Municipality of Woollahra

Suburbs in the local government area

Suburbs in the area include:

• Bellevue Hill
• Darling Point
• Double Bay
• Edgecliff
• Paddington (parts are located within City of Sydney Council)
• Point Piper
• Rose Bay (the east side of Old South Head Road is located within Waverley Council)
• Vaucluse (parts are located within Waverley Council)
• Watsons Bay
• Woollahra

Demographics

At the 2011 Census, there were people in the Woollahra local government area, of these 47.1% were male and 52.9% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.2% of the population. The median age of people in the Municipality of Woollahra was 38 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 15.4% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 16.3% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 43.1% were married and 10.3% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the Municipality of Woollahra between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 0.70%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 3.98%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Woollahra local government area was significantly lower than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Municipality of Woollahra was double the national average.

At the 2016 Census, the proportion of residents who stated a religious affiliation with Judaism was in excess of thirtytwo times the state and national averages.

Council

Woollahra Municipal Council is composed of fifteen councillors elected proportionally as five separate wards, each electing three Councillors. Councillors are usually elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The Mayor is elected by the Councillors at the first meeting of the council. The Council election of 14 September 2024 resulted in the following makeup:

Current composition and election method

The council as elected in 2024, in order of election by ward, was:

Election results

2024

History

The name 'Woollahra' is thought to be derived from an Aboriginal word meaning 'camp' or 'meeting ground'.

A petition was submitted in 1859 with 144 signatures of local residents from Darling Point, Paddington and Watsons Bay for the formation of the Municipality. With no petition against formation of the Municipality, Woollahra was proclaimed to be named so on 17 April 1860, and gazetted on 20 April 1860. At the first meeting, The Hon. George Thornton was elected as the first Chairman of Woollahra.

In 1947, after previously acquiring 'Iron House' on Ocean Street, in the 1860s, Council transferred to the current site at Redleaf.

Woollahra largely developed as a residential locality. A few small local industries were established in Woollahra, Double Bay and Paddington; but with the residential gentrification of Paddington and Woollahra in the 1960s, most of these cottage industries had vanished by the end of the 20th century.

Woollahra's cultural heritage has been enriched by the influx of people from many different cultural backgrounds. Some of the influential immigrants to Woollahra have been the Chinese market gardeners, who began leasing land in Double Bay gully and Rose Bay in the 1880s; the Portuguese whalers who settled at Watsons Bay in the 19th century, building a church and becoming a part of the village life, and the many Europeans who migrated after World War II and helped change the face of commercial centres such as Double Bay.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Woollahra merge with the Waverley and Randwick councils to form a new council with an area of 58 km2 and support a population of approximately . Following an independent review, in May 2016 the NSW Government sought to dismiss the council and force its amalgamation with Waverley and Randwick councils. Woollahra Council instigated legal action claiming that there was procedural unfairness and that a KPMG report at the centre of merger proposals had been "misleading". The matter was heard before the NSW Court of Appeal who, in December 2016, unanimously dismissed the council's appeal, finding no merit in its arguments that the proposed merger with its neighbouring councils was invalid. In July 2017, the Berejiklian government decided to abandon the forced merger of the Woollahra, Waverley and Randwick local government areas, along with several other proposed forced mergers.

Heritage listings

The Municipality of Woollahra has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Bellevue Hill, 24 Victoria Road: Leura
• Darling Point, 1a Carthona Avenue: Lindesay
• Darling Point, 68 Darling Point Road: The Swifts
• Darling Point, 103 Darling Point Road: Babworth House
• Darling Point, 11–21 Greenoaks Avenue: Bishopscourt
• Double Bay, Cross Street: Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station
• Double Bay, 11 Gladswood Gardens: Gladswood House
• Double Bay, 337–347 New South Head Road: Overthorpe
• Double Bay, 560 New South Head Road: Fairwater
• Double Bay, 4 and 6 Wiston Gardens: Houses
• Edgecliff, 8 Albert Street: Fenton and surrounds
• Paddington, 1 Ormond Street: Juniper Hall, Paddington
• Paddington, 56a Ormond Street: Engehurst
• Paddington, 246 Oxford Street: Paddington Post Office
• Paddington, 1 Young Street: Paddington Substation
• Point Piper, 10 Dunara Gardens: Dunara
• Rose Bay, 3–4 Fernleigh Gardens: Site of Ficus superba var. henneana tree
• Rose Bay, 1–7 Salisbury Road: Salisbury Court (Rose Bay)
• Vaucluse, 32b Fitzwilliam Road: Wentworth Memorial Church
• Vaucluse, Chapel Road: Wentworth Mausoleum
• Vaucluse, Greycliffe Avenue: Nielsen Park
• Vaucluse, Old South Head Road: Macquarie Lighthouse
• Vaucluse, 52 Vaucluse Road: Strickland House, Vaucluse
• Vaucluse, 69a Wentworth Road: Vaucluse House
• Watsons Bay, Dunbar (ship)
• Watsons Bay, Old South Head Road: Hornby Lighthouse
• Woollahra, 14 Rosemont Avenue: Rosemont
• Woollahra, Waimea Avenue: Waimea House

