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Cumberland Council, trading as Cumberland City Council, 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 federated state, state, province, division (politica ...
located in the western suburbs of
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
in the state of
New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. The Council was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of parts of the Cities of Auburn,
Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
(Woodville Ward), and Holroyd. The Council comprises an area of and as of the had a population of . The first Special Meeting of Cumberland Council was held on 19 May 2016 at the Granville Town Hall, and the council currently meets at the Merrylands Administration Centre. The current mayor is Ola Hamed of the
Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party (ALP), also known as the Labor Party or simply Labor, is the major Centre-left politics, centre-left List of political parties in Australia, political party in Australia and one of two Major party, major parties in Po ...
, elected on 16 October 2024.


Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Suburbs in the Cumberland City Council area are:


History


Holroyd Council

The area formerly known as the City of Holroyd was first proclaimed in July 1872 as the "Municipal District of Prospect and Sherwood", which became the "Municipality of Prospect and Sherwood" from 1906 and on 11 January 1927 it was renamed the "Municipality of Holroyd" after
Arthur Holroyd Arthur Todd Holroyd (1 December 1806 – 15 June 1887) was an Australian lawyer and politician. He was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council between 1851 and 1856. He was also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly ...
, the first mayor. From 1 January 1991, city status was granted, becoming the City of Holroyd. Originally located at the Council Chambers in Merrylands West from 1915, the administrative centre of Holroyd was located in the suburb of
Merrylands Merrylands is a suburb in Western Sydney, Australia. Merrylands is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Cumberland Ci ...
from 1962.


Auburn Council

To the east of Holroyd, the City of Auburn was first proclaimed on 19 February 1892 as the "Borough of Auburn" and became the "Municipality of Auburn" in 1906. On 20 June 1906, the hitherto unincorporated area around
Silverwater Silverwater is a suburb in western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Silverwater is located 15 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district on the southern bank of the Parramatta River within the local government ar ...
and Newington was combined into the Municipality of Auburn. The eastern section of Auburn was originally proclaimed as the Borough of Rookwood on 8 December 1891 and in 1913 Rookwood was renamed "
Lidcombe Lidcombe () is a suburb in Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Lidcombe is located west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Cumberland Council, with a small industrial part in the north in t ...
", a
portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.
of the names of the two previous mayors, in an attempt to distance the municipality from the
necropolis A necropolis (: necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'' (). The term usually implies a separate burial site at a distan ...
. On 1 January 1949, with the passing of the ''
Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 Local Government (Areas) Act 1948 was a landmark New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensl ...
'', the Municipalities of Auburn and Lidcombe were amalgamated to form the new "Municipality of Auburn". In 1993 Auburn Municipal Council became "Auburn Council" and was granted city status in 2008, becoming the "Auburn City Council".


Woodville Ward

The area known as the Woodville Ward of the
City of Parramatta The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a Local government in Australia, local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between th ...
until the amalgamations in May 2016, was first incorporated as the " Borough of Granville" on 20 January 1885, which became the "Municipality of Granville" from 1906, and met in the Granville Town Hall when it was completed in 1888. On 1 January 1949, with the passing of the ''Local Government (Areas) Act 1948'', the municipalities of Granville, Dundas, Ermington and Rydalmere, and Parramatta were amalgamated to form the new "City of Parramatta". Granville municipality became the "Granville Ward" and the council meetings of the new Parramatta City were held at the Granville Town Hall from 1949 until the new administration centre was opened in Parramatta in 1958. In 1995 a reorganisation of Parramatta's wards resulted in Granville Ward being renamed "Woodville Ward" after Woodville Road while the former Granville Municipality suburbs of Harris Park, Rosehill, Telopea, and northern sections of Granville and Clyde, were moved into the Elizabeth Macarthur Ward.


Establishment of Cumberland Council

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 executive state government of New South Wales, Australia. The government comprises 11 portfolios, led by a ministerial department and supported by several agencies. Th ...
Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended a major reorganisation for the area covered by Auburn, Holroyd and Parramatta councils. The government considered two proposals. The first was a merger of parts of Auburn, Holroyd and
Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 219,000. The second proposed a merger of parts of Parramatta, Auburn, The Hills, Hornsby, and Holroyd to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 215,725. On 12 May 2016, Cumberland Council was proclaimed as a new local government area, combining parts of Auburn City Council (south of the
M4 Western Motorway The M4 motorway is a series of partially Road pricing, tolled dual carriageway motorways in Sydney designated as route M4. The M4 designation is part of the wider A4/M4 (Sydney), A4 and M4 route designation, the M4 runs parallel and/or below ...
), the Woodville Ward of the Parramatta City Council, and the majority of the Holroyd City Council. The remainder of the Auburn City Council area north of the M4 Western Motorway (including parts of the Sydney Olympic Park) and a small section of Holroyd was merged into the reconstituted
City of Parramatta Council The City of Parramatta, also known as Parramatta Council, is a local government area located to the west and north-west of Sydney CBD in the Greater Western Sydney region. Parramatta Council is situated between the City of Ryde and Cumberland, ...
. The former General Manager of
Mosman Council Mosman Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area on the North Shore (Sydney), Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The mayor of Mosman Council is Councillor, Cr. Ann Marie Kimber, a representative of ...
(1986–2013), Viv May , who had been serving as the Administrator of the suspended Auburn City Council since February 2016, was appointed as the
Administrator Administrator or admin may refer to: Job roles Computing and internet * Database administrator, a person who is responsible for the environmental aspects of a database * Forum administrator, one who oversees discussions on an Internet forum * N ...
, and the long-serving Holroyd General Manager, Merv Ismay, was appointed as interim general manager. The first Special Meeting of Cumberland Council was held on 19 May 2016, at the Granville Town Hall, the historic former seat of the Granville Municipality, which merged with Parramatta in 1949. Subsequent Council meetings alternated between the Merrylands Administration Building and Auburn Civic Centre, until December 2016 when May decided that the Auburn council chambers would be taken over by the Auburn Library, and all council meetings from then to be held at Merrylands. After undertaking a significant amount of work to rationalise council services and staff, noting that "Auburn had issues with flagrant rezoning, and Holroyd was over-promising and underdelivering, living in a financial fantasy with many of its projects", May's term as Administrator came to an end in September 2017, with the election of the first council. The former Mayor of Holroyd, Greg Cummings, was elected as the inaugural Mayor of Cumberland Council on 27 September 2017.


