Northern Beaches Council

Northern Beaches Council
New South Wales
Northern Beaches lga sydney.png
Coordinates33°45′S 151°17′E / 33.750°S 151.283°E / -33.750; 151.283Coordinates: 33°45′S 151°17′E / 33.750°S 151.283°E / -33.750; 151.283
Population263,554 (2021 census) (11th (Australia); 4th (NSW))
 • Density1,037.6/km2 (2,687/sq mi)
Established12 May 2016 (2016-05-12)
Area254 km2 (98.1 sq mi)
MayorMichael Regan
Council seatCivic Centre, Dee Why
RegionMetropolitan Sydney
State electorate(s)
Federal division(s)
Northern Beaches Council Logo 2017.png
WebsiteNorthern Beaches Council
LGAs around Northern Beaches Council:
Hornsby Broken Bay Tasman Sea
Ku-ring-gai, Willoughby Northern Beaches Council Tasman Sea
Mosman Sydney Harbour Tasman Sea

The Northern Beaches Council is a local government area located in the Northern Beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The council was formed on 12 May 2016 after the amalgamation of Manly, Pittwater and Warringah Councils.

The Council comprises an area of 254 square kilometres (98 sq mi) and as at the 2021 census had an estimated population of 263,554, making it the fourth most populous local government area in New South Wales.

The inaugural Mayor of the Northern Beaches Council is Cr. Michael Regan, of the Your Northern Beaches Independent Team, who was first elected on 26 September 2017.

Suburbs and localities

The following suburbs are located within Northern Beaches Council:

The following localities are located within Northern Beaches Council:

  • Akuna Bay
  • Allambie
  • Avalon North
  • Bantry Bay
  • Barrenjoey
  • Bungan Beach
  • Bungan Head
  • Bungaroo
  • Careel Bay
  • Careel Head
  • Clareville Beach
  • Collaroy Beach
  • Cromer Heights
  • Curl Curl Beach
  • Dee Why Beach
  • Fishermans Beach (Collaroy)
  • Foleys Hill
  • Freshwater Beach
  • Gooseberry Flat
  • Ingleside Heights
  • Long Reef Beach (Collaroy)
  • Loquat Valley
  • Narrabeen Beach
  • Narrabeen Peninsula
  • North Curl Curl Beach
  • North Narrabeen Beach
  • Paradise Beach
  • Peach Trees
  • Sand Point
  • Sorlie
  • South Warriewood
  • Stokes Point
  • Taylors Point
  • The Basin
  • Towlers Bay
  • Tumbledown Dick
  • Turimetta
  • Warriewood Beach
  • Wingala

Demographics

At the 2021 census, there were 263,554 people in the Northern Beaches local government area; of these 48.9 per cent were male and 51.1 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.6 per cent of the population; the NSW and Australian averages are 3.4 and 3.2 per cent respectively. The median age of people in Northern Beaches Council was 41 years; the national median is 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 18.5 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 18.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 50.8 per cent were married and 37.6 per cent were not married.

At the 2021 census, 31.1% of residents stated their ancestry as Australian. 51.1% nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity, 19.7% of households speak a non-English language at home; the national average is 24.8 per cent. 81% of households only speak English at home; the national average is 72 per cent.


Selected historical census data for Northern Beaches Council local government area
Census year 2016 2021
Population Estimated residents on census night 252,878 Increase 263,554
LGA rank in terms of population size within New South Wales 4th Steady4th
% of New South Wales population 3.38% Decrease 3.26%
% of Australian population 1.08% Decrease 1.04%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry,
top responses
English 40.9% Increase 41.2%
Australian 31.2% Decrease 31.1%
Irish 13.0% Decrease 12.5%
Scottish 10.5% Increase 10.8%
Italian 4.9% Increase 5.5%
Language, used at

home
(other than English)

