| Ku-ring-gai Council New South Wales |
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| Population: | 111,400(2009)[1] | ||||||||||||
| • Density: | 1300/km² (3,367.0/sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Area: | 86 km² (33.2 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Mayor: | Cr Ian Cross | ||||||||||||
| Council Seat: | Gordon | ||||||||||||
| Region: | Metropolitan Sydney | ||||||||||||
| State District: | Davidson, Ku-ring-gai | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Bradfield | ||||||||||||
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Ku-ring-gai Council is a Local Government Area in the North Shore region of Sydney. It includes the suburbs of Lindfield, Killara, Gordon, Pymble, St Ives, Turramurra, Warrawee, and parts of Roseville, and Wahroonga. The region is named after the Kuringgai tribe who once inhabited the area. Kur-ring-gai council chambers are located at 818 Pacific Highway, Gordon.
Major transport routes through the area include the Pacific Highway and North Shore railway line.
Because of its good soils and elevated position as part of the Hornsby Plateau, Ku-ring-gai was originally covered by a large area of dry sclerophyll forest, parts of which still remain and form a component of the Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. There are also many domestic gardens in the residential parts of Ku-ring-gai.
Major hospitals in the municipality include the Sydney Adventist Hospital located in the suburb of Wahroonga which is a private hospital serving that also serves the greater North Shore region. The nearest public hospital is the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital located in the adjacent Hornsby Shire.
Ku-ring-gai was rated first out of 590 Australian Local Government Areas in the BankWest Quality of Life Index 2008.[2]
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Ku-ring-gai Council is composed of ten councillors elected preferentially. The area is divided into five wards, each electing two councillors. The mayor is not directly elected.[3] The current makeup of the council is as follows:[3]
| Party | Councillors | |
|---|---|---|
| Independents | 10 | |
| Total | 10 | |
The current council, elected in 2008, is:[3]
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comenarra | Elaine Malicki | Independent | ||
| Steven Holland | Independent | Elected on Elaine Malicki's ticket | ||
| Gordon | Cheryl Szatow | Independent | ||
| Elise Keays | Independent | Elected on Cheryl Szatow's ticket | ||
| Roseville | Jennifer Anderson | Independent | Mayor | |
| Rakesh Duncombe | Independent | Elected on Jennifer Anderson's ticket | ||
| St Ives | Tony Hall | Independent | ||
| Carolyne Hardwick | Independent | Elected on Tony Hall's ticket | ||
| Wahroonga | Duncan McDonald | Independent | Elected in a by-election on 30 May 2009 to replace Nick Ebbeck | |
| Ian Cross | Independent | |||
During the term of former Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, planning law reforms were passed that gave development approval to a panel and away from local government. These new laws were controversially implemented in Ku-ring-gai, with immense opposition from the local population who claim that their suburbs, with nationally recognised heritage values in both housing and original native forest, are being trashed by slab-sided apartment developments with no effective protection provided by either the Ku-ring-gai Council or the State Government. This has been termed "The Rape of Ku-ring-gai".[4]
The laws are intended to take DA approval power away from local councils and to the New South Wales Department of Planning, via the development panels.
Planning panels are about to be introduced across New South Wales under recently passed planning reforms. In 2005-06, Ku-ring-gai had the second highest reported total development value in the state - $1.7 billion, more than Parramatta, second only to the City of Sydney.
Within days of taking office in 2008, the new Mayor, Elaine Malicki, had the Queen's portrait removed from the Council chamber and relocated to the Councillors room. This drew immediate criticism from previous Mayor and Councillor, Nick Ebbeck, who stated that could not believe the portrait disappeared overnight, Councillor Tony Hall, who described the action as "dictatorial and undemocratic",[5] National Director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, Professor David Flint AM[6] and Mayor of Mosman Council, Dominic Lopez, who stated that "Her action is an insult to the residents of Ku-ring-gai and she had no right in the world to remove the portrait" and vowed that the Queen's portrait in Mosman Council Chambers "would never be taken away".[7]
After being inundated with further complaints and a motion by a majority of Councillors, the portrait was returned to its original place behind the mayor's chair in the chamber.[5]
Suburbs and localities serviced by Ku-ring-gai Council are:
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