Place:Strathfield, New South Wales, Australia

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The Municipality of Strathfield, also known as Strathfield Council, is a local government area in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

Strathfield Council was incorporated on 2 June 1885. The Council area was made up of parts of three existing localities: Redmire (in the northeast), Homebush (in the northwest) and Druitt Town (in the south). The name "Strathfield" was adopted as the name of the new council upon incorporation. In 1886, the suburb of Redmire was renamed Strathfield, as was the railway station. The Council incorporated the suburb of Flemington in 1892, after which the entire council area was usually referred to as the suburb of "Strathfield". In the 20th century, the Council further expanded southward by taking in the western part of former Enfield Council (which became Strathfield South), and northward by taking in the Municipality of Homebush (north of the railway line).

Strathfield Council today comprises an area of and as at the had an estimated residents.^[1] The Council area is made up of residential neighbourhoods and town centres, with significant local heritage, open space, lifestyle amenities, public and private schools and access to tertiary institutions such as a campus of Australian Catholic University and the University of Sydney and TAFE Sydney Institute.

The Mayor of Strathfield Municipal Council is Cr. Matthew Blackmore, a member of the Strathfield Independents elected on 12 January 2022. The Deputy Mayor is Cr. Karen Pensabene

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Strathfield Council was proclaimed on 2 June 1885 by the NSW Governor, Sir Augustus Loftus. The initial boundaries included Redmire (later renamed Strathfield), the village of Homebush (the southern part of the present suburb of Homebush and the north-western part of the present-day suburb of Strathfield) and the northern part of Druitt Town (the southern part of today's suburb of Strathfield). The Council was incorporated following petitions by residents of the Redmire area to form local government. This move was opposed by residents of Homebush and Druitt Town, possibly fearing the dominance of the more affluent and politically connected residents of Redmire. Despite counter petitions, the Municipality was incorporated in 1885.

Strathfield Council built the current Council Chambers in 1887. Between 1885 and 1887 the Council operated from various private homes in Strathfield, pending the building of a permanent Council Chambers.

The Strathfield Council area has expanded in geography and population over time. In 1892, an area in the west of the present-day municipality was added, including Flemington village (present-day Homebush West) in the north as well as the part of the present-day municipality that lies south of Cook's River and north of Liverpool Road, in the south, which are now the southwestern part of the suburb of Strathfield and the northeastern part of the Greenacre. The entire Council area came to be referred to as "Strathfield" after this expansion, and the southern and western boundaries of the present-day suburb of Strathfield largely reflects the council boundaries in 1892. With the 1892 addition, Strathfield Municipality was divided into three wards: Flemington ward in the west (covering the area incorporated in 1892, from Flemington station in the north to Liverpool Road in the south), Homebush ward in the centre (covering the original council area west of Homebush Road, from Homebush station in the north to Liverpool Road in the south), and Strathfield ward in the east (covering the remainder of the original council area, east of Homebush Road). The wards were abolished in 1916.

In 1947, the Municipality of Homebush was amalgamated with Strathfield. This local government area covered the part of present-day Homebush West (including Flemington markets) and Homebush that lies north of the railway. The former village centres of Flemington and Homebush south of the railway were carved out of the then-suburb of Strathfield and combined with the newly incorporated area to create the present-day suburbs of Flemington (now Homebush West) and Homebush. In 1949, the west ward of the Municipality of Enfield was added to Strathfield, with the eastern part going to the Municipality of Burwood. This added the present-day suburbs of Strathfield South, eastern part of Greenacre, and northern part of Belfield. At the time of this expansion, the council was divided into two wards: first ward (Strathfield and Homebush) and second ward (Enfield). These wards were abolished in 1953.

In 1992, a section of the northern part of the Municipality, between the A3 road and Boundary Creek, was transferred to Auburn Council to become part of the site of Sydney Olympic Park. In return, the area of and between Boundary Creek and the railway line, occupied by the former Ford factory building, was transferred from Auburn to Strathfield Council.

The municipality now includes the suburbs of Strathfield, Homebush, Homebush West, Flemington, Greenacre (part), Strathfield South and Belfield (part).

Recent council amalgamation proposals

Throughout its history, there have been movements to amalgamate local councils in the Sydney area: the first major 'threat' was with the 'royal commission for a greater Sydney (1913)', known as 'The Greater Sydney Movement'. The Royal Commission brought together Sidney Webb, a British politician and John Fitzgerald, an Australian politician, who, amongst others, believed that Sydney should be merged into a single local government area. In 1947 Homebush and Strathfield councils merged and part of Enfield was added in 1949.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the Strathfield Municipal Council merge with adjoining councils. The government proposed a merger of the Burwood, Canada Bay, and Strathfield Councils to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 163,000. On 6 May Strathfield Council commenced legal action in the NSW Land and Environment Court against the proposed amalgamation. After the Court heard that there were legal flaws in the report from the NSW Government appointed delegate who examined the proposal for merging the councils, the NSW Government withdrew from the case and the merger proposal stalled. In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Strathfield, Burwood and Canada Bay local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.

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