City of Wodonga

The City of Wodonga is a local government area in the Hume region of Victoria, Australia, located in the north-east part of the state. It covers an area of 433 square kilometres (167 sq mi) and in August 2021, had a population of 43,253.[1]

This article is about the local government area. For the city of Wodonga, see Wodonga.

Wodonga Council
Victoria
Wodonga within Victoria
Council Offices in Wodonga
Coordinates36°07′00″S 146°53′00″E
Population43,253 (2021 census)[1]
 • Density99.89/km2 (258.72/sq mi)
Established1876
Gazetted18 November 1994[2]
Area433 km2 (167.2 sq mi)[1]
MayorRon Mildren
Council seatWodonga
RegionHume
State electorate(s)Benambra
Federal division(s)Indi
WebsiteWodonga Council
LGAs around Wodonga Council:
Greater Hume (NSW) City of Albury (NSW) Greater Hume (NSW)
Indigo Wodonga Council Towong
Indigo Indigo Indigo

It is primarily urban with the vast majority of its population living in the Greater Wodonga urban area, while other significant settlements within the LGA include Bandiana and Bonegilla. Its floral and fauna emblems are pink heath and the Leadbeater's possum respectively—the same as those of the state of Victoria. It is one of only a few regional councils in Victoria to remain serving just one urban district after the amalgamation process of 1994, although through that process it did gained some portions of the former shires of Chiltern and Yackandandah.[2]

The city is governed and administered by the Wodonga City Council; its seat of local government and administrative centre is located at the council headquarters in Wodonga. The city is named after the main urban settlement located in the north-east of the LGA, that is Wodonga, which is also the LGA's most populous urban centre with a population of 16,487.[3] It provides governance for the Victorian part of the Albury-Wodonga 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 Yackandandah 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.[4][5]

The municipality survived widespread local government amalgamations in 1994, gaining the Baranduda and Barnawartha North districts from neighbouring shires.[6] However, the councillors were dismissed on 18 November 1994,[7] and replaced by commissioners Mel Read, a long-serving executive of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation, Des Kelly, a Shire of Tallangatta councillor from 1968 until 1994, and Mike Hansen, a retired army officer with management and logistics experience.[8] The commissioners decided in 1995 that, to give the city a fresh image, the term "rural" be dropped from use except when legally required.[5] It has since been officially renamed to the City of Wodonga. The elected council was reinstituted in 1997.

Council

Current composition

The current council is composed of seven councillors elected to represent an un-subdivided municipality.[9] The current councillors were elected on 23 October 2020, and were announced 6 November 2020.[10] On 23 November 2020, the councillors elected Kevin Poulton as Mayor for a one-year term, with a unanimous decision to have no Deputy Mayor.[11] In March 2022, Kat Bennett announced that she would be resigning from council, the vacancy was filled by a countback from the 2020 election, and Danny Lowe was elected to fill the position.[12] In October 2022, John Watson tendered his resignation after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.[13] A countback from the 2020 election was once again conducted, and Danny Chamberlain was elected.[14] In December 2022, mayoral elections took place and the council elected new mayor, Ron Mildren.[15]

WardPartyCouncillorNotes
Unsubdivided  IndependentKevin Poulton
 IndependentDanny Lowe
 IndependentGraeme Simpfendorfer
 IndependentLibby Hall Deputy Mayor
 IndependentRon Mildren Mayor
 IndependentDanny Chamberlain
 Liberal Democrats[16] Olga Quilty

Former Wards and Structure

Prior to 1994, Wodonga was composed of four wards and twelve councillors, with three councillors per ward elected to represent each of the following wards:

  • 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, 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.[17]

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.[18] 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, Crs Mark Byatt and Angela Collins respectively.

Administration and governance

The council meets in the council chambers at the council headquarters in the Wodonga Municipal Offices, which is also the location of the council's administrative activities. It also provides customer services at its administrative centre in Wodonga.

Townships and localities

The 2021 census, the city had a population of 43,253 up from 39,351 in the 2016 census[19]

Population
Locality20162021
Bandiana615855
Baranduda2,3703,041
Barnawartha North169188
Bonegilla693610
Population
Locality20162021
Castle Creek7785
Ebden136110
Gateway Island100
Population
Locality20162021
Huon Creek135320
Killara89
Leneva8461,317
Population
Locality20162021
Staghorn Flat^293368
West Wodonga14,57614,794
Wodonga18,94820,259

^ - Territory divided with another LGA

Population
Year Population Note(s)
195410,924
195812,520*
196112,968
196611,867
197113,074
197615,733
198119,208
198622,693
199126,389
199629,158
200130,921
200633,010
2011 census35,519[20]
201236,947
201337,804
201438,759
201539,599 (approx)
201640,009 (approx)
201740,567 (approx)
201840,969 (approx)

* Estimate in 1958 Victorian Year Book.

See also

References
  1. "2021 Wodonga, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
  2. "Order Re-Constituting ... the Rural City of Wodonga ... (Part 4)". Victoria Government Gazette. State Government of Victoria (S87): 3. 18 November 1994. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  3. Census QuickStats (2011). "Wodonga (SS) – SSC21487". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Government of Australia. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  4. Victorian Municipal Directory. Brunswick: Arnall & Jackson. 1992. pp. 537–538. Accessed at State Library of Victoria, La Trobe Reading Room.
  5. City of Wodonga (2 January 2008). "General history and what we do". Archived from the original on 18 December 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  6. Australian Bureau of Statistics (1 August 1995). Victorian local government amalgamations 1994–1995: Changes to the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (PDF). Commonwealth of Australia. p. 12. ISBN 0-642-23117-6. Retrieved 5 January 2008.
  7. Gettler, Leon (19 November 1994). "North-east Victoria councils cut from 37 to 12". The Age. p. 10.
  8. Office of the Minister of Local Government (18 November 1994). "News Release – Twelve councils for north-east". Government of Victoria. Provisionally available at .
  9. Local Government in Victoria. "Wodonga City Council". Department of Transport, Planning and Local Infrastructure. State Government of Victoria. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  10. "Wodonga City Council election results 2020". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  11. "Wodonga Council". www.facebook.com. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  12. Thomson, Blair (27 March 2022). "Councillor Kat Bennett announces she is stepping down from role". The Border Mail. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
  13. "Former mayor, long-standing councillor John Watson resigns after cancer news". The Border Mail. 27 October 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  14. "Wodonga City Council countback". www.vec.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  15. "New mayor for Wodonga after his political ties are questioned". The Border Mail. 19 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  16. "Reverse Princess Mary ready to give her all for city". 6 November 2020.
  17. Victorian Electoral Commission (27 September 2004). "Final Report – Electoral Representation Review – City of Wodonga" (PDF).
  18. City of Wodonga (19 December 2007). "Our councillors and senior staff". Archived from the original on 12 January 2008. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  19. "Census | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 11 January 2023.
  20. Census QuickStats (2011). "Wodonga (RC) – LGA27170". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Government of Australia. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
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