Cumberland City Council

For the defunct Cumberland County Council abolished in 1964, see County of Cumberland, New South Wales.

Cumberland Council, trading as Cumberland City Council, is a local government area located in the western suburbs of Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Council was formed on 12 May 2016 from the merger of parts of the Cities of Auburn, Parramatta (Woodville Ward), and Holroyd.^[3][4]

Cumberland City Council New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Population	235,439 (2021 census)^[1] (15th) 236,893 (2018 est.)^[2]
• Density	3,270/km^2 (8,470/sq mi)
Established	12 May 2016 (2016-05-12)
Area	72 km^2 (27.8 sq mi)^[3]
Mayor	Lisa Lake
Council seat	Administration Centre, Merrylands
Region	Greater Western Sydney
State electorate(s)	Auburn Fairfield Granville Prospect
Federal division(s)	Blaxland Greenway McMahon Parramatta
Website	Cumberland City Council
LGAs around Cumberland City Council: Parramatta Parramatta Parramatta Blacktown Cumberland City Council Fairfield

The Council comprises an area of 72 square kilometres (28 sq mi) and as at the 2016 census had a population of 235,439.^[1]

The first Special Meeting of Cumberland Council was held on 19 May 2016 at the Granville Town Hall, and the council currently meets at the Merrylands Administration Centre.^[5][6]

The current mayor is Lisa Lake of the Australian Labor Party, elected on 12 January 2022.^[7]

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Suburbs in the Cumberland City Council area are:^[8]

• Auburn
• Berala
• Chester Hill
• Fairfield (shared with Fairfield)
• Girraween
• Granville (shared with Parramatta)
• Greystanes
• Guildford
• Guildford West
• Holroyd (shared with Parramatta)
• Homebush West (shared with Strathfield)
• Lidcombe (shared with Parramatta)
• Mays Hill (shared with Parramatta)
• Merrylands
• Merrylands West
• Pemulwuy
• Pendle Hill (shared with Parramatta)
• Prospect (shared with Blacktown)
• Regents Park
• Rookwood
• Sefton
• Smithfield (shared with Fairfield)
• South Granville
• South Wentworthville
• Toongabbie (shared with Blacktown and Parramatta)
• Wentworthville (shared with Parramatta)
• Westmead (shared with Parramatta)
• Woodpark
• Yennora (shared with Fairfield)

History

Holroyd Council

 

The Holroyd Administration Centre in Merrylands, now the Cumberland Council seat, was the Holroyd seat from 1962.

The area formerly known as the City of Holroyd was first proclaimed in July 1872 as the "Municipal District of Prospect and Sherwood", which became the "Municipality of Prospect and Sherwood" from 1906 and on 11 January 1927 it was renamed the "Municipality of Holroyd" after Arthur Holroyd, the first mayor.^[9][10] From 1 January 1991, city status was granted, becoming the City of Holroyd. Originally located at the Council Chambers in Merrylands West from 1915, the administrative centre of Holroyd was located in the suburb of Merrylands from 1962.^[11]

Auburn Council

 

The opening of the second Auburn Town Hall, Auburn Road, 12 July 1927.

To the east of Holroyd, the City of Auburn was first proclaimed on 19 February 1892 as the "Borough of Auburn" and became the "Municipality of Auburn" in 1906.^[12] On 20 June 1906, the hitherto unincorporated area around Silverwater and Newington was combined into the Municipality of Auburn.^[13]

The eastern section of Auburn was originally proclaimed as the Borough of Rookwood on 8 December 1891 and in 1913 Rookwood was renamed "Lidcombe", a portmanteau of the names of the two previous mayors, in an attempt to distance the municipality from the necropolis.^[14] On 1 January 1949, with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the Municipalities of Auburn and Lidcombe were amalgamated to form the new "Municipality of Auburn". In 1993 Auburn Municipal Council became "Auburn Council" and was granted city status in 2008, becoming the "Auburn City Council".

Woodville Ward

The area known as the Woodville Ward of the City of Parramatta until the amalgamations in May 2016, was first incorporated as the "Borough of Granville" on 20 January 1885, which became the "Municipality of Granville" from 1906, and met in the Granville Town Hall when it was completed in 1888.^[15]

On 1 January 1949, with the passing of the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the municipalities of Granville, Dundas, Ermington and Rydalmere, and Parramatta were amalgamated to form the new "City of Parramatta". Granville municipality became the "Granville Ward" and the council meetings of the new Parramatta City were held at the Granville Town Hall from 1949 until the new administration centre was opened in Parramatta in 1958. In 1995 a reorganisation of Parramatta's wards resulted in Granville Ward being renamed "Woodville Ward" after Woodville Road while the former Granville Municipality suburbs of Harris Park, Rosehill, Telopea, and northern sections of Granville and Clyde, were moved into the Elizabeth Macarthur Ward.^[15]

Establishment of Cumberland Council

 

