City of Orange (New South Wales)

The City of Orange is a local government area in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Based in Orange, the area is located adjacent to the Mitchell Highway and the Main Western railway line.

City of Orange
New South Wales
Location in New South Wales
Orange Civic Centre
Coordinates33°17′S 149°06′E / 33.283°S 149.100°E / -33.283; 149.100
Population43,512 (LGA 2021)[1]
Established9 January 1860
Area285 km2 (110.0 sq mi)
MayorJason Hamling (Independent)
Council seatOrange[2]
RegionCentral West
State electorate(s)Orange
Federal division(s)Calare
WebsiteCity of Orange
LGAs around City of Orange:
Cabonne Dubbo Regional Mid-Western
Cabonne City of Orange Bathurst
Cowra Blayney

Suburbs and localities

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Suburbs of Orange

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Other localities

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Heritage listings

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The City of Orange has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

Council history

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Situated on Blackman's Swamp Creek, Orange was proclaimed a village in 1846 and the local parish was named by the Surveyor General, Major Sir Thomas Mitchell, in honour of Prince William of Orange, whom had been an associate of in the Peninsular War, when both were aides-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, whose title was bestowed on the valley to the west by John Oxley.[13] Much of the town's subsequent growth and development in the early years was due to the discovery of gold in 1851 at Ophir and Lucknow. The resulting gold rush attracted a wide range of people and business to the district, many of whom settled in the region and developed a strong agricultural industry, particularly in the growing of wheat and barley.

Orange was first incorporated on 9 January 1860 when the Municipality of Orange was proclaimed.[14] The first election for a six-member council was held on 9 February 1860, with John Peisley elected as the first chairman. The first meeting of the council was held at the Court House on 18 February 1860, with George Dolquhorn appointed as the first Town Clerk.[15]

This new council fell into controversy within a few years however, with the legality of the council constitution questioned in 1866 and the council suspended by order of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. With the Municipalities Act 1867, the Council was reconstituted and a new council was elected on 14 February 1868. In 1888, the Municipality of East Orange was proclaimed and merged with the Orange Municipality on 24 December 1912.[15][16][17]

Orange was proclaimed a City on 19 July 1946 when its population was over 15,000.[18] On 1 October 1977, the City of Orange was extended in area to 298 km2 when parts of the surrounding shires of Cabonne, Blayney, and Lyndhurst were transferred to the City of Orange.[15]

2016–17 amalgamation proposal

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A 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the City of Orange merge with the Cabonne Shire and Blayney Shire Councils to form a new council with an area of 7,833 square kilometres (3,024 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 63,000.[19] Despite originally planning for the amalgamation to go ahead, the merger scheduled for May 2016 was delayed due to legal action, and in February 2017 the NSW Government decided not to proceed with the amalgamation.[20][21][22]

Council

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Current composition and election method

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Orange City Council is composed of eleven councillors elected proportionally as a single ward. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected directly by a popular vote. A referendum was held on 8 September 2012 and an absolute majority of voters resolved in favour to directly-elect the mayor, which took effect from the 2017 election.[23] The most recent election was held on 4 December 2021. Due to delays caused by council amalgamations and the pandemic the current term will last only to 2024. The makeup of the council is as follows:[24]

Party Councillors
  Independents and Unaligned 4
  For Our Future 2
  Team Hamling 2
  Orange Residents and Ratepayers Association 1
  Refresh Orange 1
  Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party 1
  The Greens NSW 1
Total 12

The current Council, elected in 2021, is:[24]

Mayor Party Notes
  Jason Hamling Team Hamling Deputy Mayor, 2016–2017[25]
Councillor Party Notes
  Glenn Floyd Shooters, Fishers and Farmers
  Jack Evans For Our Future
  Jeffery Whitton Independent
  Frances Kinghorne Orange Residents and Ratepayers Association
  Tony Mileto For Our Future Tony is also a member of the National Party (Australia)
  Steven Peterson Refresh Orange
  David Mallard Greens
  Gerald Power Independent
  Tammy Greenhalgh Team Hamling
  Melanie McDonell Independent
  Kevin Duffy Independent

Election results

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2024

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2024 New South Wales local elections: Orange
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Independent (Group C) 1. Tony Mileto (elected mayor)
2. Marea Ruddy (elected 2)
3. Jamie Stedman (elected 9)
4. Bernadette Wood
5. Tony Pearson
6. Brett Hazzard
4,006 16.7 +0.7
Independent (Group B) 1. Kevin Duffy (elected 1)
2. Graeme Judge (elected 11)
3. Fleur Vardanega
4. Darren Johnson
5. Richard Clifford
6. Bradley Tyack
3,651 15.2 +5.3
Independent (Group F) 1. Tammy Greenhalgh (elected 4)
2. Craig Harvey
3. Paris Papell
4. Holly Whitaker
5. Jason Lyne
6. Melissa Hamling
2,917 12.2 −1.1
Independent (Group J) 1. Steven Peterson (elected 3)
2. Warwick Baines
3. Theodore Crane
4. Andrew Greig
5. Michael O'Mara
6. Nathan Sutherland
7. Anthony Solari
2,853 11.9 +1.5
Labor 1. Jeff Whitton (elected 5)
2. Heather Dunn
3. Addam Parish
4. Jack Carden
5. Charles Ginty
6. Julie Cunningham
2,049 8.6 +1.1
Independent (Group K) 1. Frances Kinghorne (elected 6)
2. Paula Townsend
3. Eunice Adetifa
4. Salvatore Sciuto
5. Thomas McCann
6. Patrick Raftery
1,914 8.0 +2.1
Independent (Group G) 1. Gerald Power (elected 7)
2. Tabitha McBurney
3. Ben Benton
4. Glenda Bell
5. Elizabeth Seccombe
6. Michael Seccombe
1,844 7.7 +4.1
Independent (Group D) 1. Melanie McDonell (elected 8)
2. Ken Freedman
3. Ben Bartlett
4. Chris Stanger
5. Granton Smith
6. Kate Curtin
1,786 7.5 −0.4
Greens 1. David Mallard (elected 10)
2. Sue Clarke
3. Jenny Pratten
4. Ben Parker
5. Liz Murrell
6. Haidee Edwards
1,560 6.5 −2.7
Independent (Group A) 1. Glenn Floyd
2. Gary Sanders
3. Kristen Hopcraft
4. Brock Anderson
5. William Moran
6. Peter Whelan
733 3.1 −9.2
Independent (Group H) 1. James Newman
2. Jason Wright
3. Beverley Williams
4. Annette Steele
5. Jannene Geoghegan
6. Azra Nurkic
640 2.7
Total formal votes 23,953 92.3
Informal votes 2,000 7.7
Turnout 25,953 84.3

