, towns and localities in the local government area

Suburbs in the Hornsby Shire include: Towns and localities in the Hornsby Shire are:

Demographics

At the , there were people in the Hornsby local government area, of these 48.8 per cent were male and 51.2 per cent were female.

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 0.5 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. 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 Hornsby Shire was 40 years; slightly higher than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.5 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 58.8 per cent were married and 8.2 per cent were either divorced or separated. Population growth in the Hornsby Shire between the and the was 4.58 per cent and in the subsequent five years to the , population growth was 3.65 per cent. At the 2016 census, the population in the Shire decreased by 9.04 per cent brought about predominately by an adjustment in local government boundaries. The median weekly income for residents within the Hornsby Shire was higher than the national average.

Council

Current composition and election method

Hornsby Shire Council is composed of ten

Councillor 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 ...

s, including the

, for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor is directly elected while the nine other Councillors are 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 most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the council, including the Mayor, is as follows: The current Council, elected in 2021, in order of election by ward, is:

Past mayors and shire presidents

History

Hornsby Shire is the traditional lands occupied by the

Darug The Dharug or Darug people, formerly known as the Broken Bay tribe, are an Aboriginal Australian people, who share strong ties of kinship and, in pre-colonial times, lived as skilled hunters in family groups or clans, scattered throughout much ...

and

Kuringgai Kuringgai (also spelled Ku-ring-gai, Kuring-gai, Guringai, Kuriggai) (,) is an ethnonym referring to (a) an hypothesis regarding an aggregation of Indigenous Australian peoples occupying the territory between the southern borders of the Gamilar ...

peoples of

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 ...

. While the northern part of the Shire via the

was visited by the first European settlers in late 1788, due to the Shire's rugged landscape permanent European settlement did not begin until almost half a century later. Hornsby Shire got its name from the town of Hornsby at the eastern end of the Shire, is derived from

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

-turned-

Constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Samuel Horne, who earned distinction by capturing

bushranger Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...

s Dalton and MacNamara on 22 June 1830. In return he was granted land in the locality known as "Hornsby Place". Hornsby Shire has remained largely rural for many decades. The construction of the Main North railway line in the 1880s opened up the Shire to the rest of Sydney and also to

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

, but it was not until motor vehicles became commonplace in the 1950s that the southern part of the Shire truly became part of Sydney's suburbia. The Shire was incorporated as a local government authority on 6 March 1906. 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 Hornsby Shire merge with adjoining councils. The government considered two proposals. The first proposed a merger of part of Hornsby with the

Ku-ring-gai Council Ku-ring-gai Council is a local government area in Northern Sydney ( Upper North Shore), in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area is named after the Guringai Aboriginal people who were thought to be the traditional owners of the area. ...

to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 270,000. The second proposed a merger of parts of

Parramatta Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

, The Hills, Hornsby, and Holroyd to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 215,725. The outcome of the review was that the suburbs of Hornsby Shire Council south of the M2 joined an expanded Parramatta City Council. The NSW Government also gave in principle support for the Hornsby Shire suburbs north of the M2 to amalgamate with Ku-ring-gai Council. In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Hornsby and Ku-ring-gai local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers. This failed merger resulted in the council losing lucrative area south of the M2 including Epping and Carlingford.

Heritage listings

The Hornsby Shire has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Brooklyn, Main Northern railway:

Hawkesbury River railway station Hawkesbury River railway station is a heritage-listed railway station located on the Main North and Central Coast–Newcastle lines in Brooklyn in the Hornsby Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The station serves th ...

* Cheltenham, 67 Cobran Road: ''Ahimsa'', Cheltenham * Galston, 161 Main Road: Tunks Creek Bridge * Galston, 11 School Road:

Galston Congregational Church Pipe Organ The Galston Uniting Church Pipe Organ or Pipe Organ from Bourke Street Congregational Church is a heritage-listed church pipe organ located at 11 School Road, Galston in the Hornsby Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. ...

* Hornsby, 2a Manor Road (Rosamond Street):

Mount Wilga House Mount Wilga House is a Heritage register, heritage-listed former residence and rehabilitation hospital at 2a Manor Road (Rosamond Street), Hornsby, New South Wales, Hornsby in the Hornsby Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australi ...

