# City of Kingston

The City of Kingston is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, its northern boundary lying approximately 15 km from the Melbourne city centre along the north-eastern shorelines of Port Phillip. It covers an area of 91 km² and has an estimated population of 163,431 people.

## History

The City of Kingston area was originally governed by the Moorabbin Roads Board, which formed in 1862 and became a shire council in 1871, covering a large area of mixed agricultural and semi-urban land. After years of agitation, in 1917 the seaside town of Sandringham became a borough with its own council, and this fuelled the desire of those living in towns further south to combine their efforts and demand self-representation. This finally occurred in May 1920 and the "Borough of Mordialloc and Mentone" was formed. It became a town in 1923 and the City of Mordialloc in 1926.
The City of Moorabbin had a population of 109,588 by the time of the 1971 census.
In 1994, the state government amalgamated local councils all over Victoria, as part of its local government reform. The new City of Kingston was one result, and on 15 December 1994 the City was formally Gazetted comprising all of the City of Chelsea, most of the City of Mordialloc, a substantial portion of the City of Moorabbin, and parts of the Cities of Oakleigh and Springvale.
A new electoral structure for Kingston was effected in November 2008. Under the new structure there are three wards – North Ward, Central Ward and South Ward, and three Councillors representing each ward. This makes a total of nine Councillors, instead of the previous structure of seven wards each represented by one Councillor, and as of November 2020 there are 11 wards each individually represented by a ward councillor.
Kingston's headquarters are located at the 7-storey '1230 Nepean Hwy' building, which has become a landmark to Cheltenham as well as the council. The A-Grade office building was built in 1993.

## Schools

Primary education
* Aspendale Gardens Primary School
* Aspendale Primary School
* Bonbeach Primary School
* Carrum Primary School
* Chelsea Primary School
* Chelsea Heights Primary School
* Cheltenham East Primary School
* Clarinda Primary School
* Clayton South Primary School
* Dingley Primary School
* Edithvale Primary School
* Kingston Heath Primary School
* Kingswood Primary School
* Le Page Primary School
* Mentone Primary School
* Mentone Park Primary School
* Mordialloc Beach Primary School
* Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School
* Parktone Primary School
* Parkdale Primary School
* Patterson Lakes Primary School
* Southmoor Primary School
* St Andrew's Catholic Primary School
* St Brigid's Catholic Primary School
* St Catherines Catholic Primary School
* St John Vianney's Catholic Primary School
* St Joseph's Catholic Primary School
* St Louis De Montforts Catholic Primary School
* St Mark's Primary School
* St Patrick's Catholic Primary School
* Westall Primary School
Secondary education
* Cheltenham Secondary College
* Kilbreda College
* Mentone Girls' Secondary College
* Mordialloc Secondary College
* Parkdale Secondary College
* St Bede's Catholic College
* Westall Secondary College
Primary and secondary education
* Mentone Girls' Grammar School
* Mentone Grammar School

## Townships and localities

The city had a population of 158,129 at the 2021 census, up from 151,389 in the 2016 census.
Population :
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Aspendale | 6,940 | 7,285 |
| Aspendale Gardens | 6,530 | 6,427 |
| Bonbeach | 6,416 | 6,855 |
| Braeside | 21 | 25 |
| Carrum | 3,980 | 4,239 |
| Chelsea | 7,773 | 8,347 |
| Chelsea Heights | 5,335 | 5,393 |
| Cheltenham^ | 22,291 | 23,992 |
| Clarinda | 7,481 | 7,441 |
| Clayton South | 12,642 | 13,381 |
| Dingley Village | 10,320 | 10,495 |
| Edithvale | 5,806 | 6,276 |
| Heatherton | 2,907 | 2,826 |
| Highett^ | 10,454 | 12,016 |
| Mentone | 12,965 | 13,197 |
| Moorabbin | 5,895 | 6,287 |
| Moorabbin Airport | 0 | 26 |
| Mordialloc | 8,166 | 8,886 |
| Oakleigh South^ | 9,261 | 9,851 |
| Parkdale | 11,746 | 12,308 |
| Patterson Lakes | 7,564 | 7,793 |
| Waterways | 2,461 | 2,422 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA

## Railway stations

* Aspendale
** Aspendale railway station – April 1891
* Bonbeach
** Bonbeach railway station – February 1927
* Carrum
** Carrum railway station – August 1882
* Chelsea
** Chelsea railway station – February 1907
* Cheltenham
** Cheltenham railway station – December 1881
** Southland railway station – November 2017
* Clayton South
** Westall railway station – February 1951
* Edithvale
** Edithvale railway station – September 1919
* Highett
** Highett railway station – December 1881
* Mentone
** Mentone railway station – December 1881
* Moorabbin
** Moorabbin railway station – December 1881
* Mordialloc
** Mordialloc railway station – December 1881
* Parkdale
** Parkdale railway station – September 1919

## Library services

The City of Kingston operates nine free council run libraries.

### Major branches

* Chelsea
* Cheltenham
* Clarinda
* Parkdale
* Westall

### Minor branches

* Dingley
* Highett
* Moorabbin
* Patterson Lakes

## Sport and recreation facilities

The City of Kingston operates two swimming and recreation centres:
* The Waves Leisure Centre which has a 50-metre swimming pool, spa, gym and separate wave pool.
* The Don Tatnell Leisure Centre which has a 25-metre swimming pool, spa and gym (closed as of 2021 due to structural damage).
The Kennedy Community Centre, the future training and administrative base of the Hawthorn Football Club, is located in Dingley Village.

