# City of Whitehorse

The City of Whitehorse is a local government area in Victoria, Australia in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It has an area of 64.3 km$^2$ (25 sq mi) and an estimated residential population of 171,167 as of June 2021.

## History

The City of Whitehorse was created in December 1994 following the amalgamation of the former cities of Box Hill and Nunawading. The municipality derives its name and logo from The White Horse Hotel, a popular coaching inn located on the corner of Elgar Road and Whitehorse Road. After its demolition in 1933, the Council acquired the horse and porch from the hotel, and they were erected on Whitehorse Road. In 1986, the monument was relocated to Box Hill Town Hall and a replica was erected in its place.
The City of Whitehorse was originally planned to be formed from the merger of the City of Box Hill and the eastern part of the City of Camberwell.

## Council

The City of Whitehorse is divided into eleven wards: Cootamundra, Eley, Elgar, Kingsley, Lake, Mahoneys, Simpson, Sparks, Terrara, Walker and Wattle. One Councillor is elected to represent each ward, every four years. Council elections are conducted by postal voting and votes are counted using instant-runoff voting. Voting is compulsory for residents who are on the electoral roll for state elections, but voters aged 70 years or over are not obliged to vote at local council elections. The Mayor and Deputy Mayor are elected by the Councillors to serve as the principal ambassador for the city for a twelve-month term.
The current council was elected in November 2024, and its composition is:
| Party | Party | Councillors |
| | Independent | 8 |
| | Independent Liberal | 2 |
| | Independent Labor | 1 |
| Total | Total | 11 |
| Ward | Party | Councillor | Notes |
| Cootamundra | Independent | Kieran Simpson | |
| Eley | Independent | Daniel Griffiths | |
| Elgar | Independent | Blair Barker | |
| Kingsley | Independent Liberal | Kirsten Langford | |
| Lake | Independent Labor | Hayley Weller | |
| Mahoneys | Independent | Jason Martin | |
| Simpson | Independent | Prue Cutts | Deputy Mayor |
| Sparks | Independent | Peter Allan | |
| Terrara | Independent | Jarrod Gunn | |
| Walker | Independent | Ben Stennett | |
| Wattle | Independent Liberal | Andrew Davenport | Mayor |

## Past councillors
### 2000−2020 (multi-member wards)

Whitehorse comprised five two-member wards until 2020, when they were replaced by single-member wards.
| Year | Central | Central | Central | Central | Elgar | Elgar | Elgar | Elgar | Morack | Morack | Morack | Morack | Riversdale | Riversdale | Riversdale | Riversdale | Springfield | Springfield | Springfield | Springfield |
| Year | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor | Councillor |
| 2000 | | Jessie McCallum (Ind) | | Peter Allan (Ind) | | Bernie Millane (Ind) | | Robert Chong (Ind) | | Bill Bowie (Ind) | | Noel Spurr (Ind) | | Helen Buckingham (Ind) | | Richard Anderson (Ind) | | Chris Aubrey (Ind) | | Kaele Way (Ind) |
| 2003 | | Jessie McCallum (Ind) | | Peter Allan (Ind) | | Bernie Millane (Ind) | | Robert Chong (Ind) | | Bill Bowie (Ind) | | George Droutsas (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | John Koutras (Ind) | | Chris Aubrey (Ind) | | Sharon Patridge (Ind) |
| 2004 | | Haley Weller (Ind) | | Peter Allan (Ind) | | Bernie Millane (Ind) | | Robert Chong (Ind) | | Bill Bowie (Ind) | | George Droutsas (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | John Koutras (Ind) | | Chris Aubrey (Ind) | | Sharon Patridge (Ind) |
| 2005 | | Haley Weller (Ind) | | Peter Allan (Ind) | | Helen Harris (Ind) | | Robert Chong (Ind) | | Bill Bowie (Ind) | | George Droutsas (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | John Koutras (Ind) | | Chris Aubrey (Ind) | | Pauline Richards (Labor) |
| 2006 | | Haley Weller (Ind) | | Peter Allan (Ind) | | Helen Harris (Ind) | | Robert Chong (Ind) | | Bill Bowie (Ind) | | George Droutsas (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | John Koutras (Ind) | | Chris Aubrey (Ind) | | Ben Stennett (Ind) |
| 2008 | | Andrew Munroe (Liberal) | | Bill Pemberton (Ind) | | Helen Harris (Ind) | | Robert Chong (Ind) | | Mark Lane (Liberal) | | Raylene Carr (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | John Koutras (Ind) | | Phillip Daw (Ind) | | Ben Stennett (Ind) |
| 2012 | | Andrew Munroe (Liberal) | | Denise Massoud (Liberal) | | Helen Harris (Ind) | | Robert Chong (Ind) | | Bill Bennett (Ind) | | Raylene Carr (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | Andrew Davenport (Liberal) | | Phillip Daw (Ind) | | Ben Stennett (Ind) |
| 2016 | | Andrew Munroe (Liberal) | | Denise Massoud (Liberal) | | Tanya Tescher (Liberal) | | Tina Liu (Ind) | | Bill Bennett (Ind) | | Raylene Carr (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | Andrew Davenport (Liberal) | | Prue Cutts (Ind) | | Ben Stennett (Ind) |
| 2017 | | Andrew Munroe (Liberal) | | Denise Massoud (Liberal) | | Blair Barker (Liberal) | | Tina Liu (Ind) | | Bill Bennett (Ind) | | Raylene Carr (Ind) | | Sharon Ellis (Ind) | | Andrew Davenport (Liberal) | | Prue Cutts (Ind) | | Ben Stennett (Ind) |

