Marrickville Council

Marrickville Council New South Wales
Population	76,284 (2007 est.)
• Density	4,570.2/km2 (11,837/sq mi)
Area	17 km2 (6.6 sq mi)
Mayor	Sam Iskandar
Council seat	Petersham
Region	Metropolitan Sydney
State electorate(s)	Marrickville, Canterbury, Heffron
Federal division(s)	Grayndler
Website	Marrickville Council
LGAs around Marrickville Council: Municipality of Ashfield Municipality of Leichhardt City of Sydney City of Canterbury Marrickville Council City of Sydney City of Canterbury City of Rockdale City of Botany Bay

Marrickville Council is a Local Government Area (LGA) situated in the Inner West region of Sydney, Australia.

The area is bounded by Leichhardt to the north, the City of Sydney to the east and north-east, the City of Botany Bay to the south-east, the Rockdale to the south, Canterbury to the west, and Ashfield to the north-west.

While the area's background has traditionally been working-class, several waves of immigration and a continuing trend of gentrification have substantially influenced the demographics and character of the area. Marrickville also has a substantial student population, being situated relatively close to the University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney.

According to Marrickville Council's website, "the area contains one of the highest percentages of artists, cultural workers and arts industries of any local government area in Australia."

History

Based on artefacts found near the Cooks River and Alexandra Canal, it is believed that the area has been occupied for at least 7,000 years. The area was originally occupied by the Cadigal clan of the Darug people who spoke the Eora language. Their name for most of the present day LGA was Bullanaming.

European settlement of the area began very soon after the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788. The first land grant was made in 1789, and by 1809 all the land had been granted. In the 1830's, the district consisted of five large estates, including Thomas Chalder's estate named Marrick after his home town in North Yorkshire. At this point, the area was still quite rural in nature.

Following the subdivision of these estates, municipalities were formed in Marrickville (1861), Camperdown (1861), Newtown (1862), St Peters (1871) and Petersham (1872). The area lost its rural character as Sydney grew, and by the 1820's had become an urbanised industrial area.

The population of these municipalities increased greatly in that time, peaking at roughly 113,000 in 1948. It was in this year that the State Government introduced the Local Government (Areas) Act, and Marrickville Municipal Council was enlarged by merging with St Peters and Petersham on January 1 1949. The Camperdown and Newtown municipalities had already been merged with the City of Sydney, however in 1968 a boundary readjustment added parts of these areas to Marrickville, resulting in the present boundaries.

While migration has always been an important part of Marrickville, this was especially true from the 1950s to the 1970s, as large groups of immigrants arrived from Southern Europe, the Middle East and then Asia. The area is today one of the most culturally diverse in the country.

Geography

The Marrickville LGA is situated in Sydney's Inner West, between 4 and 10 kilometres south-west of the city centre. It covers an area of approximately 17 square kilometres.

The area is roughly bounded by Parramatta Road to the north, King Street and the Princes Highway to the east, the Cooks River and Alexandra Canal to the south, and New and Old Canterbury Roads to the west.

Population

The population of the Marrickville area was measured at 75,525 people by the most recent Census.

The Marrickville area is culturally and linguistically diverse. 38.3% of the population were born overseas, and 35.9% speak a language other than English at home. The main non-English languages spoken at home are Greek, Vietnamese, Arabic, Portuguese, Cantonese, Italian and Mandarin.

The average income for a working adult in Marrickville in mid-2006 was $769 per week, $60 per week higher than the $709 average for Sydney as a whole.

Housing

The suburbs within the Marrickville area are generally characterised by Victorian-era terraces, semi-detached houses and other varieties of urban Federation housing. These houses gained popularity among renovators as the suburbs became gentrified in the late 20th century. Detached housing, wider streets and larger blocks of land are more common in the suburbs further from the city, such as Dulwich Hill and parts of Marrickville.

Several medium density apartment blocks were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s. Since the 1980s, modern infill development has tended to be sympathetic with traditional streetscapes.

