City of Hawkesbury

Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox Australian place The City of Hawkesbury is a local government area that is located on the far northwest fringe of the Greater Sydney area in New South Wales, Australia. The local government area is located in the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains regions. Hawkesbury City is named after the Hawkesbury River. Major towns in the City of Hawkesbury are Windsor and Richmond. It is a member council of the Hawkesbury River County Council.

The mayor of the City of Hawkesbury is Cr. Les Sheather, an independent associated with the Liberal Party.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

Suburbs and localities in the City of Hawkesbury are: Template:Columns-list

History

The original inhabitants of the Hawkesbury district were the Darug tribe of Aboriginals, also spelt as Dharug or Daruk. The river, which they called Derrubbin, was a focal point as a source of food and transport. The Darug people used the river to farm for fish, eels, water birds, and mussels. They also used the river as a mode of transport in bark canoes.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

It was first settled by Europeans in 1794 in a bid to acquire arable land to feed the increasing population of the penal colony at Sydney. In April 1794, Lieutenant Governor Francis Grose submitted plans for the first 22 farms on the Hawkesbury River in the present Pitt Town Bottoms area. In June 1795, Lieutenant Governor William Paterson deployed troops to engage with Aboriginals inhabiting land along the Hawkesbury River.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Editorializing

By 1811 Governor Lachlan Macquarie established the five Macquarie Towns in the area. They are Windsor, Richmond, Castlereagh, Wilberforce and Pitt Town. Many of the early 19th century buildings still survive today. Ebenezer has the oldest surviving church and school building in Australia. Windsor District Council was formed in 1843 and disbanded in 1846. In 1871 the Borough Council of Windsor was founded and the Richmond Borough Council followed in 1872. The two councils amalgamated in 1949 to become the Municipality of Windsor. Colo Shire Council was established in 1906 and joined Windsor Municipal Council from 1 January 1981 to become Hawkesbury Shire Council.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 1 July 1989, Hawkesbury became a City.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On its creation in 1981, Hawkesbury was largely rural, but urban expansion within Sydney has since transformed the southern part of the area into dormitory suburbs. The northern part of the local government area still contains some farmlands and national parkland.

Demographics

At the 2021 Census, there were 67,207 people in the Hawkesbury local government area. Of these, 49.8% were male and 50.2% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 4.8% of the population, which was 1.6% above the national average. The median age of people in the City of Hawkesbury was 39 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 19.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.6% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 49.3% were married and 12.4% were either divorced or separated.<ref name="Census2021" />

Population in the City of Hawkesbury between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census decreased by 0.54%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 2.96%. Between the 2011 and 2016 Census, population increased by a further 1.04%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, population growth in Hawkesbury local government area was significantly lower than the national average.<ref name="Census2001"/> The median weekly income for residents within the City of Hawkesbury has been consistently marginally higher than the national average.<ref name=":0" /><ref name="Census2011">Template:Census 2011 AUS</ref><ref name="Census2006"/><ref name="Census2021" />

At the 2021 Census, the proportion of residents in the Hawkesbury local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or English amounted to 80.8%, representing an increase from 62% in 2011. Many people from the Hawkesbury identified as having a Catholic (26.0%) or Anglican (19.3%) religious affiliation in 2021.

