Municipality of Ashfield

The municipality comprised the following suburbs and localities:

• Ashfield
• Dobroyd Point
• Haberfield
• Summer Hill

It also included parts of:

• Ashbury (shared with City of Canterbury)
• Croydon (shared with Municipality of Burwood)
• Hurlstone Park (shared with City of Canterbury)
• Croydon Park (shared with City of Canterbury and the Municipality of Burwood)

File:AshfieldTownHall1938.jpg style in the 1920s. This building was demolished in the 1970s to make way for Ashfield Mall and the current Civic Centre.]]The "Borough of Ashfield" was proclaimed in the New South Wales Government Gazette on 28 December 1871 and was originally divided into two wards, North Ward and South Ward.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223720473 |title=Government Gazette Proclamations and Legislation |newspaper=New South Wales Government Gazette |issue=318 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 December 1871 |access-date=3 October 2017 |page=2951 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Local issues in the area, before the forced merge into Inner West Council, included the redevelopment of Ashfield Mall and concerns about overdevelopment in general;{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com.au/article/20061116/NWS09/611165615/Mall+plans+for+approval |title=Mall plans for approval |publisher=News Digital Media |access-date=7 February 2008 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} construction of the M4 East tunnel because it might lead to increased traffic and pollution;{{cite web |url=http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/whats_on/m4east.htm |title=M4 East campaign |publisher=Ashfield Municipal Council |access-date=6 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070312215639/http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/whats_on/m4east.htm |archive-date=12 March 2007 |url-status=dead}} and the general state of the commercial area, which one councillor labelled 'Trashfield'.{{cite web | url=http://www.villagevoice.com.au/article/20070619/NWS03/706190310/Welcome+to+'Trashfield'| title=Welcome to Trashfield | publisher=News Digital Media | access-date=7 February 2008}} Also contentious was Ashfield Council itself. In 2003, it was described by the Daily Telegraph as one of the worst councils in Sydney after one councillor took out a restraining order against another.{{cn|date=December 2022}} By 2008, another councillor was sacked for not being a bona fide resident of the municipality while other councillors had made outspoken comments on issues such as the Iraq War, bird flu,{{cite news |author=Jennifer Macey |agency= |title=Sydney council wants to eradicate pigeons over bird flu |url=https://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2005/s1495770.htm |quote= |newspaper=ABC News Australia |date=2005-11-02 |access-date=2022-12-16 }} the Monarchy and 30 km/h speed limits within residential areas.{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com.au/article/20061116/NWS09/611163263/Ashfield+goes+slow |title=Ashfield goes slow |publisher=News Digital Media |access-date=7 February 2008 }}{{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} In 2009, Councillor Nick Adams was given a six-month suspension from the Liberal Party of Australia for conduct deemed likely to "embarrass or cause damage to" the Party during an altercation with a journalist.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Ashfield merge with the Municipality of Leichhardt and the Marrickville Council to form a new council with an area of {{convert|35|km2}} and support a population of approximately {{formatnum:186000}}.{{cite web |url=https://dpc-olg-ss.s3.amazonaws.com/3427d9142bf477f9dd5720e29703a9e4/Ashfield-Leichhardt-and-Marrickville.pdf |title=Merger proposal: Ashfield Council, Leichhardt Municipal Council, and Marrickville Council |publisher=Government of New South Wales |date=January 2016 |access-date=18 February 2016 |page=7 }}{{dead link|date=February 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} On 12 May 2016, Ashfield merged with Marrickville Council and the Municipality of Leichhardt to form the Inner West Council.{{cite web |url=https://www.strongercouncils.nsw.gov.au/new-councils/inner-west-council/ |title=Inner West Council |work=Stronger Councils |publisher=Government of New South Wales |date=12 May 2016 |access-date=15 May 2016 }}

At the 2011 Census, there were 41,214 people in the Ashfield local government area, of these 48.6% were male and 51.4% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.6% of the population. The median age of people in the Municipality of Ashfield was 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 15.1% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.4% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 45.1% were married and 10.0% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in The Municipality of Ashfield between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 1.76%; while in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 3.90%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Ashfield local government area was significantly less than the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the Municipality of Ashfield of was generally on par with the national average.

