Region Macarthur Website Wollondilly Shire Area 2,560 km² Mayor Judy Hannan (Independent) | State electorate(s) Wollondilly Wollondilly Shire Campbelltown Population 46,295 (2013 est) Council seat Picton | |
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Federal divisions Division of Hume, Division of Macarthur, Division of Fowler Points of interest Blue Mountains, Blue Mountains National, Warragamba Dam, Trainworks Railway Museum, Dharawal National Park Destinations Blue Mountains National, Picton, Appin, Kanangra‑Boyd National Park, Thirlmere | ||
Wollondilly Shire is a local government area on the south-western edge of Sydney, being part of the Macarthur region, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
Contents
- Map of Wollondilly NSW Australia
- Towns and localities
- Demographics
- Current composition and election method
- Local media
- References
Map of Wollondilly, NSW, Australia
Wollondilly Shire is named after the Wollondilly River. The area is traversed by the Hume Highway and the Southern Highlands railway line. Wollondilly Shire contains several small towns and villages broken up by farms and sandstone gorges. To its west is wilderness and includes the Nattai Wilderness and the Burragorang Valley. The majority of the Shire is either national park or forms part of the water catchment for Sydney's water supply. The Shire provides 97% of Sydney's water supply.
The Mayor of Wollondilly Shire Council is Cr. Judith Hannan, an independent politician.
Towns and localities
Towns and localities in the Wollondilly Shire are:
Demographics
At the 2011 census, there were 43,259 people in the Wollondilly local government area, with an equal proportion of males and females. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.4% of the population which is on par with the national average. The median age of people in the Wollondilly Shire was 36 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 23.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.8% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 54.9% were married and 10.4% were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the Wollondilly Shire between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 9.18%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 7.23%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Wollondilly local government area was higher than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Wollondilly Shire was marginally higher than the national average.
At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Wollondilly local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 63% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 69.6% of all residents in the Wollondilly Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was significantly above the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Wollondilly local government area had a lower than average proportion (8.3%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (91.2%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).
Current composition and election method
Wollondilly Shire Council is composed of nine Councillors elected proportionally as three 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 current Council, elected in 2016 is:
Local media
Wollondilly is home to two local newspapers, the Macarthur Chronicle Wollondilly edition and the Wollondilly Advertiser. Other regional media which serve the area are radio stations, 2MCR and C91.3FM, the District Reporter newspaper, and the Wollondilly Trumpeter, a newsletter.