Selected historical census data for Hawkesbury local government area
Census year		2001<ref name="Census2001">Template:Census 2001 AUS</ref>	2006<ref name="Census2006">Template:Census 2006 AUS</ref>	2011<ref name="Census2011"/>	2016<ref name=":0">Template:Census 2016 AUS</ref>	2021<ref name="Census2021">Template:Census 2021 AUS</ref>
Population	Estimated residents on census night	60,887	Template:Loss 60,561	Template:Profit 62,353	Template:Profit 64,592	Template:Gain 67,207
	LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		Template:NtsTemplate:Small	align="right"	align="right"|
	% of New South Wales population			0.90%	Template:Gain 1.66%	Template:Loss 0.83%
	% of Australian population	0.32%	Template:Loss 0.31%	Template:Loss 0.29%	Template:Loss 0.27%	Template:Loss 0.26%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses	Australian			32.6%	Template:Loss 30.4%	Template:Gain 41.1%
	English			29.5%	Template:Steady 29.5%	Template:Increase 39.7%
	Irish			7.6%	Template:Profit 8.3%	Template:Increase 10.6%
	Scottish			6.3%	Template:Profit 6.8%	Template:Increase 9.5%
	Maltese			3.1%	Template:Profit 3.5%	Template:Increase 5.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)	Maltese	0.8%	Template:Loss 0.7%	Template:Profit 0.8%	Template:Profit 0.9%	Template:Steady 0.9%
	Italian	0.6%	Template:Steady 0.6%	Template:Loss 0.5%	Template:Decrease 0.4%	Template:Loss 0.4%
	Cantonese	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash	0.3%	Template:Steady 0.3%
	German	0.3%	Template:Steady 0.3%	Template:Steady 0.3%	Template:Steady 0.3%	Template:Ndash
	Arabic	0.3%	Template:Steady 0.3%	Template:Steady 0.3%	Template:Steady 0.3%	Template:Increase 0.4%
	Punjabi	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash	0.5%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses	Catholic	26.6%	Template:Profit 27.3%	Template:Profit 28.2%	Template:Loss 27.5%	Template:Loss 26.0%
	Anglican	30.9%	Template:Loss 29.9%	Template:Loss 29.4%	Template:Loss 24.6%	Template:Decrease 19.3%
	No Religion	12.2%	Template:Profit 14.8%	Template:Profit 16.7%	Template:Profit 23.9%	Template:Increase 33.7%
	Not stated	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash	8.3%	Template:Loss 5.5%
	Uniting Church	5.7%	Template:Loss 5.0%	Template:Loss 4.4%	Template:Loss 3.3%	Template:Loss 2.6%
	Presbyterian and Reformed	3.0%	Template:Profit 5.7%	Template:Loss 2.8%	Template:Ndash	Template:Ndash
Median weekly incomes
Personal income	Median weekly personal income	Template:Ndash	$527	Template:Profit $622	Template:Profit $728	Template:Increase $860
	% of Australian median income	Template:Ndash	113.1%	Template:Loss 107.8%	Template:Profit 110.0%	Template:Decrease 106.8%
Family income	Median weekly family income	Template:Ndash	$1,146	Template:Profit $1,598	Template:Profit $1,916	Template:Profit $2,272
	% of Australian median income	Template:Ndash	111.6%	Template:Loss 107.9%	Template:Profit 110.5%	Template:Loss 107.1%
Household income	Median weekly household income	Template:Ndash	$1,290	Template:Profit $1,385	Template:Profit $1,668	Template:Profit $1,980
	% of Australian median income	Template:Ndash	110.2%	Template:Profit 112.2%	Template:Profit 116.0%	Template:Loss 113.4%

Council

Current composition and election method

Hawkesbury City Council is composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as one entire ward. 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 most recent election was held on 14 September 2024, and the makeup of the council is as follows:<ref name="EC">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Party		Councillors
Template:Australian party style |	Liberal Party	4
Template:Australian party style|	Independents and Unaligned	4
Template:Australian party style |	Labor Party	1
Template:Australian party style|	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party	1
Template:Australian party style|	The Greens	1
Template:Australian party style|	The Small Business Party	1
	Total	12

The current Council, elected in 2024, is:<ref name="EC"/>

Councillor		Party	Notes
Template:Australian party style |	Nathan Zamprogno	Independent
Template:Australian party style |	Sarah McMahon	Liberal	Deputy Mayor 2024–date
Template:Australian party style|	Mary Lyons-Buckett	Independent
Template:Australian party style |	Mike Creed	Liberal
Template:Australian party style |	Tom Aczel	Independent
Template:Australian party style |	Paul Veigel	Liberal
Template:Australian party style|	Jill Reardon	Liberal
Template:Australian party style|	Danielle Wheeler	Greens
Template:Australian party style|	Les Sheather	Independent	Mayor 2024-date
Template:Australian party style|	Eddie Dogramaci	The Small Business Party
Template:Australian party style |	Amanda Kotlash	Labor
Template:Australian party style|	Shane Djuric	Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party

Mayors

Mayor		Party	Term	Notes
			1981 – 27 September 1994
Template:Australian party style|	Dr Rex Stubbs	Independent	27 September 1994 – 30 September 1997	<ref name="Stubbs"/>
			30 September 1997 – 29 September 1999
Template:Australian party style|	Dr Rex Stubbs Template:Post-nominals	Independent	29 September 1999 – 27 September 2004	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Australian party style|	Bart Bassett	Liberal	27 September 2004 – 18 September 2006	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Template:Australian party style|	Dr Rex Stubbs Template:Post-nominals	Independent	18 September 2006 – 18 September 2007	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style|	Bart Bassett	Liberal	18 September 2007 – 20 September 2011	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Kim Ford	20 September 2011 – 10 September 2016		citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Australian party style|	Mary Lyons-Buckett	Independent	27 September 2016 – 18 September 2018	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Australian party style|	Barry Calvert	Labor	18 September 2018 – 22 September 2020	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Australian party style|	Patrick Conolly	Liberal	22 September 2020 – 23 August 2022	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Template:Australian party style|	Sarah McMahon	Liberal	23 August 2022 – date

See also

• Local government in New South Wales

External links

• Hawkesbury City Council - Home

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