City of Greater Dandenong

City of Greater Dandenong Victoria
The City of Greater Dandenong within metropolitan Melbourne
Coordinates	38°01′0″S 145°20′38″E / 38.01667°S 145.34389°E / -38.01667; 145.34389Coordinates: 38°01′0″S 145°20′38″E / 38.01667°S 145.34389°E / -38.01667; 145.34389
Population	166,094 (2018)[1] (43rd)
• Density	1,280/km2 (3,310/sq mi)
Established	1994
Area	130 km2 (50.2 sq mi)[1]
Mayor	Angela Long (Labor)
Council seat	Dandenong
State electorate(s)	Carrum Dandenong Keysborough Mordialloc Mulgrave
Federal Division(s)	Bruce Hotham Isaacs
Website	City of Greater Dandenong
LGAs around City of Greater Dandenong: Monash Monash Knox Kingston City of Greater Dandenong Casey Kingston Frankston Casey

The City of Greater Dandenong is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of just under 130 square kilometres (50 sq mi) and 166,094 residents in 2018.^[1] 29% of its land area forms part of the South East Green Wedge. It was formed in 1994 by the merger of parts of the former City of Dandenong and City of Springvale.

The Bunurong/Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri peoples are the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which Greater Dandenong is now located.^[2]

History[]

In 1994, the state government restructured local government in Victoria. The reforms dissolved 210 councils and created 78 new councils through amalgamations. As part of the reforms City of Springvale and City of Dandenong were merged to create City of Greater Dandenong.

Council[]

Greater Dandenong City Council comprises 11 councillors, elected from four wards: Lightwood, Paperbark, Red Gum and Silverleaf. Councillors are elected to fixed-four year terms in a proportional manner using the STV voting system, with each ward electing Councillors based on their respective population.

Elections are held every four years, in accordance with the Local Government Act 1989, with voting being compulsory. Nevertheless, voter turnout figures by the Victorian Electoral Commission reveal that only 70.8% of eligible voters voted at the last council election in 2016.^[3]

Mayor[]

The mayor is the head of the municipality, leading and coordinating the council's work. The position of mayor is a mostly ceremonial one, expected to represent the City and act as its public spokesperson. The mayor is not entirely a figurehead, however, instead being tasked with chairing council meetings and being involved with a greater number of community events such as citizenship ceremonies.^[4]

A mayor is elected among the councillors for a term of one year, meaning that each period between two local government elections usually sees four mayorships. Clare O'Neil became the youngest female mayor in Australian history when she served as Mayor of Greater Dandenong from 2003 to 2004.

Current composition[]

Greater Dandenong City Council
Leadership
Mayor	Angela Long
Structure
Council political groups	Labor (8)   Liberal (2)   Greens (1)

The composition of Greater Dandenong City Council is one of the most Labor-dominated in the state, demonstrated by its high percentage of councillors who are members of the party and its below-average number of independent councillors. This political membership is reflected through the local federal and state MPs, both of whom are ALP-affiliated. The most recent elections were held on 22 October 2016 and produced the following results:

Places of interest[]

• Dandenong Market
• Drum Theatre
• Heritage Hill Museum and Historic Gardens Archived 2 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine
• City of Greater Dandenong Libraries

Suburbs and towns[]

• Bangholme
• Dandenong
• Dandenong North
• Dandenong South
• Keysborough
• Lyndhurst (shared with the City of Casey)
• Noble Park
• Noble Park North
• Springvale
• Springvale South

Sport[]

Dandenong Rangers play home games at the Dandenong Basketball Stadium and compete in the WNBL. Two championships have been won in the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons and again in 2005/2006 the team reached the Grand Final only to lose to the Canberra Capitals.

Dandenong Thunder compete in the Victorian Premier League, playing at George Andrews Reserve.

The Greater Dandenong Warriors Hockey Club is based at the Bill Toon Playing fields on Cleeland Road, Dandenong North. The club currently fields 5 Men's teams, 2 Women's teams, 6 Junior teams and 3 Veteran's team.

Community groups[]

Greater Dandenong has many active community groups.

Service clubs include the Lions Club of Greater Dandenong, the Lions Club of Dandenong, the Lions Club of Dandenong (Supper), the Rotary Club of Dandenong, the Rotary Club of Noble Park and the Rotary Club of Springvale.

Schools[]

Due to this connection these schools in Greater Dandenong have established relationships with schools in Xuzhou:

• Wallarano Primary School & Minzulu
• Coomoora Secondary College & Xuzhou No. 3
• Springvale Primary School & Xuzhou Arts School
• Maralinga Primary School & Jinshinqaun
• Noble Park English Language School & Xinyi Middle School
• Springvale Secondary College & Xuzhou No.1 Middle School

Notes[]

See also[]

• List of places on the Victorian Heritage Register in the City of Greater Dandenong

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Metlink local public transport map
• Link to Land Victoria interactive maps
• Local Government & Municipal Knowledge Base
• Victorian Electoral Commission – Greater Dandenong City Council profile