The Municipality of Ashfield 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
Inner West
The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inner West are predominantly located along the southern shore of Port Jackson (Parramatta River) ...
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 ...
. It is about west of the
Sydney central business district
The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or c ...
. The
municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
was proclaimed on 28 December 1871 as the "Borough of Ashfield", which changed to the "Municipality of Ashfield" in 1906. On 12 May 2016, Ashfield merged with
Marrickville Council
Marrickville Council was a local government area located in the inner west region of Sydney, Australia. It was originally created on 1 November 1861 as the "Municipality of Marrickville". On 12 May 2016, Marrickville Council was forcibly merged ...
and the
Municipality of Leichhardt
The Municipality of Leichhardt was a local government area in the inner-west region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is about west of the Sydney central business district. On 12 May 2016, Leichhardt merged with Marrickville Council an ...
to form the
Inner West Council
Inner West Council is a local government area located in the inner western region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council makes up the eastern part of this wider region, and was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger o ...
.
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 municipality was
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 ...
Lucille McKenna, a member of the
Australian Labor Party
The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also simply known as Labor, is the major centre-left political party in Australia, one of two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-right Liberal Party of Australia. The party forms the f ...
.
In December 2021, a majority of voters in Inner West Council voted in favour of reversing the 2016 merger and separating the three pre-existing councils of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville.
Suburbs
The municipality comprised the following suburbs and localities:
*
Ashfield
*
Dobroyd Point
*
Haberfield
*
Summer Hill
It also included parts of:
*
Ashbury (shared with
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury () is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. As well as Canterbury itself, the district extends north to the coastal towns of Whistable and Herne Bay.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1 ...
)
*
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
(shared with
Municipality of Burwood
The Municipality of Burwood (also known as Burwood Council) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Inner West (Sydney), inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Mayor of the Municipality is ...
)
*
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 ...
(shared with
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury () is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. As well as Canterbury itself, the district extends north to the coastal towns of Whistable and Herne Bay.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1 ...
)
*
Croydon Park (shared with
City of Canterbury
The City of Canterbury () is a local government district with city status in Kent, England. As well as Canterbury itself, the district extends north to the coastal towns of Whistable and Herne Bay.
History
The district was formed on 1 April 1 ...
and the
Municipality of Burwood
The Municipality of Burwood (also known as Burwood Council) is a Local government in Australia, local government area in the Inner West (Sydney), inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Mayor of the Municipality is ...
Council history
![AshfieldTownHall1938](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/AshfieldTownHall1938.jpg)
The "Borough of Ashfield" was proclaimed in the
New South Wales Government Gazette
The ''Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales'', also known as the ''New South Wales Government Gazette'', is the government gazette of the Government of New South Wales in Australia. The ''Gazette'' is managed by the New South Wales ...
on 28 December 1871 and was originally divided into two wards, North Ward and South Ward.
Local issues in the area, before the forced merge into Inner West Council, included the redevelopment of
Ashfield Mall
Ashfield Mall is a shopping centre in the suburb of Ashfield, New South Wales, Ashfield in the Inner West of Sydney.
Transport
The Inner West & Leppington Line offer frequent services to Ashfield railway station, Sydney, Ashfield station which i ...
and concerns about overdevelopment in general; construction of the
M4 East tunnel because it might lead to increased
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
and pollution; and the general state of the commercial area, which one councillor labelled 'Trashfield'. Also contentious was Ashfield Council itself. In 2003, it was described by the
Daily Telegraph
Daily or The Daily may refer to:
Journalism
* Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks
* ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times''
* ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...
as one of the worst councils in Sydney after one councillor took out a restraining order against another. By 2008, another councillor was sacked for not being a bona fide resident of the municipality while other councillors had made outspoken comments on issues such as the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
,
bird flu
"Bird Flu" is an urumee melam-dance song by recording artist M.I.A. on her second studio album '' Kala'' (2007). It was released as a digital download in 2006 through XL Recordings under exclusive license to Interscope Records in the US. Cr ...
, the Monarchy and 30 km/h
speed limit
Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...
s within residential areas. In 2009, Councillor
Nick Adams was given a six-month suspension from the
Liberal Party of Australia
The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...
for conduct deemed likely to "embarrass or cause damage to" the Party during an altercation with a journalist.
A
2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Ashfield merge with the
Municipality of Leichhardt
The Municipality of Leichhardt was a local government area in the inner-west region of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is about west of the Sydney central business district. On 12 May 2016, Leichhardt merged with Marrickville Council an ...
and the
Marrickville Council
Marrickville Council was a local government area located in the inner west region of Sydney, Australia. It was originally created on 1 November 1861 as the "Municipality of Marrickville". On 12 May 2016, Marrickville Council was forcibly merged ...
to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately . On 12 May 2016, Ashfield merged with Marrickville Council and the Municipality of Leichhardt to form the
Inner West Council
Inner West Council is a local government area located in the inner western region of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council makes up the eastern part of this wider region, and was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger o ...
.
Demographics
At the
2011 Census, there were 41,214 people in the Ashfield local government area, of these 48.6% were male and 51.4% 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 of ...
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 Municipality of Ashfield was 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 15.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 45.1% were married and 10.0% were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in The Municipality of Ashfield between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 1.76%; while in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 3.90%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Ashfield local government area was significantly less than the national average.
The median
weekly income for residents within the Municipality of Ashfield of was generally on par with the national average.
At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in Ashfield local government area who stated their
ancestry
An ancestor, also known as a forefather, fore-elder or a forebear, is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an antecedent (i.e., a grandparent, great-grandparent, great-great-grandparent and so forth). ''Ancestor'' is "any person from whom ...
as
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
was in excess of four times the state and national averages; and the proportion of households where an
Asian language was spoken at home was about six times higher than the national average.
Council
Final composition and election method
![Ashfield Council](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/Ashfield_Council.JPG)
The former Ashfield Municipal Council was generally considered a safe Labor area. As the attached table shows, Labor outpolled all other parties in the area at the final federal, state and council elections before the merge. However, the Liberals and Greens had strong voices in the area with the Council electing a member of the Greens Party as mayor and the northern part of Ashfield was represented by a Liberal Party member in the NSW Parliament. Prior to the 1970s, the area was more conservative, generally returning members who were
Free Trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...
,
Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
,
UAP or Liberal although it wasn't unheard of for Labor members to get elected during this period.
The final council was composed of four Labor councillors, four independents and four Liberals. The last mayor was Lucille McKenna, the Council's first woman mayor.
Ashfield Municipal Council was composed of twelve
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 elected
proportionally as four 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. All Councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office. 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 ...
and Deputy Mayor were elected for a one-year term by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council in September. The last election was held on 13 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council for the term 2012–16, in order of election by ward, was as follows:
Mayors
Coat of arms and logo
Logo
Ashfield Council launched a new logo and branding in August 2008, described as an "urban map" of various images representing various buildings and forms in the local area. This branding remained in use (with the arms retained for the most formal uses) until the council's amalgamation.
References
External links
Ashfield Municipal Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipality of Ashfield
Ashfield
1871 establishments in Australia
Ashfield
Inner West
Ashfield, New South Wales