Granville Town Hall was the location of the first meeting of Cumberland Council on 19 May 2016.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended a major reorganisation for the area covered by Auburn, Holroyd and Parramatta councils. The government considered two proposals. The first was a merger of parts of Auburn, Holroyd and Parramatta to form a new council with an area of 72 square kilometres (28 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 219,000.^[16] The second proposed a merger of parts of Parramatta, Auburn, The Hills, Hornsby, and Holroyd to form a new council with an area of 82 square kilometres (32 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 215,725.^[17]

On 12 May 2016, Cumberland Council was proclaimed as a new local government area, combining parts of Auburn City Council (south of the M4 Western Motorway), the Woodville Ward of the Parramatta City Council, and the majority of the Holroyd City Council.^[4] The remainder of the Auburn City Council area north of the M4 Western Motorway (including parts of the Sydney Olympic Park) and a small section of Holroyd was merged into the reconstituted City of Parramatta Council.^[18][4]

 

Cumberland Council logo used from May 2016 to February 2017.

The former General Manager of Mosman Council (1986–2013), Viv May PSM, who had been serving as the Administrator of the suspended Auburn City Council since February 2016, was appointed as the Administrator, and the long-serving Holroyd General Manager, Merv Ismay, was appointed as interim general manager.^[4] The first Special Meeting of Cumberland Council was held on 19 May 2016, at the Granville Town Hall, the historic former seat of the Granville Municipality, which merged with Parramatta in 1949.^[5][19] Subsequent Council meetings alternated between the Merrylands Administration Building and Auburn Civic Centre, until December 2016 when May decided that the Auburn council chambers would be taken over by the Auburn Library, and all council meetings from then to be held at Merrylands.^[5][20]

After undertaking a significant amount of work to rationalise council services and staff, noting that "Auburn had issues with flagrant rezoning, and Holroyd was over-promising and underdelivering, living in a financial fantasy with many of its projects", May's term as Administrator came to an end in September 2017, with the election of the first council.^[21] The former Mayor of Holroyd, Greg Cummings, was elected as the inaugural Mayor of Cumberland Council on 27 September 2017.^[22]

"City" trading name

On 18 December 2019, the mayor Steve Christou presented a mayoral minute to Council recommending that Cumberland Council begin trading as "Cumberland City Council", by changing the Council's trading name and business registration. The motion was passed 7-7 with the casting vote of the mayor, and the name change to "Cumberland City Council" was implemented from January 2020.^[23][24] However, this did not legally confer city status on the council as it had merely changed the trading name of the council, the legal name as proclaimed in 2016 remains "Cumberland Council", which can only be changed by official proclamation of the Governor in the NSW Government Gazette under section 206 of the Local Government Act, 1993.^[25][26] On 6 September 2023, the Council voted unanimously to write to the Minister for Local Government, requesting that the Council area be formally proclaimed as "Cumberland City" under section 206 of the Local Government Act, and the Council be renamed "Cumberland City Council" under section 207 of the Act.^[27][28]

Heritage listings

The Cumberland Council area has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Greystanes, Lower Prospect Canal Reserve^[29]
• Guildford, 11-35 Byron Road: Linnwood, Guildford^[30]
• Guildford, Frank Street: Guildford West pipehead and water supply canal^[31]
• Prospect, Clunies Ross Street: Prospect Hill^[32]
• Westmead, 2, 4, 6, and 8 Bridge Road: Essington^[33]

Demographics

At the 2016 census there were 216,079 people in the Cumberland local government area, of these 51.4 per cent were male and 48.6 per cent were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.6 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 Cumberland local government area was 32 years; significantly lower than the national median of 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 20.5 per cent of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 11.2 per cent of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 53.3 per cent were married and 9.8 per cent were either divorced or separated.^[34]

Selected historical census data for Cumberland Council local government area
Census year			2016^[34]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	216,079
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales	7th
		% of New South Wales population	2.89%
		% of Australian population	0.92%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Lebanese	11.3%
		Chinese	10.8%
		Australian	10.1%
		English	8.8%
		Indian	7.1%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Arabic	15.2%
		Mandarin	6.3%
		Cantonese	4.5%
		Tamil	3.1%
		Turkish	3.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	24.0%
		Islam	21.9%
		No religion, so described	13.8%
		Hinduism	10.2%
		Not stated	8.2%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income	A$501
		% of Australian median income
Family income		Median weekly family income	A$1,436
		% of Australian median income
Household income		Median weekly household income	A$1,379
		% of Australian median income

 

Greystanes/Pemulwuy industrial area, which was formerly a quarry zone.

