City of Shellharbour

This article is about the local government area. For the Illawarra region suburb, see Shellharbour, New South Wales.

The City of Shellharbour is a local government area in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The city is located about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Sydney and covers the southern suburbs of the Wollongong urban area centred on Shellharbour and it had an estimated population of 68,460 at the 2016 census.

City of Shellharbour New South Wales
Location in NSW
Coordinates	34°35′S 150°52′E / 34.583°S 150.867°E / -34.583; 150.867Coordinates: 34°35′S 150°52′E / 34.583°S 150.867°E / -34.583; 150.867
Population	76,271 (2021 census)^[1] 72,240 (2018 est.)^[2]
• Density	518.9/km^2 (1,344/sq mi)
Established	1859
Area	147 km^2 (56.8 sq mi)
Mayor	Chris Homer
Council seat	Shellharbour City Centre^[3]
Region	Illawarra
State electorate(s)	Shellharbour Kiama
Federal division(s)	Whitlam
Website	City of Shellharbour
LGAs around City of Shellharbour: Wingecarribee Wollongong Tasman Sea Wingecarribee City of Shellharbour Tasman Sea Wingecarribee Kiama Tasman Sea

The area is bordered by the City of Wollongong to the north, with the boundary being the Lake Illawarra entrance (and the suburb of Lake Illawarra) and Macquarie Rivulet (Albion Park Rail). The Municipality of Kiama is to the south of the City of Shellharbour.

The mayor of the Shellharbour City Council is Cr. Chris Homer.^[4]

History

Indigenous occupation of the area, particularly of Bass Point, can be traced back to 17,000 BP.^{[citation needed]}

The area was discovered by Europeans Bass and Flinders in 1796.^[5] Free settlers began arriving between 1817 and 1831 and the township was founded in 1851. The Shellharbour (Municipal) Council was constituted on 4 June 1859, and was gazetted as a City in 1996. In May 2009, Shellharbour City Council celebrated its sesquicentenary.^[6]

A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the City of Shellharbour merge with the City of Wollongong to form a new council with an area of 831 square kilometres (321 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 276,000.^[7] On 13 February 2017, the New South Wales Government decided not to forcibly amalgamate Shellharbour Council with Wollongong Council.

Heritage listings

The City of Shellharbour has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Albion Park, Tullimbar Road: Toongla^[8]
• Albion Park Rail, Princes Highway: Albion Park railway station^[9]
• Dunmore, Illawarra railway: Dunmore railway station^[10]
• Shell Cove, Boollwarroo Parade: Bass Point Reserve^[11]

Suburbs

The City of Shellharbour contains the following suburbs and localities:

• Albion Park
• Albion Park Rail
• Barrack Heights
• Barrack Point
• Blackbutt
• Calderwood
• Croom
• Dunmore
• Flinders
• Lake Illawarra
• Macquarie Pass
• Mount Warrigal
• North Macquarie
• Oak Flats
• Shell Cove
• Shellharbour
• Shellharbour City Centre
• Tongarra
• Tullimbar
• Warilla
• Yallah
• Yellow Rock

Council

Current composition and election method

As of 2017, Shellharbour City Council is composed of seven councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. Under the Local Government (Shellharbour and Wollongong Elections) Act, 2011 (NSW). Councillors are elected to hold office until September 2020. Currently the mayor is chosen by the elected councillors.

At the 2017 Shellharbour council election, voters were also asked two referendum questions. The first question was whether they support the direct election of mayor and the second whether they support the implementation of a ward structure.

Current political composition of council as of 2021:

Party		Councillors
	Independents	5
	Australian Labor Party	3
	Kellie Marsh Independents	1
	Total	9

The current Council, elected in 2021, is:^[12][13]

Councillor		Party	Notes
	Chris Homer	Independent	Mayor
	Maree Edwards	Labor
	John Davey	Independent
	Kellie Marsh	Kellie Marsh Independents
	Moira Hamilton	Labor
	Ljupco (Lou) Stefanovski	Labor
	Colin Gow	Independent
	Jacqueline Graf	Independent
	Rob Petreski	Independent

Attractions

Shellharbour City has many attractions for family entertainment and recreation. In Albion Park Rail there is a Light Rail Museum and steam trains, Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) Museum, and Albion Oval; a local sports ground. Shellharbour Village, the beach and playground are also popular attractions. Excellent fishing at Lake Illawarra and superb surfing at Warilla beach. A cycleway goes from Oak Flats to Barrack Point. The Macquarie Valley (Shellharbour) provides scenic views and also includes the Macquarie Pass National Park.

There are various beaches in Shellharbour such as the Blacks Beach, Shellharbour North Beach, Shellharbour South Beach, Warilla Central Beach, Warilla North Beach, and Warilla South Beach which are some of the major crowd pullers.^[14]

References

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Shellharbour". 2021 Census QuickStats. Retrieved 24 February 2023.  
2. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017–18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. from the original on 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
3. . Department of Local Government. Archived from the original on 6 September 2006. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
4. shh-admin (4 December 2018). "Chris Homer (Mayor)". Shellharbour Council. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
5. . Australian History. 2012. Archived from the original on 20 March 2012. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
6. . Shellharbour City Council. Archived from the original on 8 February 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2008.
7. "Merger proposal: Shellharbour City Council, Wollongong City Council" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. January 2016. p. 7. (PDF) from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016 – via Amazon Web Services.
8. "Toongla". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00556. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
9. "Albion Park Railway Station Group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01072. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
10. "Shellharbour Railway Station Group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01245. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
11. "Bass Point Reserve". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01896. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC-BY 4.0 licence.
12. "City of Shellharbour". Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
13. "20211129-LG-Groups-of-Candidates.pdf" (PDF).
14. "Beaches and pools". Shellharbour City Council. 7 November 2018. from the original on 14 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

External links

• Local tourist information