Port Macquarie-Hastings Council

Port Macquarie-Hastings Federal division(s)		Cowper Lyne
Website	Port Macquarie-Hastings
LGAs around Port Macquarie-Hastings: Walcha Kempsey Tasman Sea Walcha Port Macquarie-Hastings Tasman Sea Mid-Coast Mid-Coast Tasman Sea

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council is a local government area in the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia.

The area is located adjacent to the Hastings River, the Pacific Highway, the Oxley Highway and the North Coast railway line. Major population centres in the local government area are Port Macquarie, Camden Haven, Wauchope, Lake Cathie and Kendall.

The

Port Macquarie suburbs

• Blackmans Point
• Port Macquarie CBD (not a suburb)
• Fernbank Creek
• Flynns Beach
• Innes View
• Lake Innes
• Limeburners Creek
• North Shore
• Port Macquarie
• Port Macquarie West
• Sancrox
• Sovereign Hills
• Tacking Point
• The Hatch
• Thrumster

Towns and localities

Towns and localities (including Port Macquarie suburbs) in the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council are:^[4]

Demographics

At the

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Celtic exceeded 83% of all residents (national average was 65.2%). In excess of 64% of all residents in the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council area nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2011 Census, which was higher than the national average of 50.2%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area had a significantly lower than average proportion (3.6%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 20.4%); and a significantly higher proportion (93.7%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 76.8%).^[6]

Selected historical census data for Port Macquarie-Hastings local government area
Census year			2001[5]	2006[7]	2011[6]	2016[8]
Population		Estimated residents on census night	64,146	68,430	72,696	78,539
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			29th	28th
		% of New South Wales population			1.05%	1.05%
		% of Australian population	0.34%	0.34%	0.34%	0.34%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English			33.4%	32.9%
		Australian			32.8%	31.6%
		Irish			9.5%	9.6%
		Scottish			7.7%	7.9%
		German			2.8%	2.9%
Language, top responses (other than English)		German	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%	0.2%
		Spanish	n/c	n/c	0.1%	0.2%
		French	0.1%	0.1%	0.1%	0.2%
		Mandarin	n/c	n/c	n/c	0.2%
		Italian	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%	0.2%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		No religion	11.5%	14.5%	18.1%	25.6%
		Anglican	33.1%	31.3%	29.4%	24.6%
		Catholic	24.2%	24.2%	24.7%	23.1%
		Not stated	n/c	n/c	n/c	8.8%
		Uniting Church	8.4%	7.2%	6.0%	4.8%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$361	A$447	A$540
		% of Australian median income		77.5%	77.5%	81.6%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$679	A$1,008	A$1,300
		% of Australian median income		66.1%	68.1%	75.0%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$891	A$837	A$1,042
		% of Australian median income		76.1%	67.8%	72.5%

Council

Current composition and election methods

Port Macquarie-Hastings Council is composed of nine

On 8 May 2017, the elected mayor since 2012, Peter Besseling, resigned effective immediately to take up an executive business position. Deputy Mayor Lisa Intemann served as acting mayor until a by-election was held for the mayoral position on 29 July 2017.^[11][12] On 4 August 2017, the final results were declared and Peta Pinson became mayor.^[13][14]

The current council, elected in 2021, is:^[15][16]

Election results

2021

History

Local government in the Hastings region started with the passage of the District Councils Act 1842, which allowed for limited local government in the form of a warden and between 3 and 12 councillors to be appointed by the Governor. Between July and September 1843, 28 such entities had been proclaimed by Governor George Gipps. The Macquarie District Council, the 8th to be declared, was proclaimed on 12 August 1843, with a population of 2,409 and an area of 10,174 square kilometres (3,928 sq mi).^{[18]: 208–209} Due to various factors, the district councils were ineffective, and most had ceased to operate by the end of the decade.^[19]

After the enactment of the Municipalities Act of 1858,^[20] which gave the councils more authority and which allowed for residents to petition for incorporation of areas and also to elect councillors, the town of Port Macquarie, population 984, petitioned to be incorporated as a municipality twice: in 1859 and again in 1867; but on both occasions, counter-petitions from other residents prevented it from being incorporated.^[18]: 274 Finally, on 15 March 1887, the Port Macquarie Municipal District was proclaimed, with the first elections on 25 May 1887 electing James McInherney as the first mayor.^[21]

The Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 enabled the Shire of Hastings, based in the town of Wauchope, to come into being in June 1906, in time for elections in November 1906. The first Shire President was James O'Neill.^[21]

In 1981, the two councils were amalgamated to form the Municipality of Hastings, with Norm Matesich becoming the council's inaugural mayor. In 1991, the council moved into its present premises in Burrawan Street, Port Macquarie. With the enactment of the Local Government Act 1993 (NSW), which changed the responsibilities of the mayor and councillors, the Hastings Council was created. In 2005, the name was changed to Port Macquarie-Hastings following a community survey, showing that many people thought that the new name would better reflect the area.^[21]

Glasshouse controversy

On 27 February 2008 the

The inquiry report found that the council had failed to provide appropriate financial and project management and had lost control of the costs, that the project costs had harmed the council's ability to provide services and amenities to the community, and that the council's "communications management strategies" had resulted in inadequate consultation with the public or appropriate regard to their concerns. The outgoing mayor, Rob Drew, was critical of the process throughout, maintaining that errors had been made and misinformation had been accepted as fact; however, the New South Wales Urban Task Force, a property development lobby group, believed the dismissal served as a warning to other councils to stick to "core responsibilities". In 2009 it was revealed that the Glasshouse would cost ratepayers around A$6 million a year to run.[24]

See also

• Local government in New South Wales

References