Wollondilly Shire

Wollondilly Shire is a local government area on the south-western edge of Sydney, being part of the Macarthur region, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

Wollondilly Shire is named after the Wollondilly River. The area is traversed by the Hume Highway and the Southern Highlands railway line. Wollondilly Shire contains several small towns and villages broken up by farms and sandstone gorges. To its west is wilderness and includes the Nattai Wilderness and the Burragorang Valley. The majority of the Shire is either national park or forms part of the water catchment for Sydney's water supply. The Shire provides 97% of Sydney's water supply.

The Mayor of Wollondilly Shire Council is Cr. Col Mitchell, an independent politician.

Towns and localities

Towns and localities in the Wollondilly Shire are:

Demographics

At the 2011 census, there were 43,259 people in the Wollondilly local government area, with an equal proportion of males and females. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 2.4% of the population which is on par with the national average. The median age of people in the Wollondilly Shire was 36 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 23.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 10.8% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 54.9% were married and 10.4% were either divorced or separated.^[3]

Population growth in the Wollondilly Shire between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 9.18%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 7.23%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Wollondilly local government area was higher than the national average.^[4] The median weekly income for residents within the Wollondilly Shire was marginally higher than the national average.^[3][5]

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Wollondilly local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 77% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 69.6% of all residents in the Wollondilly Shire nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was significantly above the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Wollondilly local government area had a lower than average proportion (8.3%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (91.2%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).^[3]

Selected historical census data for Wollondilly local government area
Census year			2001[4]	2006[5]	2011[3]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	36,953	40,344	43,259
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		26th
		% of New South Wales population			0.63%
		% of Australian population	0.20%	0.20%	0.20%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			33.9%
		English			29.2%
		Irish			7.9%
		Scottish			6.2%
		Italian			2.9%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Italian	0.8%	0.8%	0.8%
		Arabic	0.5%	0.5%	0.4%
		Maltese	0.5%	0.4%	0.4%
		Greek	n/c	0.3%	0.3%
		German	0.4%	0.3%	0.3%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Anglican	33.4%	32.3%	32.5%
		Catholic	29.3%	30.1%	30.9%
		No Religion	11.2%	13.7%	15.4%
		Uniting Church	5.3%	4.2%	3.8%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	3.2%	2.8%	2.4%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$502	A$617
		% of Australian median income		107.7%	106.9%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,186	A$1,661
		% of Australian median income		115.5%	112.2%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,321	A$1,478
		% of Australian median income		112.8%	119.8%

Council

Current composition and election method

Wollondilly Shire Council is composed of nine Councillors elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing three Councillors. 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. :^[6][7][8]

The current Council, elected in 2012, in order of election by ward, is:

Local media

Wollondilly is home to two local newspapers, the Macarthur Chronicle Wollondilly edition and the Wollondilly Advertiser. Other regional media which serve the area are radio stations, 2MCR and C91.3FM, the District Reporter newspaper, and the Wollondilly Trumpeter, a newsletter.

Local attractions

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wollondilly River.

External links