Italian 1.3% Decrease 1.2%
Mandarin 1.3% Steady 1.3%
Portuguese 1.0% Increase 1.3%
French 0.9% Increase 1.0%
German 0.9% Steady 0.9%
Spanish 0.9% Increase 1.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation,
top responses
No religion, so described 33.7% Increase 43.1%
Catholic 24.2% Decrease 22.8%
Anglican 17.8% Decrease 14.5%
Not stated 8.4% Decrease 4.7%
Uniting Church 2.7% Decrease 2.0%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income Median weekly personal income A$916 A$1,109
% of Australian median income 138.4% 137.8%
Family income Median weekly family income A$2,528 A$3,131
% of Australian median income 145.8% 147.7%
Household income Median weekly household income A$2,178 A$2,592
% of Australian median income 151.5% 148.5%

Council composition

The head of the Northern Beaches Council from the proclamation was Administrator Dick Persson AM, who remained in office until the election of the new mayor on 26 September 2017. The first meeting of the Northern Beaches Council was held at Manly Town Hall on 19 May 2016 and from then until September 2017, the monthly council meetings cycled between the three former council chambers: Mona Vale Memorial Hall, Warringah Civic Centre in Dee Why and Manly Town Hall. Since September 2017, council meetings are held at the Civic Centre in Dee Why.

Officeholders

Mayor Term Notes
Dick Persson (Administrator) 12 May 2016 – 26 September 2017 Administrator of Warringah 2003–2008 and Port Macquarie-Hastings 2008–2009
Michael Regan 26 September 2017 – present Mayor of Warringah 2008–2016
Deputy Mayor Term Notes
Candy Bingham 26 September 2017 – 25 September 2018 Manly Councillor 2012–2016.
Sue Heins 25 September 2018 – 24 September 2019
Candy Bingham 24 September 2019 – 27 September 2022
Sue Heins 27 September 2022 – present
Chief Executive Officer Term Notes
Mark Ferguson 12 May 2016 – 6 March 2018 General Manager of Pittwater 2006–2016 and Coffs Harbour 1998–2005
Ray Brownlee PSM 1 October 2018 – present General Manager of the City of Randwick 2004–2018

Current composition

The Northern Beaches Council comprises fifteen Councillors elected proportionally, with three Councillors elected in five wards. The Mayor is elected biennially by the councillors at the first meeting. The Deputy Mayor is elected annually. The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021 for a fixed three-year term of office, and the makeup of the council by order of election is as follows:

Party Councillors
Your Northern Beaches Independent Team 6
Liberal Party of Australia 5
The Greens 2
Good for Manly 1
Independent 1
Total 15
Ward Councillor Party Notes
Curl Curl Ward Sue Heins Your Northern Beaches Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2018–2019, 2022–present.
Warringah B Ward Councillor 2012–2016; Warringah Deputy Mayor 2013–2014.
David Walton Liberal Elected 2017
Kristyn Glanville Greens
Frenchs Forest Ward Stuart Sprott Liberal Elected 2017
Michael Regan Your Northern Beaches Elected 2017; Mayor 2017–present.
Jose Menano-Pires Your Northern Beaches Warringah C Ward Councillor 2012–2016; Warringah Deputy Mayor 2014–2015.
Manly Ward Georgia Ryburn Liberal
Sarah Grattan Your Northern Beaches Elected 2017
Candy Bingham Good for Manly Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2017–2018, 2019–2022.
Narrabeen Ward Ruth Robins Your Northern Beaches
Bianca Crvelin Liberal
Vincent De Luca OAM Independent Elected 2017; Warringah A Ward Councillor 2008–2016.
Pittwater Ward Rory Amon Liberal Narrabeen Ward Councillor 2017–2021.
Miranda Korzy Greens
Michael Gencher Your Northern Beaches

History

Warringah Shire Hall in 1954 with the Mackellar County Council offices to the left.

Early history

The traditional Aboriginal inhabitants of the land now known as the Northern Beaches were among the estimated two dozen clans around Sydney Harbour of the Dharug language group. These included the Kayamaygal and the Birrabirragal around what is now Manly to the Garigal further north and around Pittwater, peoples of the Eora nation. Within a few years of European colonisation, between 60 to 90 percent of the Indigenous peoples around Port Jackson succumbed to the deadly smallpox contagion of 1789. Much evidence of their habitation remains especially their rock etchings in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park which borders northern beaches's north-western side. The northern beaches region was explored early on in the settlement of Sydney, only a few weeks after the arrival of the First Fleet. However, it remained a rural area for most of the 19th and early 20th centuries, with only small settlements in the valleys between headlands. While it was geographically close to the city centre, to reach the area over land from Sydney via Mona Vale Road was a trip of more than 100 kilometres (62 mi).