"City" trading name

On 18 December 2019, the mayor
Steve Christou Steve Christou (born 23 January 1978) is an Australian politician who has served as a councillor of Cumberland City Council since 2017, representing Granville Ward. He previously served as the mayor of Cumberland between September 2019 and J ...
presented a mayoral minute to Council recommending that Cumberland Council begin trading as "Cumberland City Council", by changing the Council's trading name and business registration. The motion was passed 7-7 with the casting vote of the mayor, and the name change to "Cumberland City Council" was implemented from January 2020. However, this did not legally confer
city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...
on the council as it had merely changed the trading name of the council, the legal name as proclaimed in 2016 remains "Cumberland Council", which can only be changed by official proclamation of the
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
in the NSW Government Gazette under section 206 of the ''Local Government Act 1993''. On 6 September 2023, the Council voted unanimously to write to the Minister for Local Government, requesting that the Council area be formally proclaimed as "Cumberland City" under section 206 of the ''Local Government Act'', and the Council be renamed "Cumberland City Council" under section 207 of the Act.


Heritage listings

The Cumberland Council area has a number of heritage-listed sites, including: * Greystanes,
Lower Prospect Canal Reserve The Lower Prospect Canal Reserve is a Heritage register, heritage-listed former farm and public water supply canal and now bushy corridor and nature reserve stretching through the heart of suburban Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The lineal ...
* Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road:
Linnwood, Guildford Linnwood is a heritage-listed former residence, school, local history museum and children's home and now historical society located at 11–35 Byron Road, Guildford in the Cumberland Council local government area of New South Wales, Australia. ...
* Guildford, Frank Street: Guildford West pipehead and water supply canal * Prospect, Clunies Ross Street: Prospect Hill * Westmead, 2, 4, 6, and 8 Bridge Road:
Essington Essington is a village and civil parish in the South Staffordshire district of Staffordshire, England, northeast of the city of Wolverhampton. Nearby are the towns of Bloxwich and Cannock and the villages of Cheslyn Hay, Great Wyrley (Landywood ...


Demographics


Facilities

There are eight libraries located throughout the local government area. There are also five council-run swimming pools. On 9 September 2017 a poll put to the residents by council asked for their views on continuing to run all five pools, given that their operating costs took up 2% of council revenue. The poll returned a result of 74% in favour of continuing council operation of all the pools. Located partially in the region, the ''Smithfield-Wetherill Park Industrial Estate'' is the largest
industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...
in the southern hemisphere and is the centre of manufacturing and distribution in western Sydney, with more than 1,000 manufacturing, wholesale, transport and service firms.


Council

Cumberland City Council comprises fifteen
councillor A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or re ...
s elected proportionally, with three Councillors elected in five
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 pris ...
. On 9 September 2017 the first council was elected. The Mayor is elected bi-annually and Deputy Mayor annually by the councillors at the first meeting of the council.


Current composition

The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024. Steve Christou left OLC in December 2024, the makeup of the Council, is as follows:


Officeholders


Election results


2024


2021


Controversies


Drag queen storytime ban

In February 2024, Cumberland City Council voted in favour of banning drag queen storytime from council events.


Same-sex parenting book ban

On 1 May 2024, Cumberland City Council voted in favour of removing a book about
same-sex parenting Same-sex parenting is parenting of children by Same-sex relationship, same-sex couples generally consisting of Gay men, gay, lesbian, or bisexual people who are often in civil partnerships, domestic partnerships, civil unions, or same-sex marria ...
from council libraries. The motion was proposed by Councillors Christou and Garrard and passed with 6 votes in favour and 5 against. The state Government's Arts Minister John Graham threatened to cut funding for the Council's libraries due to this motion against same-sex books passing. On 15 May 2024, Cumberland City Council voted in favour of a motion to rescind the initial book ban. Separately proposed amendments by Councillors Christou and Garrard to move the book in question to the adult section of the library were voted down, with Councillor Huang stating "we won't compromise on the principle of equality and fairness". Following four hours of debate, the motion was passed with 12 votes in favour and 2 against. Councillors Hughes, Cummings, Hussein, Garrard, and Zaiter changed their position from 1 May to support the rescission motion on 15 May 2024, while Councillors Christou and Sarkis, the latter of whom was not present in the first meeting, voted to keep the ban. On the night of 15 May, police and security guards were present as protesters clashed over the book ban outside the council chambers at
Merrylands Merrylands is a suburb in Western Sydney, Australia. Merrylands is located west of the Sydney central business district and is in the Local government in Australia, local government area of the Cumberland Council, New South Wales, Cumberland Ci ...
. One councillor, Eddy Sarkis, who initially supported the ban, stated, "I read the book and have come to the conclusion that nothing sexualises children in this book".


See also

*
Local government areas of New South Wales This is a list of local government in Australia, local government areas (LGAs) in New South Wales, sorted by region. there were 128 local government areas in New South Wales, there are 33 local government areas in Greater Sydney and 95 local ...


Notes


References


External links


Cumberland City Council Website
{{coord missing, New South Wales Local government areas in Sydney 2016 establishments in Australia