## Townships and localities

The 2021 Census counted 169,346 residents in the City of Whitehorse, up from 162,078 in 2016.
Population :
| Locality | 2016 | 2021 |
| Balwyn North^ | 20,406 | 21,302 |
| Blackburn | 13,940 | 14,478 |
| Blackburn North | 7,436 | 7,627 |
| Blackburn South | 10,793 | 10,939 |
| Box Hill | 11,395 | 14,353 |
| Box Hill North | 11,874 | 12,337 |
| Box Hill South | 8,434 | 8,491 |
| Burwood^ | 15,019 | 15,147 |
| Burwood East | 10,273 | 10,675 |
| Forest Hill | 10,626 | 10,780 |
| Mitcham | 16,148 | 16,795 |
| Mont Albert^ | 4,840 | 4,948 |
| Mont Albert North | 5,503 | 5,609 |
| Nunawading^ | 11,876 | 12,413 |
| Surrey Hills^ | 13,605 | 13,655 |
| Vermont^ | 10,442 | 10,993 |
| Vermont South | 11,678 | 11,954 |
^ - Territory divided with another LGA

## Major thoroughfares

* Blackburn Road (State Route 13)
* Boronia Road (State Route 36)
* Burwood Highway (State Route 26)
* Canterbury Road (State Route 32)
* Elgar Road (B970)
* Eastern Freeway (M3)
* Highbury Road
* Maroondah Highway (Whitehorse Road) (State Route 34)
* Middleborough Road (State Route 23)
* Mitcham Road (State Route 36)
* Riversdale Road (State Route 20)
* Springvale Road (State Route 40)
* Station Street (State Route 47)
* Surrey Road (State Route 13)
* Warrigal Road (State Route 15)

## Culture

Neighbours is filmed in Vermont South; Pin Oak Court is the real cul-de-sac that has doubled for Ramsay Street since 1985. All of the houses featured in the show are real and the residents allow Neighbours to shoot external scenes in their front and back yards and on occasions, in their garages. Owing to its association with the show, Pin Oak Court has become popular with tourists; Tours to the cul-de-sac run throughout the year. The interior scenes are filmed at the Global Television studios in the adjacent suburb of Forest Hill.
Box Hill has variously supported an eponymous brass band since 1889.

## Sister city relations

On 12 May 1971, the City of Box Hill established a sister city relationship with Matsudo, in Chiba, Japan. In December 1994, when Box Hill amalgamated with Nunawading, the City of Whitehorse re-affirmed its relationship with Matsudo.
In April 2005, the City of Whitehorse signed a Memorandum of Friendship and Understanding with Shaoxing, in Zhejiang, China. The Memorandum of Friendship and Understanding aims to foster international liaisons and links and facilitate the exchange of information and personal visits, as well as to strengthen economic, tourism and educational connections between the two cities through sharing knowledge and cultural understanding.

## Libraries

All libraries in the City of Whitehorse are operated by the Whitehorse Manningham Regional Library Corporation, which also has 4 branches in the City of Manningham
* Nunawading LibraryBlackburn Library – Located at Cnr Blackburn and Central Roads, Blackburn.
* Box Hill Library – Located at 1040 Maroondah Highway, Box Hill.
* Nunawading Library – Located at 379 Maroondah Highway, Nunawading.
* Vermont South Library – Located at Pavey Place, Vermont South.