City of Whittlesea

What became the City of Whittlesea had its origins in two separate roads districts (an early, single-purpose form of local government). The first, Whittlesea Roads District, was incorporated on 12 December 1862. On 1 January 1875 it was amalgamated with the Merriang riding of the Shire of Darebin to create the Shire of Whittlesea.[2] The second, Epping Roads District, was incorporated on 21 July 1870. It was then enlarged on 11 January 1859 and then again on 25 July 1864 to cover the Northcote area. On 26 September 1870 it was merged with Merriang Roads District, Upper Plenty Roads District and Woodstock Roads District to form the Shire of Darebin. Part of the Shire of Derebin was then excised to create the Shire of Jika in 1872, and, as stated above, Merriang riding was merged with the Whittlesea Roads District to form the Shire of Whittlesea in 1875. The Shire of Darebin was renamed the Shire of Epping on 22 March 1894. On 1 October 1915, the Shire of Epping was absorbed by the Shire of Whittlesea[3] as part of a restructuring of local government outside the Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria.[4]

On 31 May 1955, parts of the City of Broadmeadows were annexed to Shire of Whittlesea and the neighbouring Shire of Bulla. The population grew rapidly as urbanisation reached the southern edge of the shire. In 1979 an internal redistribution took place creating the four ridings based on population and on 30 March 1988 it was proclaimed by the Governor of Victoria as a City, effective from 15 April of that year. Until the amalgamations of the mid-1990s, the City was 598.3 square kilometres (231.0 sq mi) in size.[5]

On 15 December 1994, massive local government reform once again affected Whittlesea's boundaries, although unlike most, the City survived largely intact. 18% of its land area was ceded to entities created in 1994 – the Doreen and Arthurs Creek districts were lost to the new Shire of Nillumbik, while Kinglake West went to Shire of Murrindindi and Somerton to the City of Hume.[6]

Until April 1993, the council met at the Shire Office at High Street and Houston Street, Epping, next to the primary school. In that month, it moved to its present headquarters in Ferres Boulevard, South Morang. The original premises in Epping is now a council depot.

The City of Whittlesea is a culturally diverse community with the 2011 Census recording that 38.3% of residents were born overseas.[7]

Whittlesea 2040 is a long term vision for the City and guides the Council's work and future partnerships with the community and others.[8]

Historically, Shire of Whittlesea was divided into four ridings, each electing three councillors. When it became a City in 1988, these were converted into wards:

• Centre Ward (formerly Yan Yean Riding, then Central Riding)
• East Ward (formerly Morang Riding, then South East Riding)
• West Ward (formerly Thomastown Riding, then South West Riding)
• North Ward (formerly Whittlesea Riding, then North Riding)

Over a number of elections there have been changes to the number of wards and councillors. In 1994 Whittlesea was re-subdivided into nine wards, each with one councillor. At the 2005 election the Victorian Electoral Commission reviewed the ward boundaries and composition. This resulted in three wards, each electing three councillors.

At the 2012 General Election the three wards were retained, however changes were made to ward boundaries to reflect the municipality's growing population. In total eleven councillors were elected:

• North Ward (3 councillors)
• South-East Ward (4 councillors)
• South-West Ward (4 councillors)

The 2021 census, the city had a population of 229,396 up from 197,491 in the 2016 census[11]

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

After a three-month investigation into administrative and governing issues, on 20 March 2020 the Victorian state government dismissed Whittlesea council and replaced them with three administrators who will govern for four years.[14]

The next elections will not take place till October 2024. The last election, in October 2016, was a general election for the Whittlesea City Council conducted by the Victorian Electoral Commission.

Council is currently led by Chair Administrator Lydia Wilson, supported by Administrators Peita Duncan and Chris Eddy.

There have been 21 mayors of Whittlesea since 1997. The mayor is elected yearly from amongst the elected councillors to serve as leader of the council.

• Jones, Michael Nature's Plenty: a history of the City of Whittlesea, Sydney, N.S.W. Allen & Unwin, 1992 ISBN 1863730761

• Media related to Shire of Whittlesea at Wikimedia Commons
• Official City of Whittlesea web site
• Knowledge Whittlesea
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
• Whittlesea information web site
• Yarra Plenty Regional Library

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