| City of Warrnambool Victoria |
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Location in Victoria |
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| Population: | 33,374(2009)[1] | ||||||||||||
| Established: | 1855 | ||||||||||||
| Area: | 120 km² (46.3 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Mayor: | Jacinta Ermacora | ||||||||||||
| Council Seat: | Warrnambool | ||||||||||||
| State District: | South-West Coast | ||||||||||||
| Federal Division: | Wannon | ||||||||||||
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The City of Warrnambool is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the south-western part of the state. The City covers an area of 120.7 square kilometres (46.6 sq mi).
It is one of the few regional councils in Victoria to remain serving just one town after the amalgamation process in 1994, although it gained some portions of the former Shire of Warrnambool. It is wholly surrounded by the Shire of Moyne and the Southern Ocean.
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Warrnambool was first incorporated as a municipality on 7 December 1855. It became a borough on 1 October 1863, and a town on 2 February 1883. It was proclaimed as a city on 8 April 1918. On 25 October 1955 and 1 October 1978, it annexed part of the south riding of the Shire of Warrnambool, expanding its area progressively to 34.43 square kilometres (13.29 sq mi) by the time of Victoria's local government amalgamations.[2]
In 1993, the new Kennett Liberal government announced a program of local government reform, in which many of Victoria's 210 councils were to be amalgamated. The southwest region containing 23 councils was the first to be reviewed, and the City of Warrnambool sought to be part of the process early on. Warrnambool's strength in tertiary education and manufacturing was taken into account.[3] By June, it was clear that Warrnambool would be the only municipality in the region to be spared, and that it would gain Allansford and some other rural areas from the Shire of Warrnambool.[4] On 23 September 1994, the council was dismissed and replaced with a Government-appointed commissioner.[5] It first held elections for a new council in March 1996.[6]
Prior to amalgamation, the council had four wards—Albert, Hopkins, Merri and Victoria—each of which elected three councillors.[2] The new council had seven wards with one councillor representing each ward.
Wards 1996-2004:
However, following an electoral representation review, the decision was made to keep the seven councillors but abolish wards. The review concluded that Warrnambool's geography and natural features did not support the creation of equal wards, and that the City of Warrnambool as a whole was a single community of interest.[7]
The City of Warrnambool is dominated by the Warrnambool urban area, which represents 35.0 square kilometres (13.5 sq mi), or 29.0%, of the City's area and at the 2006 census had a population of 28,150.[8]
Other towns within the City's area include:
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