Coat of arms

References

References

1. {{Census 2021 AUS
2. "Cr Sarah Dixson {{!}} Mayor".
3. {{Census 2011 AUS
4. {{Census 2016 AUS
5. {{Census 2001 AUS
6. {{Census 2006 AUS
7. (18 November 2016). "Council Circular 16-44 Election Timing and Cycle of Council Elections".
8. "Woollahra – Bellevue Hill Ward". Electoral Commission of New South Wales.
9. "Woollahra – Cooper Ward". Electoral Commission of New South Wales.
10. "Woollahra – Double Bay Ward". Electoral Commission of New South Wales.
11. "Woollahra – Paddington Ward". Electoral Commission of New South Wales.
12. "Woollahra – Vaucluse Ward". Electoral Commission of New South Wales.
13. "Woollahra Bellevue Hill Ward".
14. "Woollahra Cooper Ward".
15. "Woollahra Double Bay Ward".
16. "Woollahra Paddington Ward".
17. "Woollahra Vaucluse Ward".
18. Jarvis & Kelly. (1960). "The History of Woollahra". Halstead Press.
19. (20 April 1860). "Proclamation, Municipality of Woollahra". New South Wales Government Gazette.
20. (1948). "Local Government (Areas) Act 1948".
21. (January 2016). "Merger proposal: Randwick City Council, Waverley Council, Woollahra Municipal Council". [[Government of New South Wales]].
22. Visentin, Lisa. (22 December 2016). "Woollahra loses merger appeal, hints at High Court challenge". [[Sydney Morning Herald]].
23. (27 July 2017). "NSW council amalgamations: Mayors fight to claw back court dollars after backflip on merger". [[ABC News (Australia).
24. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045209. Leura
25. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045228. Lindesay
26. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045530. Swifts
27. {{cite NSW SHR. 5044995. Babworth House
28. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045448. Bishopscourt
29. {{cite NSW SHR. 5051425. Double Bay Compressed Air Ejector Station
30. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045709. Gladswood House
31. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045523. Overthorpe
32. {{cite NSW SHR. 5014213. Fairwater
33. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045516. Houses
34. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045685. Fenton and surrounds
35. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045231. Juniper Hall
36. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045347. Engehurst
37. {{cite NSW SHR. 5051289. Paddington Post Office
38. {{cite AHD. 105300. Paddington Post Office (CHL)
39. {{cite AHD. 19158. Paddington Post Office
40. {{cite NSW SHR. 5011967. Substation
41. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045694. Dunara
42. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045217. Site of Ficus superba var. henneana tree
43. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045223. Salisbury Court
44. {{cite NSW SHR. 5056283. Wentworth Memorial Church and Moveable Collection
45. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045532. Wentworth Mausoleum and site
46. {{cite NSW SHR. 5063400. Nielsen Park
47. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045203. Macquarie Lighthouse Site
48. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045502. Strickland House
49. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045008. Vaucluse House
50. {{cite NSW SHR. 5001064. Dunbar Group
51. {{cite NSW SHR. 5051353. South Head Signal Station
52. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045708. Rosemont
53. {{cite NSW SHR. 5045527. Waimea House
54. Low, Charles. (1971). "A Roll of Australian Arms". Rigby Limited.
55. "Administrative history". Woollahra Municipal Council.