* Hornsby, Old Man's Valley, off Quarry Road:

Old Man's Valley Cemetery Old Man's Valley Cemetery is a heritage-listed former cemetery and now memorial landscape at Old Man's Valley, off Quarry Road, Hornsby in the Hornsby Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by and built by ...

* Normanhurst, 82-84 Pennant Hills Road: ''

Gilligaloola ''Gilligaloola'' is a heritage-listed residence located at 82-84 Pennant Hills Road, Normanhurst in the Hornsby Shire local government area of New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by Norman Selfe who was involved in the design, and bu ...

'' * Wahroonga, 9 Highlands Avenue: ''Highlands''

Geography

Hornsby calls itself the 'Bushland Shire'. This is in reference to its location on a high ridge separating two expansive areas of natural bushland which consists of up to 70% of the total area:http://www.hornsby.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/98129/ulowresFNL-Whole-Updated-Snapshot-of-the-Hornsby-Shire-in-2016.pdf The

Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park is a national park on the northern side of Sydney in New South Wales, Australia. The park is north of the Sydney central business district and generally comprises the land east of the M1 Pacific Motorway, sout ...

on the eastern side and the

Berowra Valley Regional Park The Berowra Valley Regional Park is in the Hornsby Shire in Sydney, Australia. Most of what was previously the regional park was placed in the Berowra Valley National Park in September 2012. Only a small portion remains as the regional park. S ...

on the western side. These provide large areas of natural parkland that form a

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which hav ...

running from Sydney at the south to the

at the Shire's northern end. These parks are extremely popular with day-trippers from all areas of Sydney and provides diverse recreations such as bushwalking and boating. The northern half of Hornsby Shire remains a semi-rural area, retaining a number of farmlands and market gardens. This area consists of small village settlements such as Mount Colah and Hornsby Heights. The village of Galston is the centre of this rural area. The western part of the shire shares a border with

The Hills Shire The Hills Shire (from 1906–2008 as Baulkham Hills Shire) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Greater Western Sydney, Greater Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is north-west of the Sydne ...

and is separated from the rest of the Shire by national parks and the

Galston Gorge Galston Gorge is a valley located in the Berowra Valley Regional Park in Sydney, Australia. It separates Galston from Hornsby Heights, and is intersected by Galston Road and the heritage-listed Tunks Creek Bridge at the foot of the valley ...

. The southern half of the Shire is urban, forming part of Sydney's suburbia on the North Shore and

Northern Suburbs Northern Sydney is a large metropolitan area in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the north shore of Sydney Harbour and Parramatta River. The region embraces suburbs in Sydney’s north-east, north and inner north west. Northern Sydney ...

. Traditionally most of the Shire's residents live in free-standing houses, but in recent years a number of semi-detached housings as well as high-density apartments have appeared around Hornsby's central business district. The Shire has several areas with industrial activity including Hornsby, Asquith and Thornleigh. The major commercial centres of the Shire, apart from Hornsby's central business district, are the suburbs of Pennant Hills and North Epping. Local attractions in the Hornsby Shire include its easily accessible wilderness areas including part of the

Great North Walk The Great North Walk is a walking track which runs from Sydney to Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. The main track, in length, runs between the Obelisk in Macquarie Place in Sydney to Queens Wharf in Bicentennial Park in Newcastle and ...

, parkland recreational facilities such as Fagan Park at Galston, Pennant Hills Park,

Koala Park Sanctuary The Koala Park Sanctuary is a privately owned and run wildlife park located at West Pennant Hills in Sydney, Australia. The park is known for its collection of koalas and other animals and is set in a rainforest-like park. History Constructio ...

West Pennant Hills West Pennant Hills is a suburb in the Hills District of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. West Pennant Hills is located 20 km north-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government areas of The Hills Shire and Horn ...

, and the village of Brooklyn on the Hawkesbury River. Hornsby Shire has four public

libraries A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...

(at Hornsby, Pennant Hills, Berowra and Galston, two public swimming pools ("Aquatic Centres"), and a range of other sporting and community facilities.

References

External links

Hornsby Shire Website
*

CC-By-SA A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright license A public license or public copyright licenses is a license by which a copyright holder as licensor can grant additional copyright permissions to any and all pers ...

] {{Authority control Hornsby Shire, 1906 establishments in Australia Local government areas in Sydney, Hornsby