City of Ipswich

Coordinates: 27°36′40.37″S 152°45′41.95″E / 27.6112139°S 152.7616528°E / -27.6112139; 152.7616528

City of Ipswich Queensland
Location within South East Queensland
City of Ipswich Coat of Arms
Population	200,000 (2017)
• Density	170/km2 (430/sq mi)
Established	1860
Area	1,203.7 km2 (464.8 sq mi)
Mayor	Paul Tully (acting)
Council seat	Ipswich
Region	South East Queensland
State electorate(s)	Ipswich West Ipswich Bundamba
Federal Division(s)	Oxley Blair
Website	City of Ipswich
LGAs around City of Ipswich: Somerset Somerset City of Brisbane Lockyer Valley City of Ipswich City of Logan Southern Downs Scenic Rim City of Logan

The City of Ipswich is a local government area in Queensland, Australia, including the urban area of the town of Ipswich and surrounding rural areas. Ipswich's population is estimated to grow from the current number of 200,000 people to around 435,000 by 2031.^[1]

Geography

The City of Ipswich is centrally located in the South East Queensland region of Australia. Ipswich governs the outer western portion of the Brisbane Metropolitan Area, Queensland, Australia. It covers an area of 1,090 square kilometres (420.9 sq mi) along the coast about 40 kilometres (25 mi) southwest of Brisbane CBD. To the east is the City of Brisbane local government area, and to the west are the rural and agricultural areas of the Brisbane, Lockyer and Fassifern Valleys.

History

Ipswich Post Office, c. 1890

Ipswich in flood, 1893

Ipswich is the second-oldest local government area in Queensland, after Brisbane. On 16 November 1859, after the enactment of the Municipalities Act of 1858 in New South Wales,^[2] a petition containing 91 signatures was received by the Governor of New South Wales seeking to have Ipswich, which at the time had 3,000 people, granted municipal town status. The petition was gazetted the following day, and no counter-petition was received.^[3][4][5]

On 29 November, the letters patent authorised by Queen Victoria which were to make Queensland a separate colony were published in New South Wales, and the petition was forwarded to the new Queensland governor, Sir George Ferguson Bowen. On 10 December 1859, the same day that the letters patent were published in Queensland, the petition was regazetted. On 3 March 1860 the Borough of Ipswich was proclaimed, and its first elections were held on 19 April 1860, where John Murphy became its first Mayor. The Municipality's corporate logo was designed by Reverend Lacey H. Rumsey, the rector of St Paul's Church in Ipswich in 1861.^[3][4][5]

Ipswich applied on 22 November 1904 to become a City, the status being conferred by the Government of Queensland on 1 December 1904 and its first mayor was Hugh Reilly.^[5] On its declaration, the City of Ipswich covered only the central area of Ipswich itself – even what are today considered inner suburbs were parts of different entities.

Beginning in 1994 Ipswich adopted an innovative, community-based, information technology project which aimed to make the city a technology hub at the forefront of the growing move towards the information superhighway.^[6] The most prominent feature of the initiative, which was called Global Info-Links, was the development of a new library with free public internet access and the development of a wide area network to which people could subscribe.

Council plaque at the Central Congregational Church Manse, 2015

In October 2000, the council began erecting cast brass plaques at significance heritage sites.^[7]

The Greater Ipswich Scheme of 1916

On 13 October 1916, a rationalisation of the local government areas in and around Ipswich was implemented. It involved the abolition of five shires:^[8][9]

• Brassall
• Bundanba
• Lowood
• Purga
• Walloon

resulting in:

• an enlarged City of Ipswich by including part of the Shire of Brassall and part of the Shire of Bundanba^[10]
• a new Shire of Ipswich by amalgamating part of the Shire of Brassall, part of the Shire of Bundanba, part of the Shire of Walloon and all of the Shire of Purga^[11]
• an enlarged Shire of Rosewood by including part of the Shire of Walloon
• an enlarged Shire of Esk by including all of the Shire of Lowood^[12]

