North Sydney Council is a local government area on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, established on 29 July 1890 through the amalgamation of three boroughs.
The area is bounded by Willoughby to the north and north-west, Northern Beaches to the north-east, Mosman to the east, Lane Cove to the west and Sydney Harbour to the south. It covers an area of approximately and as at the had an estimated population of . The administrative seat of North Sydney Council is located in the suburb of North Sydney, approximately north of the Sydney central business district.
The mayor of North Sydney Council is Zoë Baker, an independent politician, first elected on 10 January 2022.
Suburbs and localities in the local government area Suburbs serviced by North Sydney Council are:
History The area now covered by North Sydney Council originally comprised three municipalities: the Borough of East St Leonards from 1860 (Kirribilli, Cremorne Point, Milsons Point), the Borough of St Leonards from 1867 (Cammeray, Mosman, Waverton, Wollstonecraft) and the very small Borough of Victoria from 1871 (McMahons Point and parts of North Sydney and Lavender Bay). These boroughs lasted until 29 July 1890 when they merged to form the "Borough of North Sydney".
Following a petition submitted by residents in 1892, on 11 April 1893 the Mossman Ward of North Sydney confirmed its separation as the Borough of Mosman, being proclaimed by Lieutenant-Governor Sir Frederick Darley. From 28 December 1906, following the passing of the Local Government Act, 1906, the council was renamed as the "Municipality of North Sydney".
North Sydney Municipal Council first met in the 1885 East St Leonards Town Hall on Alfred Street, Milsons Point, that had been built for the Borough of East St Leonards, and took up residence in the North Sydney Council Chambers on Miller Street, North Sydney, from 12 July 1926.
Post-war council history and Mack era
With the completion of the Warringah Expressway in 1968, a construction that involved the wide-scale demolition of areas in the centre of the municipality, North Sydney was split in two and development in the North Sydney central business district took off. With this development resulting in the destruction of the heritage streetscape of the North Sydney CBD, threatening the character of surrounding areas, several movements of North Sydney residents formed to oppose and manage the pace and extent of development. One prominent group was the North Sydney Civic Group, which came to prominence in the late-1970s amid dissatisfaction with the North Sydney Council. The Council's plans for the demolition of the historic Council Chambers following a fire in 1976, led to further tensions and resulted in the council being turned out at the 1980 elections, replaced by a North Sydney Civic Group-aligned council and Ted Mack elected mayor.
Mack's term as mayor, was marked by a single-minded and innovative approach to the local governance issues facing North Sydney at the time. Mack began his term as mayor by selling the mayoral car to help buy community buses. During his term as mayor, North Sydney Council introduced the "open government policy" which honoured a promise of openness and transparency of council decisions, and established a precinct committee system, which allowed for greater citizen input in council issues. The pioneering North Sydney Heritage Study was released in 1982 and in 1989 the new Local Environmental Plan was gazetted.
With an increase in council revenues, Mack reinvested the funds in a public works program into several new and renovated parks, car parks, childcare facilities, community and sports centres, and major extensions and renovations to the Stanton Library and North Sydney Oval. Infrastructure also took on a distinct local identity, with Council investment on new street signs, bus shelters, colour schemes of public buildings, paving and street furniture. In 1982, council voted to popularly elect the mayor, with Mack being directly elected twice to the position in 1983 and 1987 before retiring in 1988.
With the passing of the Local Government Act, 1993, the Municipality of North Sydney was legally renamed as North Sydney Council and aldermen were renamed councillors.
2016–17 amalgamation proposals A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the North Sydney Council merge with adjoining councils.
The government considered two proposals. The first proposed a merger of the North Sydney and Willoughby Councils to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 145,000. The alternative, proposed by Warringah Council on 23 February 2016, was for an amalgamation of the Pittwater, Manly and Warringah councils. As a consequence of Warringah's proposal, the New South Wales Minister for Local Government Paul Toole proposed that the North Sydney, Willoughby and Mosman Councils merge.
In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the North Sydney, Willoughby and Mosman local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.
Town Clerks and General Managers NameTermNotes William Barnett Smith 16 August 1890 – 1 September 1921 Percy Augustus Temple September 1921 – February 1923 Hubert Perry February 1923 – 10 July 1938 Leslie Fitzpatrick 11 July 1938 – 1966 Don W. Geddes 1966 – October 1978 Stuart S. Fyfe October 1978 – 1981 Ross Kempshall 1981 – 14 May 2001 Penny Holloway 14 May 2001 – 6 December 2013 Warwick Winn 6 December 2013 – April 2016 Ken Gouldthorp 11 December 2016 – 1 July 2022 Robert Emerson (acting) 1 July 2022 – 21 November 2022 Therese Cole 21 November 2022 – date
Demographics
At the , there were people in the North Sydney local government area, of these 47.2 per cent were male and 52.8 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.3 per cent of the population; significantly below the NSW and Australian averages of 2.9 and 2.8 per cent respectively. The median age of people in the North Sydney Council area was 37 years; slightly below the national average of 38 years. Children aged 0–14 years made up 12.6 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.4 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 41.9 per cent were married and 16.6 per cent were either divorced or separated.
