The Hills Shire

The Hills Shire (previously Baulkham Hills Shire) is a local government area of in the north western region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The area encompasses 401 square kilometres (155 sq mi) stretching from North Parramatta in the south to Wiseman's Ferry on the Hawkesbury River in the north.

The current Mayor of The Hills Shire is Cr. Michelle Byrne, a member of the Liberal Party. The Mayoral position is soon to be elected by popular vote, ending a system of short term, usually one year, appointment of the Mayor by the elected councillors.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that The Hills Shire merge with adjoining councils. The government considered two proposals. The first proposed a merger of parts of The Hills with the Hawkesbury City Council to form a new council with an area of 3,161 square kilometres (1,220 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 224,000.^[2] The second proposed a merger of parts of Parramatta, Auburn, The Hills, Hornsby, and Holroyd to form a new council with an area of 82 square kilometres (32 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 215,725.^[3] The outcome of the review, to be determined by the New South Wales Minister for Local Government is expected by mid–2016.

Suburbs in the local government area

Suburbs at least partially within The Hills Shire are:

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 169,872 people in The Hills local government area, of these 49.4% were male and 50.6% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.4% of the population. The median age of people in The Hills Shire was 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 11.6% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 61.1% were married and 7.2% were either divorced or separated.^[1]

Population growth in The Hills Shire between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 15.2%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 6.58%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in The Hills local government area was nearly double the national average.^[4] The median weekly income for residents within The Hills Shire was approximately 150% higher than the national average.^[1]^[5]

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in The Hills local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon approached 45% of all residents. In excess of 50% of all residents in The Hills Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was in line with the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in The Hills local government area had a higher than average proportion (33.0%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a lower proportion (68.9%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).^[1]

Selected historical census data for The Hills local government area
Census year		2001^[4]	2006^[5]	2011^[1]
Population	Estimated residents on Census night	138,420	159,391	169,872
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			9th
	% of New South Wales population			2.46%
	% of Australian population	0.74%	0.80%	0.79%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian			22.1%
	English			21.5%
	Chinese			8.5%
	Irish			6.5%
	Scottish			5.4%
Language, top responses (other than English)	Cantonese	4.4%	4.5%	4.4%
	Mandarin	1.5%	2.4%	3.9%
	Korean	1.3%	1.6%	2.1%
	Arabic	1.6%	1.8%	1.9%
	Hindi	0.6%	0.9%	1.3%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	Catholic	32.3%	32.5%	31.4%
	Anglican	22.7%	20.0%	18.5%
	No Religion	10.4%	12.5%	15.7%
	Uniting Church	6.2%	5.1%	4.2%
	Hinduism	1.6%	2.4%	3.1%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income		A$625	A$719
Personal income	% of Australian median income		134.1%	124.6%
Family income	Median weekly family income		A$1,732	A$2,188
Family income	% of Australian median income		168.6%	147.7%
Household income	Median weekly household income		A$1,847	A$2,044
Household income	% of Australian median income		157.7%	165.6%

Current composition and election method

The Hills Shire 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:^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]

Party		Councillors
	Liberal Party of Australia	9
	Australian Labor Party	3
	Total	12

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

Ward		Party	Notes
Central Ward^[6]	Yvonne Keane	Liberal	Deputy Mayor
	Jeff Lowe	Liberal
	Tony Hay	Labor
East Ward^[7]	Andrew Jefferies	Liberal
	Ryan Tracey	Labor
	Alan Haselden	Liberal
North Ward^[8]	Robyn Preston	Liberal
	Peter Gangemi	Liberal
	Mark Owen Taylor	Liberal
West Ward^[9]	Michelle Byrne	Liberal	Mayor^[10]
	Raymond Harty	Labor
	Mike Thomas	Liberal

A referendum was held on 1 September 2015 and an absolute majority of voters resolved in favour of the direct election of the Mayor by electors for a four-year term which necessarily increases the number of Councillors by one.^[11] The change will take effect at the next elections in 2016 unless changed by another referendum before then.^[12]

Sister cities

References

1 2 3 4 5 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "The Hills Shire (A)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
↑ "Merger proposal: Hawskesbury City Council, The Hills Shire (part)" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. January 2016. p. 7. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
↑ "Merger proposal: Parramatta City Council (part), Auburn City Council (part), The Hills Shire Council (part), Hornsby Shire Council (part), Holroyd City Council (part)" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. January 2016. p. 8. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Baulkham Hills (A)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Baulkham Hills (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 22 November 2012.
1 2 "The Hills Shire Council - Central Ward". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
1 2 "The Hills Shire Council - East Ward". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
1 2 "The Hills Shire Council - North Ward". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
1 2 "The Hills Shire Council - West Ward". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 17 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
↑ "Michelle Byrne is Hills Shire Mayor". Rosue Hill Times. 26 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
↑ "The Hills Shire Council - Referendum". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 21 September 2012.
↑ Bradley, Penelope (14 September 2012). "Hills residents to elect their own mayor". Hill Shire Times. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

External links

The Hills Shire Council

Regions of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

List of Sydney suburbs

Hawkesbury River region, New South Wales, Australia

Islands	Dangar Lion Long Milson Peat Spectacle

National parks and nature reserves	Bouddi Brisbane Water Cattai Dharug Ku-ring-gai Chase Marramarra Muogamarra Popran

European explorers of the region	Arthur Phillip Watkin Tench

Bridges and ferries	Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge Mooney Mooney Bridge Peats Ferry Bridge Windsor Bridge Berowra Waters Hawkesbury River Ferries Lower Portland Sackville Webbs Creek Wisemans

Adjoining rivers, bays, reservoirs, and creeks	Colo Grose Macdonald Nepean Warragamba Wolgan Wollangambe Brisbane Water Broken Bay Pittwater Mangrove Creek Dam Warragamba Dam Badgerys Bells Berowra Blaxland Breakfast Coal and Candle Cowan Eastern Mangrove Mooney Mooney Reedy Ropes South Webbs Wollemi

Local government areas	Gosford Hawkesbury Hornsby Penrith Pittwater The Hills

Events	Hawkesbury Canoe Classic

Category Commons

Suburbs and localities within The Hills Shire, Hills District, Western Sydney, Sydney

Annangrove Baulkham Hills Beaumont Hills Bella Vista Box Hill Carlingford Castle Hill Cattai Crestwood Dural Glenhaven Glenorie Kellyville Kenthurst Maroota South Maroota Middle Dural Nelson North Rocks North Parramatta Northmead Oatlands Rogans Hill Round Corner Rouse Hill Sackville North West Pennant Hills

List of Sydney suburbs

Local government areas of New South Wales

Metropolitan Sydney

Inner Sydney	Ashfield Botany Bay Hunter's Hill Lane Cove Leichhardt Manly Marrickville Mosman North Sydney Randwick Rockdale Sydney Waverley Willoughby Woollahra

Outer Sydney	Auburn Bankstown Blacktown Burwood Camden Campbelltown Canada Bay Canterbury Fairfield The Hills Holroyd Hornsby Hurstville Kogarah Ku-ring-gai Liverpool Parramatta Penrith Pittwater Ryde Strathfield Sutherland Warringah

Sydney Surrounds	Blue Mountains Gosford Hawkesbury Wollondilly Wyong

Mid North Coast

Murray

Murrumbidgee

Hunter

Illawarra

Richmond Tweed

Southeastern

Northern

Central West

North Western

Far West

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, March 13, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.