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in Ashfield local government area who stated their ancestry as Chinese was in excess of four times the state and national averages; and the proportion of households where an Asian language was spoken at home was about six times higher than the national average.

Image:AshfieldCivicCentre2.jpg

File:Ashfield-council-no-war-zone-sydney.JPG File:SLNSW 11429 Interior the council room Ashfield Town Hall.jpg

File:Ashfield Council.JPG

The former Ashfield Municipal Council was generally considered a safe Labor area. As the attached table shows, Labor outpolled all other parties in the area at the final federal, state and council elections before the merge. However, the Liberals and Greens had strong voices in the area with the Council electing a member of the Greens Party as mayor and the northern part of Ashfield was represented by a Liberal Party member in the NSW Parliament. Prior to the 1970s, the area was more conservative, generally returning members who were Free Trade, Nationalist, UAP or Liberal although it wasn't unheard of for Labor members to get elected during this period.{{cite web | url = http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/divisions/par1.txt |title= Parkes 1901–69 | publisher = Dr Adam Carr | access-date = 28 April 2007}}{{cite web | url = http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/divisions/evan.txt |title= Evans | publisher = Dr Adam Carr | access-date = 28 April 2007}}{{cite web | url = http://psephos.adam-carr.net/countries/a/australia/divisions/gray.txt |title= Grayndler | publisher = Dr Adam Carr | access-date = 28 April 2007}}

The final council was composed of four Labor councillors, four independents and four Liberals. The last mayor was Lucille McKenna, the Council's first woman mayor.{{cite web | url= http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/article/first-female-mayor-elected-to-ashfield-council| title=First Female Mayor elected to Ashfield Council| publisher=Ashfield Municipal Council| access-date=1 October 2013}}

Ashfield Municipal Council was composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as four separate wards, each electing three Councillors. All Councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor and deputy mayor were elected for a one-year term by the councillors at the first meeting of the council in September. The last election was held on 13 September 2012, and the makeup of the council for the term 2012–16, in order of election by ward, was as follows:

{{excerpt|List of mayors of Ashfield}}

{{Infobox COA wide

|image = Municipality of Ashfield (NSW) coat of arms, granted 1983.jpg

|bannerimage =

|badgeimage =

|notes = The arms of the Municipality of Ashfield were granted by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, College of Arms, in 1983 and resulted from a visit for Scottish week in 1982 by Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw (Chief of the Clan Agnew), who suggested that the council pursue the granting of a Coat of Arms based on its early associations with Robert Campbell, an early landowner who named his estates "Ashfield Park", which gave the council its name. He was subsequently commissioned to design the arms, which were granted in 1983.{{cite web|title=Corporate Branding|url=http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/page/corporate_branding.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160512034717/http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au/page/corporate_branding.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 May 2016|publisher=Ashfield Council|access-date=14 October 2017}}

|adopted = 1983

|crest = Above the Shield is placed a coronet appropriate to the Municipality (videlicet:- a mural coronet Proper masoned Sable), and on a Wreath of the Liveried is set for Crest a sun rising Or.

|torse =

|helm =

|escutcheon = Azure, five mullets (arranged to represent the constellation of the Southern Cross). Argent a chief gyronny of eight Or and Sable within a cordure azure charged of eight annulets Or, the chief with a fillet Argent in the lower part.

|supporters =

|compartment =

|motto = AGITE PRO VIRIBUS ("Act according to your strength")

|orders =

|other_elements =

|banner =

|badge =

|symbolism = The arms are based on arms of Robert Campbell, who registered his arms with Lord Lyon.

}}

Ashfield Council launched a new logo and branding in August 2008, described as an "urban map" of various images representing various buildings and forms in the local area. This branding remained in use (with the arms retained for the most formal uses) until the council's amalgamation.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.ashfield.nsw.gov.au Ashfield Municipal Council]

{{Sydney Ashfield suburbs}}

{{NSW former LGAs}}

{{NSW Local Government amalgamations 2016|state=collapsed}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Municipality of Ashfield}}

Ashfield

Category:1871 establishments in Australia

Ashfield

Category:Inner West

Category:Ashfield, New South Wales