Local government history

The Municipality of Manly was first incorporated on 6 January 1877, being the first local government authority on the Northern Beaches. On 7 March 1906, the Warringah Shire was proclaimed by the NSW Government Gazette, along with 132 other new Shires. It ran roughly from Broken Bay in the north to Manly Lagoon to the south, and by Middle Harbour Creek and Cowan Creek in the west. It covered 264 square kilometres (102 sq mi) and had a population of around 2800, with 700 dwellings. From 1951 to 1980, the Mackellar County Council operated on the Northern Beaches as an electricity and gas supplier and retailer as a joint operation of Manly Municipal Council and Warringah Shire Council. Amalgamation of Manly and Warringah councils to form one council for the Northern Beaches was recommended in the final report of the 1945–46 Clancy Royal Commission on Local Government Boundaries, but was not proceeded with in the act passed in 1948.

On 2 May 1992, The Governor of New South Wales proclaimed the establishment of the Municipality of Pittwater, the area of which roughly followed the area formerly known as 'A' Riding of the Warringah Shire. On 1 July 1993, with the enactment of a new Local Government Act 1993, the municipalities of Manly and Pittwater were renamed "Manly Council" and "Pittwater Council" and Warringah Shire Council became "Warringah Council".

Establishment of Northern Beaches Council

Manly Town Hall, the site of the first meeting of the new council on 19 May 2016.

In 2015 a review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that Manly, Pittwater and Warringah merge to form one single council. The government eventually considered three proposals. The first proposed a merger of Manly and Mosman councils and parts of Warringah to form a new council with an area of 49 square kilometres (19 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 153,000. The second proposed a merger of Pittwater Council and parts of Warringah to form a new council with an area of 214 square kilometres (83 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 141,000.

The third proposal, submitted by Warringah Council on 23 February 2016, was for an amalgamation of the Pittwater, Manly and Warringah councils. Of the 44,919 submissions lodged to the Boundaries Commission about all the local government proposals statewide, 29,189 were from Northern Beaches residents (18,977 were submitted for the third proposal); this meant that the Northern Beaches proposals made up 65% of all submissions. Former Warringah mayor, Michael Regan, noted to the Manly Daily that this was an indication of the level of interest in the Northern Beaches over the future of their local government: "given the choice of splitting the northern beaches or uniting it the community opted for unity", while former Manly mayor, Jean Hay, commented that this interest translated into the final result: "Everyone is passionate about the area and we came out and let the powers-that-be know, [...] It must have made an impact because the minister and the premier looked at what the community told them and it was the majority decision to go with a single council."

On 12 May 2016, with the release of the Local Government (Council Amalgamations) Proclamation 2016, the Northern Beaches Council was formed from Manly, Pittwater and Warringah councils. The first meeting of the Northern Beaches Council was held at Manly Town Hall on 19 May 2016. Several advisory committees were established at the council's first meeting to advise the administrator and the council on implementation matters, composed of former councillors and mayors of the three councils. These included Manly Mayor Jean Hay as Chair of the Implementation Advisory Group and Chair of the Social Committee, Warringah Mayor Michael Regan as Chair of the Economic Committee and Pittwater Deputy Mayor Kylie Ferguson as Chair of the Environment Committee.

Heritage listings

The Northern Beaches Council has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

In Avalon
In Balgowlah
In Clareville
In Currawong Beach
In Killarney Heights
In Manly
In Manly Vale
In Palm Beach

In July 2017 the new council logo was unveiled by CEO Mark Ferguson at the cost of $320,000: "It was necessary to have something that was a reflection of the Northern Beaches Council looking to the future and having it based on a strong level of community participation." The logo was developed as a result of a consultation process with community groups and council staff to ascertain a representative image for the unified council. The logo takes the form of a stylised wave made up of various images including local flora and fauna such as a humpback whale, a Norfolk pine and cabbage-tree palm, a pelican and a weedy seadragon.

See also


This page was last updated at 2022-10-11 03:19 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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