2021

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Elected councillor Party
  Tony Mileto For Our Future
  Jack Evans For Our Future
  Tammy Greenhalgh Team Hamling
  Glenn Floyd SFF
  Steven Peterson Refresh Orange
  Kevin Duffy Independent
(Group F)
  David Mallard Greens
  Melanie McDonell McDonell Team
  Jeff Whitton Ind. Labor
  Frances Kinghorne ORRAP
  Gerald Power Independent
(Group I)
2021 New South Wales local elections: Orange[26][27][28][29]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
For Our Future 3,786 15.9
Team Hamling 3,155 13.3
Shooters, Fishers, Farmers 2,928 12.3
Refresh Orange 2,469 10.4
Independent (Group F) 2,351 9.9
Greens 2,185 9.2
McDonell Team 1,870 7.9
Independent Labor 1,786 7.5
Orange Residents and Ratepayers Association 1,408 5.9
Independent (Group I) 846 3.6
Independent Amanda Spalding 347 1.5
Independent Geoff Naughton 266 1.1
Independent Lesley Smith 192 0.8
Independent Scott Munro 105 0.4
Independent Josh Girle-Bennett 46 0.2
Total formal votes 23,740 93.4
Informal votes 1,684 6.6
Turnout 25,424 84.4

References

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  1. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (28 June 2022). "Orange (Local Government Area)". Australian Census 2021 QuickStats. Retrieved 28 June 2022.  
  2. ^ "Orange City Council". Division of Local Government. Archived from the original on 6 September 2006. Retrieved 24 November 2006.
  3. ^ "Wentworth and Reform Gold Mines". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H02004. Retrieved 18 February 2020.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  4. ^ "Uniting Church & Kindergarten Hall". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00419. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  5. ^ "Bowen Terrace". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00013. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  6. ^ "Union Bank of Australia (former)". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00230. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  7. ^ "Bloomfield Hospital". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01745. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  8. ^ "Orange Railway Station and yard group". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01218. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  9. ^ "Cook Park". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01998. Retrieved 18 February 2020.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  10. ^ "Berrilea". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00361. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  11. ^ "Orange Post Office". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H01416. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  12. ^ "Duntryleague with Lodge, Park, Gates, Stables". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Department of Planning & Environment. H00318. Retrieved 18 May 2018.   Text is licensed by State of New South Wales (Department of Planning and Environment) under CC BY 4.0 licence.
  13. ^ "PLACE NAMES". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 13 May 1964. p. 61. Retrieved 23 February 2011.
  14. ^ "MUNICIPALITY OF ORANGE". New South Wales Government Gazette. No. 6. New South Wales, Australia. 9 January 1860. p. 41. Retrieved 20 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ a b c "Municipality of Orange (1860–1946) / City of Orange (1946- )". NSW State Records. NSW Government. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  16. ^ "A municipality is born". The Central Western Daily. 17 February 2010. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  17. ^ "PROCLAMATION". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 183. New South Wales, Australia. 24 December 1912. p. 7513. Retrieved 20 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ "LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 1919.—PROCLAMATION". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 78. New South Wales, Australia. 19 July 1946. p. 1598. Retrieved 20 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ "Merger proposal: Blayney Shire Council, Cabonne Shire, Orange City Council" (PDF). Government of New South Wales. January 2016. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  20. ^ Davies, Anne; McKenny, Leesha; Neil, Dave (18 December 2015). "BREAKING NEWSOrange City Council to merge with Blayney and Cabonne". Central Western Daily. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  21. ^ "Orange City Council misses first round of council mergers" (Media Release). Orange City Council. 13 May 2016. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  22. ^ Nicholls, Sean; Visentin, Lisa (13 February 2017). "Orange-Cabonne-Blayney merger officially scrapped by premier". Central Western Daily. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  23. ^ "Orange City Council – Referendum". Local Government Elections 2012. Electoral Commission of New South Wales. 13 September 2012. Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2012. The Mayor of Orange is currently elected each year by the 12 Councillors. Do you approve of the direct election of the Mayor by the voters of Orange, for a four year term?
  24. ^ a b Green, Antony. "City of Orange". NSW Electoral Commission. Archived from the original on 6 March 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2023 – via ABC News.
  25. ^ Rurenga, Declan (7 September 2016). "John Davis re-elcted as mayor of Orange City Council; Cr Jason Hamling elected as deputy mayor". Central Western Daily. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  26. ^ "City of Orange". ABC News.
  27. ^ "2023 NSW Election: What Labor victory means for Orange electorate". Parkes Champion Post.
  28. ^ "Orange woman Heather Dunn is Labor's candidate for NSW State Election". Forbes Advocate.
  29. ^ "Orange branch secretary Addam Parish says Labor will take on Phil Donato". Central West Daily.
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