Municipality of Leichhardt

At the 2011 Census, there were 52,198 people in the Leichhardt local government area, of these 47.4% were male and 52.6% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.0% of the population. The median age of people in the Municipality of Leichhardt was 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 16.8% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.3% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 40.9% were married and 12.6% were either divorced or separated.^[1]

Population in the Municipality of Leichhardt between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census decreased by 20.2%. This was due to an alteration of the boundary between Leichhardt and the Sydney local government areas that took effect in 2003. The suburbs of Glebe, Forest Lodge and parts of Annandale were transferred from Leichhardt to the City of Sydney. In the subsequent five years from the 2006 Census to the 2011 Census, population growth was 7.02%. When compared with total population growth of Australia in the most recent Census, being 8.32%, population growth in the Leichhardt local government area was slightly lower than the national average.^[2] The median weekly income for residents within the Municipality of Leichhardt was significantly higher than the national average.^[1]^[3]

As at the 2011 Census, the Municipality of Leichhardt had approximately double the national and state average of people who spoke Italian at home; and just under double the New South Wales average of people who claimed Italian ancestry.^[1]

Selected historical census data for Leichhardt local government area
Census year		2001^[2]	2006^[3]	2011^[1]
Population	Estimated residents on Census night^a	61,101	48,776	52,198
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		55
	% of New South Wales population			0.75%
	% of Australian population	0.32%	0.25%	0.24%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian			21.0%
	English			25.9%
	Irish			11.1%
	Scottish			7.6%
	Italian			4.7%
Language, top responses (other than English)	Italian	3.4%	3.4%	3.0%
	Greek	1.6%	1.5%	1.4%
	Spanish	0.9%	0.9%	1.0%
	Cantonese	1.0%	0.8%	0.8%
	Mandarin	n/c	n/c	0.7%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	No religion	24.3%	27.1%	35.0%
	Catholic	27.2%	27.6%	26.7%
	Anglican	17.2%	16.3%	13.8%
	Eastern Orthodox	2.9%	2.8%	2.7%
	Buddhism	n/c	n/c	2.1%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income		A$895	A$1,086
Personal income	% of Australian median income		192.1%	188.2%
Family income	Median weekly family income		A$1,733	A$2,738
Family income	% of Australian median income		168.7%	184.9%
Household income	Median weekly household income		A$2,307	A$2,234
Household income	% of Australian median income		197.0%	181.0%

Council

Leichhardt Town Hall

Leichhardt 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:^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

Party		Councillors
	The Greens	4
	Australian Labor Party	4
	Liberal Party of Australia	3
	Independent	1
	Total	12

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

Ward		Party	Notes
Birrabirragal/Balmain^[4]	Craig Channells	The Greens
	John Stamolis		Elected August 2014 following death of Liberal councillor Melinda Manikas on 7 May 2014.
	Frank Breen	Labor
Eora/Leichhardt-Lilyfield^[5]	Rochelle Porteous	The Greens
	Tony Costantino	Liberal
	Simon Emsley	Labor
Gadigal/Annandale-Leichhardt^[6]	Daniel Kogoy	The Greens
	Vera-Ann Hannaford	Liberal	Deputy Mayor
	Linda Kelly	Labor
Wangal/Rozelle-Lilyfield^[7]	Darcy Byrne	Labor	Mayor
	Michele McKenzie	The Greens
	John Jobling	Liberal

History

The Municipality of Leichhardt stands on land that traditionally belonged to the Gadigal and Wangal people, of the Eora nation. It has a long cultural heritage and a special beauty that comes from its Sydney Harbour location and its old suburb origins.

Old couple having tea (ALP Municipal elections, Balmain)

Leichhardt is named after the Prussian explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, who in the 1840s was feted for his 4,800 kilometres (3,000 mi) expedition in search of an overland route from southern Queensland to Port Essington, a British settlement on the far northern coast of Australia that is approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) to the north of the modern city of Darwin. He later famously vanished without trace on his attempt to cross the continent from the Darling Downs to the Swan River Colony on the Western Australia coast.

Leichhardt was proclaimed a municipality in 1871. In 1893, the East Ward of the Municipality separated and became the Borough of Annandale. In 1949, it was merged with the municipalities of Annandale and Balmain. In 1967, the municipal boundary was altered to include Glebe and parts of Camperdown. In 2003, the municipal boundary was again changed, to exclude the Annandale Foreshore (land between The Crescent and Rozelle Bay), Glebe and Forest Lodge, which are now part of the City of Sydney. Since the middle of the 20th century, Leichhardt has been a centre for Sydney's Italian community.

Leichhardt is also home to the first non-government women's health centre to be established in Australia. On International Women's Day 1974, the Leichhardt Women's Community Health Centre opened as a result of grass-roots lobbying from women in the community and Sydney's Women's Liberation Movement.^[8] Initially funded through Federal Government funds, the centre is now funded mainly by the NSW Health and continues to run multi-disciplinary health care clinics and health education from its base in Leichhardt and in outreach locations throughout Sydney's inner west.

Proposed amalgamation

A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Leichhardt merge with the Municipality of Ashfield and the Marrickville Council to form a new council with an area of 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 186,000.^[9] The outcome of an independent review is expected to be completed by mid–2016.

Parks and recreation

Leichhardt Park, which includes the Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre is in Lilyfield, as is Leichhardt Oval in Mary Street, the homeground of the Wests Tigers.

Leichhardt Park Aquatic Centre
Leichhardt Oval (South Entrance), Mary Street

The Bay Run around Iron Cove is a popular bicycling, walking and running track, passing along the foreshore of Lilyfield and Rozelle, and linking to paths along Hawthorne Canal on the western border of Leichhardt.

Callan Park in Lilyfield, bordering Iron Cove, offers open space for walking, cycling and passive recreation.

Pioneer Memorial Park in Norton St, Leichhardt, has gardens and paths for passive recreation. It is built on the site of Balmain Cemetery.

Illoura, Ballast Point and Yarulbin Parks have superb Harbour locations in the Balmain Peninsular.

References

1 2 3 4 5 Australian Bureau of Statistics (31 October 2012). "Leichhardt (A)". 2011 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (9 March 2006). "Leichhardt (A)". 2001 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
1 2 Australian Bureau of Statistics (25 October 2007). "Leichhardt (A)". 2006 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
1 2 "Leichhardt Municipal Council - Birrabirragal/Balmain". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
1 2 "Leichhardt Municipal Council - Eora/Leichhardt-Lilyfield". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
1 2 "Leichhardt Municipal Council - Gadigal/Annandale-Leichhardt". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
1 2 "Leichhardt Municipal Council - Wangal/Rozelle-Lilyfield". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 14 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
↑ Stevens, Joyce (1995). Healing Women.
↑ "Merger proposal: Ashfield Council, Leichhardt Municipal Council, and Marrickville Council" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. January 2016. p. 7. Retrieved 18 February 2016.

Footnotes

^a Census data for 2001 contains information for the suburbs of Glebe, Forest Lodge and parts of Annandale that were transferred from Leichhardt to the City of Sydney in 2003.

External links

Leichhardt Municipal Council website

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