Local government is key for effective climate action

Green spaces, lower energy bills, walkable neighbourhoods, EV charging

Stronger local climate action benefits the whole community!

Electing a climate-friendly council will help with progress on:

• Enhancing green spaces, tree canopy cover and biodiversity
• Targeted support for solar PV and electrification to help lower energy bills
• Supporting cycling, walkable neighbourhoods and EV charging
• Reducing climate impacts and protecting our health

Local Government Elections

Victorian local government elections are being held this October by postal ballot.

Election Timetable 

• Monday Sept 9th – nominations open
• Wednesday Sept 19th – ballot draw
• Monday Oct 7th – ballot pack mailout begins
• Friday Nov 24th – ballot closes 6pm
• Friday Dec 15th – election results declared

Ask your Candidates anything!

RSVP to the Boroondara Candidates Forum, Tues, Oct 8th, online.

Bellevue Ward

Bellevue Ward is named after a street called Bellevue in the 1922 Camberwell City Heights subdivision. The estate was a strip of land from Doncaster Road to Koonung Creek, between Hill and Bulleen roads.

Bellevue Ward is represented by Cr Jim Parke

Cotham Ward

Cotham was a settlement founded in the early 1850s, near Wellington Street, east of Denmark Street which grew where the two roads met that crossed the Yarra River.

The roads then diverged and went to settlers along the river or due east along the Main Gippsland Road. Cotham was soon overshadowed by the larger village of Kew, also established in the 1850s, just north along the road to Bulleen, later called High Street. It had thriving shops, businesses and hotels by the 1860s,

Cotham Ward is represented by Cr Felicity Sinfeild, Deputy Mayor

Gardiner Ward

Gardiner Ward is in the southern part of Boroondara, around the intersection of Burke Rd and Toorak Rd/Burwood Hwy.

Gardiner Ward is represented by Cr Victor Franco

Glenferrie Ward

In the 1840s, Peter Ferrie’s property on the top of the Glenferrie Road and Toorak Road hill, became the name of the road which led to it.

The new Hawthorn municipality officially adopted the name in the early 1860s. The official name was also eventually adopted by Kew, where the road was known as Barkly, to honour the Victorian governor. The new railway station on Glenferrie Road in the 1880s took the name permanently to that area.

Glenferrie Ward is represented by Cr Wes Gault

Junction Ward

Camberwell Junction developed around the hotel licensed in 1857 by George Eastaway, which was built near where the main roads meet.

The area was formerly known as Red Gum Flat. Town Commons were set aside below, and a school, churches and Camberwell Town Hall built. The Junction shopping centre spread to, and beyond, the new railway station in the 1880s. The name recalls the original village established around the Camberwell Cross, or crossroads.

Junction Ward is represented by Cr Di Gillies

Lynden Ward

Hartwell village was subdivided in the early 1850s, and with its school and post office was briefly more important than Camberwell village.

Lynden takes its name from the road and park through long-time farming land generally known as Highfield. The first subdivision occurred after World War I, through a property belonging to the Boyd family, and named after trees.

Lynden Ward is represented by Cr Lisa Hollingsworth, Mayor

Maling Ward

Maling Ward takes its name from the road beside Canterbury Railway Station which ran through a large property owned by the Logan family. Councillor Mercy suggested that long-term Councillor and three-time Mayor, John Butler Maling be honoured in 1899, with a final section renamed in 1908.

The Maling Road part of the Canterbury Shopping Centre slowly became more important than Canterbury Road. By World War I, the two-storey row of shops, a theatre and hall and then the de-licensing of the large Canterbury Hotel increased the area’s importance. The area is now recognised and protected by Council as an important tourist precinct.

Maling Ward is represented by Cr Jane Addis

Maranoa Ward

Maranoa Ward takes it name from the native garden established by John Middleton Watson on land he bought in the early 1890s. He named the gardens Maranoa after a river in Queensland, from an Indigenous word meaning flowing, alive or running.

Mr Watson continued to buy land in the area, most of which later became Beckett Park. He began to create gardens on one side with Indigenous species from Australian and New Zealand.

Maranoa Ward is represented by Cr Cynthia Watson

Riversdale Ward

In the 1850s, there was a house called ‘Riversdale Cottage’ near the Yarra River and Powers Street, occupied by George Cuthbert. The house ‘Riversdale’ was built for paper manufacturer Thomas Kenny in 1857, and later demolished in 1983 for subdivision as  ‘The Riversdale Estate’ with Riversdale Court.

Riversdale Road was a government road east-west of the Yarra River in 1843. By 1853, it almost stretched the length of Boroondara. A row of grand houses had been established by 1860 on the south side with views of the river. Riversdale Road was gazetted on 4 September 1863, named for Thomas Kenny’s house.

Riversdale Ward is represented by Cr Susan Bigger

Solway Ward

Possibly named after a Scottish firth, and the name given to Camberwell’s post office in the southern part of the former Waverley Golf Links estate.

In the 1890s, a long timber bridge extended the railway over Gardiners Creek, similar in appearance to a bridge across the original firth. The Education Department acquired some of the land in 1929, and opened Darling East Primary School in 1950. The school was renamed Solway in 1956.

Solway Ward is represented by Cr Gary Thompson

Studley Ward

This name is associated with John Hodgson, the Kew pioneer responsible for the establishment of the Studley Punt in the 1840s. The punt took traffic across the river into land which was part of his squatting run known as Studley. Part of the area was used for quarrying, and volunteer army exercises took place there in the 1860s.

The road to the punt was known as Studley Park Road, and a bridge was later built there. Some of the land was set aside for public purposes by the mid-1950s, and is now a popular recreational area.

Studley Ward is represented by Cr Nick Stavrou.

Further information

Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC)

• VEC look up zoomable map with postcode entry point
• VEC’s page on Boroondara City Council with zoomable map and ward boundary change details
• Local Government Review – Final Report for Boroondara City Council

City of Boroondara

• About Boroondara Council wards page
• Mayor, councillors and wards page

Lighter Footprints

Going electric and energy efficiency

• Entertaining short video on electrification with home energy expert Tim Forcey
• Home energy assessments – summary blog
• Insulation and draught proofing – informative video highlights
• Health benefits of getting off gas – Dr Genevieve Cowie video highlights

Solar PV

• Solar information page
• Solar stories blog – community experiences

Tree Canopy

• Boroondara’s new Tree Canopy Strategy blog