The City of Whitehorse is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of and in June 2018, Whitehorse had a population of 176,196. Whitehorse was formed in December 1994 by the amalgamation of the former cities of Box Hill and Nunawading. The name Whitehorse came from the White Horse Inn, a tavern originally located in the area in the late 19th century. This name was applied to the major thoroughfare, Whitehorse Road, which runs through the municipality today. In the original proposals for council amalgamations in Melbourne, Whitehorse was a suggested name for an area comprising the City of Box Hill, with the addition of residents east of Union Road. The affected residents were unhappy, believing an alignment with Box Hill would lower the value of their properties. A second proposal featured the current boundaries of Whitehorse. The City of Nunawading proposed the name "City of Koornung", claiming it was more appropriate, as both cities shared the Koonung Creek, but they failed to note they had spelled Koonung incorrectly in their proposal. Another suggestion was "City of Deakin", as the region of Whitehorse contains both the Federal electorate of Deakin, and the Melbourne campus of Deakin University, in Burwood.
Councillors and wards
Whitehorse currently has five two-councillor wards – Central, Elgar, Morack, Riversdale and Springfield. Councillors are elected every four years to represent their ward. Council elections are conducted by postal voting and votes are counted using proportional representation. Voting is compulsory for residents who are on the electoral roll for state elections, but voters aged 70 years or over are not obliged to vote at local council elections. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council for a term of either one or two years, at the end of which a council meeting is held to elect the mayor for another fixed term. Effective from the 2020 local council elections, Whitehorse will switch from five two-member wards to eleven single-member wards.
is filmed in Vermont South; Pin Oak Court is the real cul-de-sac that has doubled for Ramsay Street since 1985. All of the houses featured in the show are real and the residents allow Neighbours to shoot external scenes in their front and back yards and on occasions, in their garages. Owing to its association with the show, Pin Oak Court has become popular with tourists; Tours to the cul-de-sac run throughout the year. The interior scenes are filmed at the Global Television studios in the adjacent suburb of Forest Hill. Box Hill has variously supported an eponymous brass band since 1889.
Sister city relations
On 12 May 1971, the City of Box Hill established a sister city relationship with Matsudo, in Chiba, Japan. In December 1994, when Box Hill amalgamated with Nunawading, the City of Whitehorse re-affirmed its relationship with Matsudo. In April 2005, the City of Whitehorse signed a Memorandum of Friendship and Understanding with Shaoxing, in Zhejiang, China. The Memorandum of Friendship and Understanding aims to foster international liaisons and links and facilitate the exchange of information and personal visits, as well as to strengthen economic, tourism and educational connections between the two cities through sharing knowledge and cultural understanding.