## Council structure
### Corporate management

* Chief Executive Officer, Peter Bean
* General Manager, Customer & Corporate Support, Dan Hogan
       Advocacy, Engagement & Communications
       Customer Experience
       Governance
       Information Services & Strategy
       People Support
* General Manager Planning and Development, Jonathan Guttmann
       City Development
       City Strategy
       City Economy & Innovation
       Compliance & Amenity
* General Manager Organisational City Assets and Environment, Samantha Krull
       Active Kingston
       City Works
       Infrastructure
       Open Space
       Project Management Office
* General Manager Community Sustainability, Sally Jones
       AccessCare
       Arts, Events & Libraries
       Family, Youth & Children's Services
       Inclusive Communities
* Chief Financial Officer, Bernard Rohan
       Finance
       Procurement
       Property

## Council services

The council has an annual budget of $245 million (2021–22), with works involving areas such as road maintenance and construction, community, cultural and youth activities, town planning and development, waste management and recycling, maintenance of parks and public areas, public health and animal control, library services, and business and tourism support.

## Election results

As of November 2020 there are 11 wards each individually represented by a ward councillor. All wards elected councillors at the 2024 election.

### Current elected representatives

| Ward | Party | Councillor | Notes |
| Banksia | Independent | Chris Howe | |
| Bunjil | Independent Labor | Tony Athanasopoulos |
| Caruana | Independent | Caroline White | 2022 Senate candidate for Liberal Democrats |
| Chicquita | Independent | Jane Agirtan | Formerly Liberal Party |
| Como | Independent | Chris Hill | |
| Karkarook | Independent Labor | Hadi Saab | |
| Longbeach | Independent Labor | Georgina Oxley | |
| Melaleuca | Independent | Tess Law | |
| Sandpiper | Independent | Kirralee Ashworth-Collett | |
| Wattle | Independent Freedom Party | Georgia Erevnidis | 2022 Freedom Party of Victoria candidate for Carrum |
| Yammerbrook | Independent | Sarah O’Connell | 2022 Liberal Democrats candidate for Isaacs |

## Councillors and Mayors 1997 - 2024

* Greg Alabaster 1997 – 2000 / 2005 - 2008
* Ron Brownlees OAM 1997 – 2000 / 2000 – 2003 / 2008 – 2012 / 2012 – 2016 / 2016 – 2020 (Mayor: 1998-99, 2010-11 & 2012-13)
* Di Comtesse 1997 - 2000
* Lesley McGurgan 1997 – 2000 (Mayor: 1999-2000)
* Bill Nixon OAM 1997 – 2000 / 2003 – 2005 / 2005 – 2008 (Mayor: 1997-98 & 2007-08)
* John Ronke 1997 – 2000 / 2000 – 2003 / 2005 – 2008 / 2008 – 2012 / 2012 – 2016 (Mayor: 2011-12)
* Dalene Salisbury 1997 – 2000
* Arthur Athanasopoulos 2000 – 2003 / 2003 – 2005 / 2005 – 2008 / 2008 – 2012 (Mayor: 2000-01, 2003–04, March – December 2004, 2008–09)
* Elizabeth Larking 2000 – 2003 / 2003 – 2005 (Mayor: 2001-02)
* David Normington 2000-2001
* Topsy Petchey OAM 2000 – 2003 / 2003 – 2005 / 2005 – 2008 (Mayor: 2002-03, 2004–05, 2005-06 & 2006-07)
* Joanna van Klaveren 2000 - 2005
* Trevor Shewan 2001 - 2003 / 2008 – 2012
* Andrew Adams 2003 - 2005
* Rosemary West OAM 2003 – 2005 / 2005 – 2008 / 2008 – 2012 / 2012 – 2016 / 2016 – 2020
* Justin McKeegan 2005 – 2008
* Donna Bauer 2008 – 2010
* Lew Dundas 2008 – 2012
* Paul Peulich 2008 – 2012 / 2012 – 2016 (Mayor: 2013-14)
* Steve Staikos 2008 – 2012 / 2012 – 2016 / 2016 – 2020 / 2020 – 2024 (Mayor 2009-10, 2017–18, 2020-21 & 2021-22)
* Dan Maloney 2011 – 2012
* Tamara Barth 2012 – 2016 / 2016 – 2020
* Geoff Gledhill 2012 – 2016 / 2016 – 2020 (Mayor: 2014-15)
* Tamsin Bearsley 2012 – 2016 / 2016 – 2020 / 2020 – 2024 (Mayor: 2015-16)
* David Eden 2012 – 2016 / 2016 – 2020 / 2020 – 2024 (Mayor: 2016-17)
* George Hua 2016 – 2020 / 2020 – 2024
* Georgina Oxley 2016 – 2020 / 2020 – 2024 (Mayor: 2018-19 & 2019-20)
* Tim Cochrane 2020 – 2024
* Jenna Davey Burns 2020 – 2024 (Mayor: 2023-24)
* Tracey Davies 2020 – 2024
* Chris Hill 2020 – 2024
* Cameron Howe 2020 – 2024
* Hadi Saab 2020 – 2024 (Mayor: 2022-23)