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  Modest single-storey terraces in Camperdown
• 
  House in the suburb of Marrickville
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  Sympathetic infill development in Camperdown
• 
  Restored house in Petersham

Recreation and Culture

Parks

The Marrickville area has 88 parks and reserves of various sizes within its boundaries. Major sporting grounds include Henson Park, home of the Newtown Jets rugby league club, and Petersham Park, where Sir Donald Bradman scored his first century in grade cricket.

Tempe Lands, 10 hectares of parkland at the south-western corner of LGA, was redeveloped by Marrickville Council in 2003 on the site of a former rubbish tip at a cost of AU$17.5 million. The parklands feature sporting fields, a golf driving range, and a constructed saltmarsh and emphemeral wetlands area for wildlife.

Other major parks in the area include Enmore Park, Camperdown Park, Marrickville Park, Steel Park and Camperdown Memorial Rest Park. There are also substantial parklands surrounding the Cooks River.

Events

A number of entertainment and cultural events are held in Marrickville throughout the year. The Marrickville Road Festival is the area's largest annual event, drawing a crowd of 50,000 people every year. Other major events in the area include the Newtown Festival, Australia Day celebrations at Enmore Park, the Bairro Português Food & Wine Fair in Petersham, and the Dulwich Hill Street Fair.

Transport

St Peters railway station

Rail

CityRail provides passenger rail services to the Marrickville local government area. The northern part of the LGA is served by the Inner West Line, and the southern and eastern parts are served by the Bankstown line. Trains on the Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line serve Sydenham and Tempe railway stations, and some East Hills Line trains also stop at Sydenham during the weekday peak.

Buses

Sydney Buses operates bus services through all suburbs in the Marrickville area.

Sydenham Green, formerly the site of noise-affected homes

Airport

Kingsford Smith International Airport is situated directly south-east of the Marrickville LGA. As a result, many parts of Marrickville suffer from high levels of aircraft noise.

After the completion of the airport's third runway in the mid-1990s, the Commonwealth Government controversially purchased and demolished 152 residential properties in the worst-affected parts of Sydenham. The newly vacant land became Sydenham Green, a public park covering 4.5 hectares. A series of oversized 'living room' sculptures (lamp, chairs and fireplace) decorate the park, paying homage to the homes that formerly occupied the site.

Politics

Council elections are held every 4 years, with the most recent election held on September 13 2008. The Marrickville Council area is divided into four wards, with three Councillors elected every to represent each ward. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected annually by the sitting Councillors. In 2008, Clr Sam Iskandar was elected Mayor and Clr Fiona Byrne was elected Deputy Mayor.

Marrickville Council seats

	Party	2004-2008	2008-2012
	Australian Greens	5	5
	Australian Labor Party	4	4
	Independent	3	3
	Total	12	12

The current sitting Councillors are:

• Mayor, Clr Sam Iskandar (ALP)

• Deputy Mayor, Clr Fiona Byrne (Greens)

• Clr Morris Hanna (Independent)

• Clr Marika Kontellis (Greens)

• Clr Victor Macri (Independent)

• Clr Peter Olive (Greens)

• Clr Mary O'Sullivan (ALP)

• Clr Cathy Peters (Greens)

• Clr Max Phillips (Greens)

• Clr Dimitrios Thanos (Independent)

• Clr Emanuel Tsardoulias (ALP)

• Clr Laura Wright (ALP)

Suburbs in the local government area

The suburbs and localities completely within in the Marrickville Council area are:

• Dulwich Hill
• Enmore
• Lewisham
• Marrickville
• Marrickville South
• Petersham
• St Peters
• Stanmore
• Sydenham
• Tempe

Suburbs located partially in Marrickville and partially in the City of Sydney are:

• Camperdown
• Newtown

External links

• Marrickville Council
• Cadigal-Wangal website
• Reverse Garbage Centre
• Youth Resource Centre
• Interactive Map of Marrickville Local Government Area
• 2001 Census Information