Population growth in the North Sydney Council area between the and the was 5.98%; and in the subsequent five years to the , population growth was 6.92%. At the 2016 census, the population in the North Sydney Council area increased by 8.62 per cent. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same period, being 8.8 per cent, population growth in the North Sydney local government area was marginally lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the North Sydney Council area was significantly higher and nearly double the national average.
Selected historical census data for North Sydney local government areaCensus year 200120062011 2016 2021Population Estimated residents on census night LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales 39 37 36 36% of New South Wales population 0.90% 0.90% 0.90% 0.85%% of Australian population 0.29% 0.26% 0.29% 0.29% 0.27%Estimated ATSI population on census night 97 110 134 199 278% of ATSI population to residents 0.2% 0.2% 0.2% 0.3% 0.4% Median weekly incomes Personal income Median weekly personal income A$1,010 A$1,216 A$1,386 A$1,593% of Australian median income 207.8% 210.7% 209.4% 197.9%Family income Median weekly family income A$1,772 A$2,768 A$3,210 A$3,743% of Australian median income 172.5% 186.9% 185.1% 176.6%Household income Median weekly household income A$2,510 A$2,205 A$2,360 A$2,524% of Australian median income 214.3% 178.7% 164.1% 144.6%Dwelling structure Dwelling type Flat or apartment70.9% 70.3% 71.0% 74.4% 75.7%Semi-detached, terrace or townhouse15.0% 15.0% 14.7% 14.0% 12.7%Separate house12.3% 13.9% 13.8% 11.0% 11.1%
Selected historical census data for North Sydney local government areaAncestry, top responses20012006201120162021 No Data No Data English25.4% English 24.6% English 33.6%Australian17.9% Australian 16.2% Australian 22.9%Irish9.4% Irish 10.0% Irish 12.9%Scottish7.5% Scottish 7.6% Chinese 10.8%Chinese5.7% Chinese 6.3% Scottish 10.3%Country of birth, top responses20012006201120162021Australia58.2% Australia 55.4% Australia 54.7% Australia 54.2% Australia 56.0% England7.4% England 6.8% England 7.0% England 6.6% England 6.3%New Zealand4.1% New Zealand 3.6% New Zealand 3.3% New Zealand 3.0% China 3.7%Japan2.1% Japan 1.9% China 2.2% China 2.9% New Zealand 2.6%Hong Kong1.6% China 1.7% Japan 1.7% India 2.0% India 2.3%United States of America1.4% Hong Kong 1.5% South Africa 1.5% South Africa 1.6% South Africa 1.8%Language, top responses (other than English)20012006201120162021Cantonese2.6% Cantonese 2.7% Cantonese 2.7% Mandarin 3.4% Mandarin 4.3%Japanese2.2% Japanese 2.1% Mandarin 2.4% Cantonese 2.5% Cantonese 2.7%Mandarin1.2% Mandarin 1.7% Japanese 1.9% Japanese 1.8% Spanish 1.6%French0.7% Spanish 0.7% Spanish 1.1% Spanish 1.4% Japanese 1.5%Italian0.6% French 0.7% French 0.9% French 1.1% Portuguese 0.9%Religious affiliation, top responses20012006201120162021Catholic23.9% Catholic 23.3% No Religion 28.9% No Religion 37.3% No Religion 45.6%Anglican22.6% No Religion 23.0% Catholic 23.0% Catholic 21.4% Catholic 20.4%No Religion20.5% Anglican 19.9% Anglican 17.4% Anglican 13.0% Anglican 10.9%Uniting Church3.7% Uniting Church 3.2% Buddhism 3.1% Not Stated 11.8% Not Stated 5.9%Presbyterian and Reformed 3.6% Buddhism 2.9% Uniting Church 2.5% Buddhism 2.7% Buddhism 2.6%
Council
Composition and election methods TermAldermen/CouncillorsWardsMayor 1890–1891 33 No wards Annual election by Aldermen 1892–1893 18 (3 per ward) Victoria WardBelmore WardKirribilli WardTunks WardWarringa WardMossman's Ward 1893–1956 15 (3 per ward) Victoria WardBelmore WardKirribilli WardTunks WardWarringa Ward 1956–1983 Victoria WardBelmore WardKirribilli WardTunks WardEast Ward 1983–1995 15/16 (3 per ward, 1 Mayor)Ted Mack was the first directly-elected mayor in 1983–1988. However he also continued to hold office as an alderman until his resignation in October 1988, which meant that until his resignation from Council and the election of Roslyn Crichton as mayor in December 1988, there were only 15 serving councillors from a maximum 16 positions. All succeeding directly-elected mayors, Crichton (1988–1991), Nolan (1991–1995), McCaffery (1995–2012), and Gibson (2012–2021) were only elected as mayor, and did not serve concurrently as a Ward alderman/councillor. Direct quadrennial election 1995–2017 13 (3 per ward, 1 Mayor) Cremorne WardTunks WardVictoria WardWollstonecraft Ward 2017–2021 10 (3 per ward, 1 Mayor) Tunks WardVictoria WardWollstonecraft Ward 2021–present 10 (5 per ward) St Leonards WardCammeraygal Ward Biennial election by Councillors
Current wards and election method
North Sydney Council is composed of ten councillors operating on a Council–manager system of operation, elected proportionally from two wards, each electing five Councillors. The mayor is elected by the Councillors for a two-year term and the deputy mayor for a one-year term.