Greater Ipswich Scheme of 1949

On 29 January 1949, a new Local Government Act was enacted to further amalgamate local government in the Ipswich area, abolishing the Shires of Normanby and Rosewood. The City of Ipswich was enlarged (from 12¼ square miles to 30 square miles) to include the more urban parts of the Shire of Moreton (formerly known as the Shire of Ipswich). The Shire of Moreton was then enlarged by the inclusion of the northern part of the Shire of Normanby and all the Shire of Rosewood. The southern part of the Shire of Normanby was transferred to an enlarged Shire of Boonah.^[13][14][15]

Further enlargement

The Shire of Moreton amalgamated with Ipswich on 11 March 1995.^[16]

Loss of rural areas

In March 2000, Ipswich ceded some rural territory in Mount Walker, Mutdapilly, Rosevale and Warrill View to the neighbouring Shire of Boonah. Following the major reforms of local government in Queensland, on 15 March 2008, Ipswich lost the largely rural areas of Harrisville and Peak Crossing in its southeast to the new Scenic Rim Region.

On 31 October 2012, a groundbreaking ceremony for the Ecco Ripley housing development project was conducted by then Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale and Sekisui House.^[17]

Divisions

The local government has 10 Councillors each representing one division (or ward). Each Councillor serves a four-year term. The Mayor is directly elected by the people every 4 years. Elected mayor of 2016, Paul Pisasale,^[18] resigned on 6 June 2017 citing health concerns (specifically multiple sclerosis).^[19] Deputy Mayor Paul Tully announced that he would assume the role of acting mayor until a mayoral by-election was held within three months' time.^[19][20]

From 2016, the divisional Councillors are:^[21]

Division 1 Cr David Morrison – Springfield

Division 2 Cr Paul Gregory Tully – Goodna

Division 3 Cr Kerry Silver– Redbank

Division 4 Cr Kylie Stoneman – Booval

Division 5 Cr Wayne Wendt – East Ipswich

Division 6 Cr Cheryl Bromage – Brassall

Division 7 Cr Andrew Antoniolli – Ipswich

Division 8 Cr Charlie Pisasale – Leichhardt

Division 9 Cr Sheila Ireland – Raceview

Division 10 Cr David Pahlke – Rosewood

Mayors

Suburbs

The City of Ipswich includes the following settlements:

Cameron Park at Booval, 2015 Urban: Augustine Heights Barellan Point Basin Pocket Bellbird Park Blacksoil Blackstone Booval Brassall Brookwater Bundamba Carole Park Camira Churchill Chuwar Coalfalls Collingwood Park Dinmore East Ipswich Eastern Heights Ebenezer Ebbw Vale Flinders View Gailes Goodna Haigslea Ipswich Karalee

The Brisbane River at Riverview, 2013 Karrabin Leichhardt Moores Pocket Muirlea New Chum Newtown North Booval North Ipswich North Tivoli One Mile Raceview Redbank Redbank Plains Ripley Riverview Rosewood Sadliers Crossing Silkstone Springfield Springfield Central Springfield Lakes Swanbank Tivoli West Ipswich Woodend Wulkuraka Yamanto

Picnic facilities at Goolman, 2015 Rural: Amberley Ashwell Calvert Deebing Heights Ebenezer Goolman Grandchester Haigslea Ironbark Jeebropilly Lanefield Limestone Ridges1 Marburg Mount Forbes1

Churchbank Weir at Peak Crossing, 2015 Mount Marrow Mutdapilly1 Peak Crossing1 Pine Mountain Purga Rosewood South Ripley Spring Mountain Tallegalla Thagoona The Bluff Walloon White Rock2 Willowbank Woolshed

¹ - split with Scenic Rim Region
² - not to be confused with White Rock in Cairns Region

Sister cities

• Nerima City, Japan (from 1994)^[22]

• Hyderabad, India (from 2010)^[23]

References

External links

• Ipswich City Council – Official site