The City of Wodonga 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 ...
in the
Hume region of
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
,
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 ...
, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of and in June 2018, had a population of 41,429.
[
It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Wodonga urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include ]Bandiana
Bandiana is a Suburb of the City of Wodonga local government area in northeast Victoria, Australia.
History
Bandiana takes its name from the early name for the area, probably from a First Nations toponym.
The hill now known as Bears Hill appea ...
and Bonegilla. Its floral and fauna emblems are pink heath
''Epacris impressa'', also known as common heath, is a plant of the heath family, Ericaceae, that is native to southeast Australia (the states of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and New South Wales). French botanist Jacques Labillardière co ...
and the Leadbeater's possum
Leadbeater's possum (''Gymnobelideus leadbeateri'') is a critically endangered possum largely restricted to small pockets of alpine ash, mountain ash, and snow gum forests in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia, north-east of Melbour ...
respectively—the same as those of the state of Victoria. It is one of only a few regional councils in Victoria to remain serving just one urban district after the amalgamation process of 1994, although through that process it did gained some portions of the former Shire of Chiltern
The Shire of Chiltern was a local government area about north-northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1994.
History
Chiltern was first incorporated as a roa ...
and former Shire of Yackandandah
The Shire of Yackandandah was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1994.
History
Yackandandah was incorporated as a road ...
.
The city is governed and administered by the Wodonga City Council; its seat of local government
The seat of government is (as defined by ''Brewer's Politics'') "the building, complex of buildings or the city from which a government exercises its authority".
In most countries, the nation’s capital is also seat of its government, thus that ...
and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Wodonga. The city is named after the main urban settlement located in the north-east of the LGA, that is Wodonga, which is also the LGA's most populous urban centre with a population of 16,487. It provides governance for the Victorian part of the Albury-Wodonga urban area.
History
Wodonga was first surveyed in 1852 and proclaimed the town of Belvoir in the same year. In 1876 the Victorian colonial government granted a request from the people of the area for their district to be severed from the Shire of Yackandandah
The Shire of Yackandandah was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1994.
History
Yackandandah was incorporated as a road ...
to form a new municipality, and on 10 March 1876, the Shire of Wodonga was incorporated. On 12 April 1911 it annexed a further part of Yackandandah, and on 30 March 1973, Wodonga was proclaimed a Rural City by the Governor of Victoria
The governor of Victoria is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the Australian state of Victoria. The governor is one of seven viceregal representatives in the country, analogous to the governors of the other states, and the ...
, Sir Rohan Delacombe
Major General Sir Rohan Delacombe, (25 October 1906 – 10 November 1991) was a senior British Army officer. He was the last British Governor of Victoria, Australia from 1963 to 1974.
Early life
Delacombe was born in St. Julian's, Malta, on 25 ...
.[ Accessed at ]State Library of Victoria
State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...
, La Trobe Reading Room.[
The municipality survived widespread local government amalgamations in 1994, gaining the Baranduda and Barnawartha North districts from neighbouring shires. However, the councillors were dismissed on 18 November 1994, and replaced by commissioners Mel Read, a long-serving executive of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation, Des Kelly, a ]Shire of Tallangatta
The Shire of Tallangatta was a local government area about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1869 until 1994.
History
Tallangatta was first incorporated as the ...
councillor from 1968 until 1994, and Mike Hansen, a retired army officer with management and logistics experience. The commissioners decided in 1995 that, to give the city a fresh image, the term "rural" be dropped from use except when legally required. It has since been officially renamed to the City of Wodonga. The elected council was reinstituted in 1997.
Council
Current composition
The current council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an un-subdivided municipality. The current councillors were elected on 23 October 2020, and were announced 6 November 2020. On 23 November 2020, the councillors elected Kevin Poulton as Mayor for a one-year term, with a unanimous decision to have no Deputy Mayor. In March 2022, Kat Bennett announced that she would be resigning from council, the vacancy was filled by a countback from the 2020 election, and Danny Lowe was elected to fill the position. In October 2022, John Watson tendered his resignation after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. A countback from the 2020 election was once again conducted, and Danny Chamberlain was elected. In December 2022, mayoral elections took place and the council elected new mayor, Ron Mildren.
Former Wards and Structure
Prior to 1994, Wodonga was composed of four wards and twelve councillors, with three councillors per ward elected to represent each of the following wards:
* Baranduda Ward
* Belvoir Ward
* Bonegilla Ward
* Greenhill Ward
The council was replaced with three commissioners on 18 November 1994, and at the 1997 inaugural elections of the new council, five councillors were elected to an unsubdivided municipality. Following the enactment of the Local Government (Democratic Reform) Act 2003 (Vic.), which amended the Local Government Act 1989, an independent review of Wodonga's internal structure was commissioned and advertised on 13 May 2004 by the Victorian Government. The final report by the Victorian Electoral Commission
Victorian or Victorians may refer to:
19th century
* Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign
** Victorian architecture
** Victorian house
** Victorian decorative arts
** Victorian fashion
** Victorian literature ...
, issued on 27 September 2004, recommended that the council be increased in size to seven elected members, noting that at the time of the report, Wodonga was the only city council with fewer than seven, and that the task of representing the diversity and issues of a growing regional city was complex. It recommended leaving the City unsubdivided as it had a single, dominant centre and a small area.
The council was restructured accordingly and elections held on 26 November 2005 returned seven councillors with Rodney Wangman as mayor and Brian Wicks as deputy mayor.
Elections in late November 2008 resulted in four of the sitting seven councillors losing their seats, and saw the City of Wodonga gain a new Mayor and Deputy-Mayor, Crs Mark Byatt and Angela Collins respectively.
Administration and governance
The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Wodonga Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its administrative centre in Wodonga.
Main towns in shire
In June 2018 the shire had a population of 41,429.[
]
Population
* Estimate in 1958 Victorian Year Book.
See also
* List of localities (Victoria)
This is a list of locality names and populated place names in the state of Victoria, Australia, outside the Melbourne metropolitan area. It is organised by region from the south-west of the state to the east and, for convenience, is sectioned ...
* List of places on the Victorian Heritage Register in the City of Wodonga
References
External links
Wodonga City Council official website
Metlink local public transport map
Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wodonga, City of
Local government areas of Victoria (Australia)
Hume (region)