Wodonga City Council
Encyclopedia
The City of Wodonga is a Local Government Area in Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, located in the north-eastern part of the state on the Murray River
Murray River
The Murray River is Australia's longest river. At in length, the Murray rises in the Australian Alps, draining the western side of Australia's highest mountains and, for most of its length, meanders across Australia's inland plains, forming the border between New South Wales and Victoria as it...
, which forms the border with New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
. It has an area of 433 square kilometres (167 sq mi) and at the 2006 census, it had a population of 33,010. Its floral and fauna emblems are Pink heath
Pink heath
Epacris impressa, also known as Common Heath, is a shrub that is native to the south-east of Australia. The pink-flowered form, often referred to as Pink Heath, is the floral emblem of the state of Victoria.-Description:...
and the Leadbeater's Possum
Leadbeater's Possum
Leadbeater's Possum is an endangered possum restricted to small pockets of remaining old growth mountain ash forests in the central highlands of Victoria north-east of Melbourne...
respectively—the same as the state of Victoria's.
Its council, the Wodonga City Council, provides governance for the Victorian part of the Albury-Wodonga
Albury-Wodonga
Albury-Wodonga is the broad settlement incorporating the twin Australian cities of Albury and Wodonga, which are separated geographically by the Murray River and politically by a state border: Albury on the north of the river is part of New South Wales while Wodonga on the south bank is in...
urban area.
History
Wodonga was first surveyed in 1852 and proclaimed the town of Belvoir in the same year. In 1876 the Victorian colonial government granted a request from the people of the area for their district to be severed from the Shire of YackandandahShire of Yackandandah
The Shire of Yackandandah was a Local Government Area located about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1862 until 1994.-History:...
to form a new municipality, and on 10 March 1876, the Shire of Wodonga was incorporated. On 12 April 1911 it annexed a further part of Yackandandah, and on 30 March 1973, Wodonga was proclaimed a Rural City by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Rohan Delacombe
Rohan Delacombe
Major General Sir Rohan Delacombe, KCMG, KBE, CB, DSO, KStJ was a British military officer who commanded the British occupation forces in Berlin from 1959 to 1962 at the height of the Cold War...
.
The municipality survived widespread local government amalgamations in 1994, gaining the Baranduda and Barnawartha North districts from neighbouring shires. However, the councillors were dismissed on 18 November 1994, and replaced by commissioners Mel Read, a long-serving executive of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation, Des Kelly, a Shire of Tallangatta
Shire of Tallangatta
The Shire of Tallangatta was a Local Government Area located about northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The shire covered an area of , and existed from 1869 until 1994.-History:...
councillor from 1968 until 1994, and Mike Hansen, a retired army officer with management and logistics experience. The commissioners decided in 1995 that, to give the city a fresh image, the term "rural" be dropped from use except when legally required. It has since been officially renamed to the City of Wodonga. The elected council was reinstituted in 1997.
Wards and Structure
Prior to 1994, Wodonga was divided into four wards, each of which elected three councillors:- Baranduda Ward
- Belvoir Ward
- Bonegilla Ward
- Greenhill Ward
The council was replaced with three commissioners on 18 November 1994, and at the 1997 inaugural elections of the new council, five councillors were elected to an unsubdivided municipality. Following the enactment of the Local Government (Democratic Reform) Act 2003 (Vic.), which amended the Local Government Act 1989, an independent review of Wodonga's internal structure was commissioned and advertised on 13 May 2004 by the Victorian Government. The final report by the Victorian Electoral Commission
Victorian Electoral Commission
The Victorian Electoral Commission , or VEC, is the government agency responsible for the running of state, municipal and various non-government elections in Victoria.-An Independent Agency:...
, issued on 27 September 2004, recommended that the council be increased in size to seven elected members, noting that at the time of the report, Wodonga was the only city council with fewer than seven, and that the task of representing the diversity and issues of a growing regional city was complex. It recommended leaving the City unsubdivided as it had a single, dominant centre and a small area.
The council was restructured accordingly and elections held on 26 November 2005 returned seven councillors with Rodney Wangman as mayor and Brian Wicks as deputy mayor.
Elections in late November 2008 resulted in four of the sitting seven councillors losing their seats, and saw the City of Wodonga gain a new Mayor and Deputy-Mayor, in Crs. Mark Byatt and Angela Collins.
Geography
The City of Wodonga is dominated by the WodongaWodonga, Victoria
Wodonga is a small city on the Victorian side of the border with New South Wales, north-east of Melbourne, Australia. Adjacent to Wodonga across the border is the New South Wales city of Albury. Wodonga is located wholly within the boundaries of the City of Wodonga LGA...
urban area, which includes the suburb of West Wodonga and represents 37.1 square kilometres (14.3 sq mi), or 8.57%, of the City's area and at the 2006 census had a population of 29,710.
Other towns within the City's area include:
- BandianaBandiana, VictoriaBandiana is a bounded rural locality of the City of Wodonga Local Government Area in northeast Victoria, Australia. At the 2006 census, Bandiana and had a population of 114, mainly based at the military camp.-References:...
- Baranduda
- Barnawartha North
- BonegillaBonegilla, VictoriaBonegilla is a bounded rural locality of the City of Wodonga Local Government Area in northeast Victoria, Australia, located 10 kilometres east of Wodonga, and around 300km north-east of Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Bonegilla and surrounding area had a population of 773.- History :Bonegilla Post...
- Castle Creek
- Ebden
- Gateway IslandGateway Island, VictoriaGateway Island is an unpopulated suburb of the City of Wodonga Local Government Area in northeast Victoria, Australia, adjacent to the Murray River and bounded in the south by the Wodonga Creek.-References:...
- Huon Creek
- Killara
- Leneva
- Staghorn Flat (shared with Indigo ShireIndigo ShireThe Shire of Indigo is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the north-eastern part of the state and is named after the Indigo Valley and Indigo Creek which runs into the Murray River through the shire....
)
Population
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1954 | 10,924 |
| 1958 | 12,520* |
| 1961 | 12,968 |
| 1966 | 11,867 |
| 1971 | 13,074 |
| 1976 | 15,733 |
| 1981 | 19,208 |
| 1986 | 22,693 |
| 1991 | 26,389 |
| 1996 | 29,158 |
| 2001 | 30,921 |
| 2006 | 33,010 |
* Estimate in 1958 Victorian Year Book.