Municipality of Ashfield
Local government area
Location inMetropolitan Sydney, 1871–2016
Coordinates:33°53′S151°08′E / 33.883°S 151.133°E /-33.883; 151.133
Country	Australia
State	New South Wales
Region	Inner West
Established	28 December 1871
Abolished	12 May 2016 (2016-05-12)
Council seat	Civic Centre, Ashfield
Area
• Total	8 km2 (3.1 sq mi)
Population
• Total	41,214 (2011 census)[1]
• Density	4,971.5/km2 (12,876/sq mi)
LGAs around Municipality of Ashfield Canada Bay Iron Cove Leichhardt Burwood Municipality of Ashfield Leichhardt Canterbury Canterbury Petersham/ Marrickville

TheMunicipality of Ashfield was alocal government area in theInner West ofSydney,New South Wales,Australia. It is about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) west of theSydney central business district. Themunicipality was proclaimed on 28 December 1871 as the "Borough of Ashfield", which changed to the "Municipality of Ashfield" in 1906. On 12 May 2016, Ashfield merged withMarrickville Council and theMunicipality of Leichhardt to form theInner West Council.

The lastmayor of the municipality wascouncillor Lucille McKenna, a member of theAustralian Labor Party.^[2]

In December 2021, a majority of voters in Inner West Council voted in favour of reversing the 2016 merger and separating the three pre-existing councils of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville.^[3]

The municipality comprised the following suburbs and localities:

• Ashfield
• Dobroyd Point
• Haberfield
• Summer Hill

It also included parts of:

• Ashbury (shared withCity of Canterbury)
• Croydon (shared withMunicipality of Burwood)
• Hurlstone Park (shared withCity of Canterbury)
• Croydon Park (shared withCity of Canterbury and theMunicipality of Burwood)

The"Borough of Ashfield" was proclaimed in theNew South Wales Government Gazette on 28 December 1871 and was originally divided into two wards, North Ward and South Ward.^[4]

Local issues in the area, before the forced merge into Inner West Council, included the redevelopment ofAshfield Mall and concerns about overdevelopment in general;^[5] construction of theM4 East tunnel because it might lead to increasedtraffic and pollution;^[6] and the general state of the commercial area, which one councillor labelled 'Trashfield'.^[7] Also contentious was Ashfield Council itself. In 2003, it was described by theDaily Telegraph as one of the worst councils in Sydney after one councillor took out a restraining order against another.^{[citation needed]} 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 theIraq War,bird flu,^[8] the Monarchy and 30 km/hspeed limits within residential areas.^[9] In 2009, CouncillorNick Adams was given a six-month suspension from theLiberal Party of Australia for conduct deemed likely to "embarrass or cause damage to" the Party during an altercation with a journalist.

A2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Ashfield merge with theMunicipality of Leichhardt and theMarrickville Council to form a new council with an area of 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 186,000.^[10] On 12 May 2016, Ashfield merged with Marrickville Council and the Municipality of Leichhardt to form theInner West Council.^[11]

At the2011 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. Themedian 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.^[1]

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.^[12][13] The medianweekly income for residents within the Municipality of Ashfield of was generally on par with the national average.^[1]

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in Ashfield local government area who stated theirancestry asChinese was in excess of four times the state and national averages; and the proportion of households where anAsian language was spoken at home was about six times higher than the national average.^[1]

Historical census data for Ashfield local government area
Population			2001[12]	2006[13]	2011[1]
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	38,981	39,667	41,214
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		54
		% of New South Wales population		0.6%	0.60%
		% of Australian population	0.21%	0.20%	0.19%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		English			14.9%
		Australian			14.8%
		Chinese			13.3%
		Italian			8.5%
		Irish			6.9%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Mandarin	6.1%	8.8%	9.1%
		Italian	9.2%	7.7%	6.8%
		Cantonese	4.9%	4.9%	4.5%
		Nepali	n/c	n/c	2.7%
		Greek	2.6%	2.4%	2.3%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	36.6%	33.7%	30.6%
		No religion	16.9%	20.9%	25.8%
		Anglican	10.5%	8.8%	7.8%
		Hinduism	n/c	n/c	5.8%
		Buddhism	4.2%	4.7%	5.3%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$514	A$628
		% of Australian median income			108.8%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,101	A$1,689
		% of Australian median income		107.2%	114.0%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,304	A$1,413
		% of Australian median income		111.4%	114.5%

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 wereFree Trade,Nationalist,UAP or Liberal although it wasn't unheard of for Labor members to get elected during this period.^[14][15][16]

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.^[17]

Ashfield Municipal Council was composed of twelvecouncillors electedproportionally as four separatewards, each electing three Councillors. All Councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office. Themayor 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:^{[18][19][20][21]}

Coat of arms of Municipality of Ashfield

Notes The arms of the Municipality of Ashfield were granted by theLord Lyon King of Arms,College of Arms, in 1983 and resulted from a visit for Scottish week in 1982 bySir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw (Chief of theClan Agnew), who suggested that the council pursue the granting of a Coat of Arms based on its early associations withRobert 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.[25] 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. Escutcheon Azure, five mullets (arranged to represent the constellation of theSouthern 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. Motto AGITE PRO VIRIBUS ("Act according to your strength") 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.^[25]

• Ashfield Municipal Council

• Former local government areas in Sydney
• 1871 establishments in Australia
• 2016 disestablishments in Australia
• Inner West
• Ashfield, New South Wales

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