Municipality of Strathfield


The Municipality of Strathfield, also known as Strathfield Council, is a local government area located west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Strathfield Council was incorporated in 1885. The Council area originally included the suburbs of Redmire, Homebush and Druitt Town. The name "Strathfield" was adopted as the name of the new council upon incorporation. In 1886, the suburb of Redmire was renamed Strathfield, as was the railway station. The area of Druitt Town became known as Strathfield South in the early 1890s. Only Homebush survives as an original location name.
Strathfield Council currently comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated residents. The Council area is made up of residential neighbourhoods and town centres, with significant local heritage, open space, lifestyle amenities, public and private schools and access to tertiary institutions such as a campus of Australian Catholic University and the University of Sydney and TAFE Sydney Institute.
The Mayor of Strathfield Municipal Council is Cr. Antoine Doueihi, a member of the Liberal Party of Australia. The Deputy Mayor is Cr. Matthew Blackmore

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

The Strathfield local government area comprises:

Demographics

At the there were people in the Strathfield local government area, of these 50.7 per cent were male and 49.3 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.3 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The median age of people in the Strathfield local government area was 32 years; significantly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.7 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 15.7 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 48.1 per cent were married and 11.7 per cent were either divorced or separated.. Strathfield has become an important multicultural centre.
Population growth in the Strathfield local government area between the and the was 15.14 per cent; while in the subsequent five years to the, population growth was 10.02 per cent. At the 2016 census, the population in the Municipality increased by 14.56 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in Strathfield local government area was significantly higher than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Municipality of Strathfield was on par with the national average.

Current composition and election method

Strathfield Municipal Council is composed of seven councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected bi-annually by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council. The most recent election was held on 9 September 2017, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:
The current Council, elected in 2017, in order of election, is:

History

Strathfield Council was proclaimed on 2 June 1885 by the NSW Governor, Sir Augustus Loftus. The Council was incorporated following petitions by residents of the Redmire area to form local government. This move was opposed by residents of Homebush and Druitt Town, possibly fearing the dominance of the more affluent and politically connected residents of Redmire. Despite counter petitions, the Municipality was incorporated in 1885.
Strathfield Council built the current Council Chambers in 1887. Between 1885 and 1887 the Council operated from various private homes in Strathfield, pending the building of a permanent Council Chambers.
The Strathfield Council area has expanded in geography and population over time and now includes the suburbs of Strathfield, Homebush and Homebush West, Flemington, Greenacre, Strathfield South, Chullora and Belfield.

Amalgamations

Throughout its history, there have been movements to amalgamate local councils in the Sydney area: the first major 'threat' was with the 'royal commission for a greater Sydney ', known as 'The Greater Sydney Movement'. The Royal Commission brought together Sidney Webb, a British politician and John Fitzgerald, an Australian politician, who, amongst others, believed that Sydney should be merged into a single local government area. In 1947 Homebush and Strathfield councils merged and part of Enfield was added in 1949.
In 1992, a section of the northern part of the Municipality was transferred to the Auburn Council area. In return, the area of and between Boundary Creek and the railway line, occupied by the former Ford factory building, was transferred from Auburn to Strathfield Council.
A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the Strathfield Municipal Council merge with adjoining councils. The government proposed a merger of the Burwood, Canada Bay, and Strathfield Councils to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 163,000. On 6 May Strathfield Council commenced legal action in the NSW Land and Environment Court against the proposed amalgamation. After the Court heard that there were legal flaws in the report from the NSW Government appointed delegate who examined the proposal for merging the councils, the NSW Government withdrew from the case and the merger proposal stalled. In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Strathfield, Burwood and Canada Bay local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.

Heritage listings

The Municipality of Strathfield has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Libraries

The Council operates two libraries: the Central Library in Homebush and a Branch library in Strathfield South. The central library, located in Homebush, was demolished in 2002 and a new library was built and opened in 2004. The Branch Library in Strathfield South was rebuilt and opened in 2008.

Dutton Centre

The former South Strathfield Bowling Club was bought by Strathfield Council and renovated with a grant of $495,00 from the Department of Aging, Disability and Home Care. The building was opened on 3 December 2012 and named in honour of Eve Dutton who was the first female Mayor of Strathfield. It houses Strathfield/Homebush Meals on Wheels and Inner West Community Transport.

Culture

The population of Strathfield is made up of a number of ethnic groups, and about 48% of the population born overseas. As a result, there are a number of services for newly arrived immigrants and overseas students who live in the area. Two such organisations are the Russian Ethnic Community Council of NSW Inc, and the Sydney Tamil Resource Centre Inc. RECNSW provides access to information and referral to mainstream services to recent immigrants of Russian and Russian speaking background and disseminates information to remote and offshore areas on a number of issues. STRC provides resources to Tamil immigrants.
In the 1990s, a large number of South Korean migrants settled in Strathfield. Strathfield now has a large number of shops selling Korean food and cultural items. As indicated in the 2011 census. Korean is now the second most spoken language in Strathfield municipality.
Strathfield also has a number of community centres, including a Rotary club, Latvian theatre, Lantern Club, and libraries. The local Rotary club provides support to the community and has a number of projects in the area, as well as a Musical Society, which normally produces two shows a year in the Latvian Theatre in Strathfield. Their main social activity is rehearsing twice weekly and they present seven performances of their musical production over two weekends. Strathfield Lantern Club Voluntary is located in Strathfield and provides fundraising organisation for raising funds specifically for the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children in North Rocks.
The lyrics of the song by Radio Birdman, Murder City Nights refers to Woodward Road, Strathfield:

Geography

The Strathfield Council area is located at 33°52'10" North, 151°5'59" West. It covers a total area of approximately and includes the suburbs of Strathfield, Strathfield South, Homebush, Homebush West, Greenacre, Flemington and part of Belfield. Homebush Bay Drive bounds Strathfield Council to the north, Powells Creek, The Boulevarde and Coronation Parade bounds it to the east, Punchbowl Road and Juno Parade form the southern border and Roberts Road, Chullora rail yards, Rookwood Cemetery and the Sydney Olympic Park Rail line bound the Municipality to the west.
For NSW state elections, the Municipality of Strathfield is divided between the Strathfield, Lakemba and Auburn electorates and for Federal elections it is in the electorates of Reid and Watson.