Waverley Municipal Council

This article is about the local government area. For the Sydney suburb, see Waverley, New South Wales.

Waverley Municipal Council New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Coordinates
Population	63,487 (2011 census)
• Density	7,054.1/km2 (18,270/sq mi)
Established	16 June 1859
Area	9 km2 (3.5 sq mi)
Mayor	Sally Betts (Liberal)
Council seat	Bondi Junction
Region	Metropolitan Sydney
State electorate(s)	Coogee Vaucluse
Federal Division(s)	Wentworth
Website	Waverley Municipal Council
LGAs around Waverley Municipal Council: Woollahra Sydney Waverley Municipal Council Tasman Sea Randwick

Waverley Municipal Council (or Waverley Council) is a local government area in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

The Mayor of Waverley Municipal Council is Cr. Sally Betts, a member of the Liberal Party.

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Bondi Beach

Diamond Bay from Vaucluse

Suburbs serviced by Waverley Council are:

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These localities are also serviced by Waverley Council:

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Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 63,487 people in the Waverley local government area, of these 49.2% were male and 50.8% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.4% of the population. The median age of people in the Municipality of Waverley was 35 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 15.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.0% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 37.4% were married and 10.0% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the Municipality of Waverley between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 3.31%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 4.57%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Waverley local government area was a little over half the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Municipality of Waverley was more than 1.5 times the national average.

The proportion of residents in Waverley local government area who stated their ancestry was Jewish was three times the New South Wales and national averages. The proportion of households where Russian is spoken at home is thirteen times the state and national averages; and of all households where Hebrew is spoken in New South Wales, one third are located in the Municipality of Waverley, and in Australia, one tenth of households where Hebrew is spoken are located in Waverley local government area. The proportion of residents who stated an affiliation with Judaism was in excess of twenty–eight times the state and national averages.

Selected historical census data for Waverley local government area
Census year			2001	2006	2011
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	58,769	60,715	63,487
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales
		% of New South Wales population			0.92%
		% of Australian population	0.31%	0.31%	0.30%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English			20.9%
		Australian			16.1%
		Irish			9.3%
		Scottish			5.5%
		Jewish			3.1%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Russian	3.2%	2.6%	2.6%
		Hebrew	1.2%	1.3%	1.6%
		Italian	1.5%	1.3%	1.4%
		French	n/c	n/c	1.3%
		Spanish	n/c	1.0%	1.3%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No religion	16.9%	18.0%	24.3%
		Catholic	22.9%	20.8%	22.1%
		Judaism	16.1%	16.8%	17.1%
		Anglican	13.5%	11.7%	11.0%
		Eastern Orthodox	3.0%	2.8%	2.8%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$765	A$973
		% of Australian median income		164.2%	168.6%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,446	A$2,496
		% of Australian median income		140.8%	168.5%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,928	A$1,912
		% of Australian median income		164.6%	154.9%

Council

Current composition and election method

Waverley Municipal Council is composed of twelve Councillors elected proportionally as four separate wards, each electing three Councillors. All Councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor is elected by the Councillors at the first meeting of the Council. The most recent election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the Council is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Party of Australia	7
	Australian Labor Party	3
	The Greens	1
	Independent	1
	Total	12

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election by ward, is:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Bondi Ward		Joy Clayton	Liberal
		Dominic Wy Kanak	Greens
		John Wakefield	Labor
Hunter Ward		Sally Betts	Liberal	Mayor
		Leon Goltsman	Liberal
		Miriam Guttman-Jones	Independent
Lawson Ward		Angela Burrill	Liberal
		Andrew Cusack	Liberal
		Paula Masselos	Labor
Waverley Ward		Tony Kay	Liberal	Deputy Mayor
		Bill Mouroukas	Liberal
		Ingrid Strewe	Labor

History

The proclamation of the Municipality of Waverley was published on 16 June 1859 after its establishment in 1858. The first Council meeting was held on 16 June 1859, but there was no permanent office for the conduct of Council duties some early meetings were held in the Charing Cross Hotel and others in the old School of Arts building in Bronte Road.

In December, 1860 the Council accepted an offer from Francis O'Brien of a site for a Council Chambers, free of cost, in Bondi Road. The cost of building was to be limited to ₤500, although approximately £700 was eventually spent. The foundation stone was laid in 1861, and a first meeting of Council was held there on 21 November 1861, the first Council building erected by any municipality under the Municipalities Act of 1858. Discussions were held during the early 1900s over the need for new Council Chambers, and in 1913 a portion of the north-west corner of Waverley Park was dedicated as the site for a new building. A report of the same year stated that the original building was too small for the staff, and had poor ventilation and lighting. It was later sold for £1,600. The new building was completed by the end of 1913, and on 6 January 1914 the Council met for the first time in the new chambers.

Parts of the 1913 chambers still form the shell of the present Council Chambers, although extensive alterations in 1962, and further development in 1976 and 1977 have altered its appearance considerably. There is clear evidence - in the form of significant Aboriginal rock carvings in particular - that Aboriginal people occupied sites in the area now known as Waverley in the period before European settlement. A number of place names within Waverley Municipal Council area, most famously Bondi, have been based on words derived from Aboriginal languages of the Sydney region.

External links

• Waverley Municipal Council website