Facilities

There are eight libraries located throughout the local government area.^[35] There are also five council-run swimming pools. On 9 September 2017 a poll put to the residents by council asked for their views on continuing to run all five pools, given that their operating costs took up 2% of council revenue. The poll returned a result of 74% in favour of continuing council operation of all the pools.^[36]

Located partially in the region, the Smithfield-Wetherill Park Industrial Estate is the largest industrial estate in the southern hemisphere and is the centre of manufacturing and distribution in western Sydney, with more than 1,000 manufacturing, wholesale, transport and service firms.^[37]

Council

Cumberland City Council
Leadership
Mayor	Lisa Lake
Deputy Mayor	Ola Hamed
Structure
Cumberland City Council composition following the 2021 election

The Cumberland City Council comprises fifteen Councillors elected proportionally, with three Councillors elected in five wards. On 9 September 2017 the first council was elected.^[3] The Mayor is elected bi-annually and Deputy Mayor annually by the councillors at the first meeting of the council.^[4]

Current composition

The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021, and the makeup of the Council, by order of election, is as follows:

Party		Councillors
	Australian Labor Party	8
	Our Local Community	4
	Independents	3
	Total	15

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
Granville Ward^[38]		Steve Christou	Our Local Community	Elected 2017; Mayor 2019–2022; Labor member until 2019.^[39]^[40]
		Ola Hamed	Labor	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2023–present.^[41]
		Joseph Rahme	Independent	Elected 2017 (Liberal); Holroyd North Ward Councillor 2012–2016.
Greystanes Ward^[42]		Diane Colman	Labor
		Greg Cummings	Independent	Elected 2017; Mayor 2017–2019; Labor member until 2018.^[43]
		Eddy Sarkis	Our Local Community	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2017–2018, 2019–2021.
Regents Park Ward^[44]		Kun Huang	Labor	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor Jan–Sep 2022.
		Sabrin Farooqui	Labor
		Helen Hughes	Our Local Community
South Granville Ward^[45]		Glenn Elmore	Labor	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2018–2019.
		Paul Garrard	Our Local Community	Elected 2017; Lord Mayor of Parramatta, 2009–2010, 2015–2016.
		Mohamad Hussein	Labor
Wentworthville Ward^[46]		Suman Saha	Labor	Elected 2017; Deputy Mayor 2022–2023.
		Lisa Lake	Labor	Elected 2017; Holroyd North Ward Councillor 2012–2016; Mayor 2022–present.
		Michael Zaiter	Independent	Elected 2017 (Liberal); Deputy Mayor 2021–2022; Holroyd East Ward Councillor 2012–2016.

Mayors

Mayor	Term	Notes
Viv May PSM (Administrator)	12 May 2016 – 27 September 2017	Town Clerk/General Manager of Mosman 1986–2013, Administrator of Auburn 2016^[4]^[47]^[21]
Greg Cummings (ALP/IND)	27 September 2017 – 25 September 2019	Mayor of Holroyd 2008–2009, 2014–2016^[22]
Steve Christou (OLC)	25 September 2019 – 12 January 2022	^[48]^[49]
Lisa Lake (ALP)	12 January 2022 – present	^[7]^[41]
Deputy Mayor	Term	Notes
Eddy Sarkis (OLC)	27 September 2017 – 26 September 2018	Deputy Mayor of Holroyd 2005–2007^[22]
Glenn Elmore (ALP)	26 September 2018 – 25 September 2019	^[50]
Eddy Sarkis (OLC)	25 September 2019 – 30 September 2021	^[48]
Michael Zaiter (LIB)	30 September 2021 – 12 January 2022	^[49]
Kun Huang (ALP)	12 January 2022 – 28 September 2022	^[7]
Suman Saha (ALP)	28 September 2022 – 27 September 2023	^[51]
Ola Hamed (ALP)	27 September 2023 – present	^[41]
General Manager	Term	Notes
Merv Ismay	12 May 2016 – 2 June 2016	General Manager of Holroyd 2007–2016^[4]
Malcolm Ryan	2 June 2016 – 22 November 2017	^[52]
Hamish McNulty	22 November 2017 – 22 April 2021	Acting until July 2018^[53]
Peter Fitzgerald	22 April 2021 – present	^[54]^[55] Acting until 12 July 2021.^[56]

Election results

2021

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections § Cumberland.[edit]

The Liberal Party did not endorse any candidates, including its five councillors elected in 2017.^[57]

2021 New South Wales local elections: Cumberland^[57]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		47,343	48.6	+9.4	8
	Our Local Community		27,547	28.3	+14.0	4	2
	Independent Liberal		12,467	12.8	−13.4^[a]	2	3^[a]
	The Independents		6,388	6.5	+6.5	1	1
	Greens		2,748	2.8	+1.1	0
	Independent		968	1.0		0
Formal votes			97,461	96.48

See also

• Local government areas of New South Wales

Notes

1. Compared with the Liberal Party result at the 2017 election.^[58][59]

References

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cumberland Council (New South Wales).

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2. "3218.0 – Regional Population Growth, Australia, 2017-18". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 27 March 2019. Estimated resident population (ERP) at 30 June 2018.
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5. (PDF). Cumberland Council. 19 May 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
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17. (PDF). Government of New South Wales. January 2016. p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
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37. Smithfield-Wetherill Park
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49. . Cumberland City Council. 1 October 2021. Archived from the original (Media Release) on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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55. Barton, Nicola (4 May 2021). "Cumberland City Council in safe hands". Parra News. Retrieved 9 October 2021.
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External links

• Cumberland City Council Website