City of Boroondara


The City of Boroondara is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn.
It has an area of. In June 2018 the City had a population of 181,289. Boroondara was rated ninth of 590 Australian local government areas in the BankWest Quality of Life Index 2008, and first in a 2013 Victoria-wide community satisfaction survey.

History

This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation.
In 1837, John Gardiner and his family were the first Europeans to settle in the area. Robert Hoddle surveyed the area in 1837 and declared it the "Parish of Boroondara". The area was densely wooded, so he took a word from the Woiwurrung language, meaning "where the ground is thickly shaded".
The first Local Government body was the Boroondara District Road Board, formed on 11 July 1854 and incorporating the areas which were to become the City of Hawthorn, City of Kew and City of Camberwell. Hawthorn and Kew were created as separate municipalities in 1860 and the remaining area of the Road Board became Shire of Boroondara on 17 November 1871, which later became the City of Camberwell.
The three municipalities were amalgamated in June 1994 to create the City of Boroondara. Existing councillors from the three municipalities were replaced initially by three commissioners - David Glanville, David Thomas and Marion Macleod. The commissioners were in turn replaced by ten councillors following elections in 1996.

Local government

Boroondara City Council is the third tier of government and deals with services such as waste and recycling collection, leisure centres, building and planning permits and approvals, roads, drainage, health services, youth services, children's services, food safety, parks and gardens, library services, pets, street parking permits and the collection of rates and charges.

Current composition and election method

Boroondara City Council is composed of ten councillors, each representing one of ten wards. It is one of only two councils in Victoria to have an even number of councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office, with the most recent election bring held in October 2016. The mayor is elected by councillors at a meeting of the Council in October each year. The current mayor is Cr Cynthia Watson.

Past councillors

1. Gina Goldsmith
2. Phil Meggs
3. Dennis Whelan
4. Mary Halikias-Byrnes

Boroondara mayors

The Council is responsible for the management of stormwater collection and removal. The water supply authority is Yarra Valley Water.

Libraries

The City of Boroondara has five libraries at Camberwell, Ashburton, Balwyn, Kew and Hawthorn, and in 2018 opened a 'library lounge' at the Greythorn Community Hub in Balwyn North.

Local area

Suburbs

Boroondara has one of the highest concentrations of students in Australia and contains many private schools, including Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College, Strathcona Baptist Girls' Grammar School, Camberwell Grammar School, Trinity Grammar School, Ruyton Girls' School, Rossbourne School, Carey Baptist Grammar School, Scotch College, Fintona Girls' School, Genazzano FCJ College, Preshil, and Alia College. It contains Catholic schools such as St Michael's Parish School Our Lady of Good Counsel and St Bede's School and a number of public schools, including Canterbury Girls' Secondary College, Balwyn High School, Kew High School, Auburn High School and Camberwell High School.