City of Greater Geraldton

This article is about a local government area. For the city, see Geraldton.

City of Greater Geraldton Western Australia
Location in Western Australia
Population	40,448 (2013 est)
• Density	3.20368/km2 (8.29748/sq mi)
Established	2011
Area	12,625.5 km2 (4,874.7 sq mi)
Council seat	Geraldton
Region	Mid West
State electorate(s)	Geraldton, Greenough
Federal Division(s)	Durack
Website	City of Greater Geraldton
LGAs around City of Greater Geraldton: Indian Ocean Murchison, Chapman Valley Murchison Indian Ocean City of Greater Geraldton Yalgoo Indian Ocean Mingenew, Irwin Morawa

The City of Greater Geraldton is a local government area in the Mid West region of Western Australia, 424 kilometres (263 mi) north of the state capital, Perth on the Indian Ocean. It covers an area of 12,625.5 square kilometres (4,874.7 sq mi), and its seat of government is the town of Geraldton.

It was established on 1 July 2011 following the amalgamation of the Shire of Mullewa and the City of Geraldton-Greenough, itself a product of a 2007 amalgamation between the City of Geraldton and Shire of Greenough.

History

City of Geraldton

Main article: City of Geraldton

Geraldton was proclaimed as a municipal district on 21 February 1871. On 1 July 1961, it became a town under the new Local Government Act 1960. On 22 April 1988, Geraldton attained city status.

Shire of Greenough

Main article: Shire of Greenough

The Greenough and Geraldton Road Boards — the latter not to be confused with the Geraldton Municipality — were proclaimed on 24 January 1871. Initially, Greenough included all of Murchison, which split away on 3 August 1875 and Mullewa, which formed on 11 August 1911. In 1951, Geraldton and Greenough road boards merged, and on 1 July 1961 became the Shire of Geraldton-Greenough under the new Local Government Act 1960. On 19 March 1965, it was renamed the Shire of Greenough.

City of Geraldton-Greenough

A recommendation was made to the Minister for Local Government by the Local Government Advisory Board in August 2006 to amalgamate the Shire of Greenough with the City of Geraldton.

The Greenough electors successfully petitioned for a referendum to determine whether amalgamation should proceed. This was held on 2 December 2006, and with a participation rate of 28.74%, a majority of 80% voted against the proposal. However, under the Local Government Act 1995 (clause 10 of Schedule 2.1) as the vote did not attract 50% of registered voters, it did not meet the requirements for a valid poll.

The Liberal government, elected in mid-2008, announced its intentions to amalgamate local governments around the state in line with reforms undertaken elsewhere in Australia. Ultimately, the plan did not succeed, but a number of local governments commenced negotiations for voluntary mergers. One such group included the City, the Shire of Chapman Valley and the Shire of Mullewa. In February 2010, Chapman Valley decided not to proceed, citing community opposition. In December 2010, the Local Government Advisory Board approved the merger. Polls were held in both municipalities, with 72.61% of voters in Geraldton-Greenough and 83.23% of voters in Mullewa voting against the merger. However, both polls failed to reach the minimum 50% required to be a valid poll, and the City of Greater Geraldton came into being on 1 July 2011.

Until the October 2011 elections, the council was administered by five commissioners, led by Ron Yuryevich, the mayor of City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, and including Ian Carpenter, the mayor of the former City and Nino Messina, the mayor of the former Shire.

Wards

The City is divided into seven wards, each with two councillors, plus a directly elected mayor to serve the entire district.

• Champion Bay Ward – contains Beresford, Spalding and Webberton
• Chapman Ward – contains Bluff Point, Drummond Cove, Glenfield, Sunset Beach and Waggrakine
• Port Ward – contains Geraldton itself, Beachlands and Mahomets Flats
• Tarcoola Ward – contains Mount Tarcoola, Tarcoola Beach and Wandina
• Willcock Ward – contains Karloo, Rangeway, Wonthella and part of Utakarra
• Hills Ward – contains the majority of the former City's land area, and includes the suburbs of Strathalbyn and Woorree
• Mullewa Ward – the entire former Shire of Mullewa.

Suburbs

• Beachlands
• Beresford
• Bluff Point
• Deepdale
• Geraldton
• Glenfield
• Karloo
• Mahomets Flats
• Moresby
• Mount Tarcoola
• Narngulu
• Rangeway
• Rudds Gully
• Spalding
• Strathalbyn
• Sunset Beach
• Tarcoola Beach
• Utakarra
• Waggrakine
• Wandina
• Webberton
• West End
• Wonthella
• Woorree

Towns

• Cape Burney
• Drummond Cove
• Eradu
• Greenough
• Kojarena
• Minnenooka
• Moonyoonooka
• Mullewa
• Pindar
• Tardun
• Tenindewa
• Walkaway
• Wandanooka
• Wicherina
• Wilroy
• Wongoondy
• Woolgorong

Mayors

Main article: List of mayors of Geraldton

Population

The population of Greater Geraldton grew from 34,019 in 2001 to 39,311 in 2012, representing an increase of 15%. Unemployment in Greater Geraldton in September 2013 was estimated at 5.6%, compared to 4.7% in Western Australia and 5.6% nationally. Greater Geraldton's population growth from 2012 to 2013 was 2.5% p.a.

The historical populations of the area which formed Geraldton-Greenough were:

Year	Population	Geraldton	Greenough	Mullewa
1921	6,365	4,174	1,375	816
1933	8,162	4,984	1,556	1,622
1947	8,864	5,972	1,567	1,325
1954	11,337	8,309	1,371	1,657
1961	13,842	10,894	1,321	1,627
1966	15,544	12,125	1,594	1,825
1971	18,887	15,118	1,920	1,849
1976	22,501	17,663	2,979	1,859
1981	25,356	19,096	4,612	1,648
1986	27,176	19,923	5,798	1,455
1991	29,537	20,521	7,626	1,390
1996	31,237	19,724	10,337	1,176
2001	32,196	19,179	11,927	1,090
2006	33,372	18,916	13,545	911