City of Bankstown facts for kids

Quick facts for kids City of Bankstown New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Population	193,398 (2011 census) (15th)
• Density	2,374/km2 (6,150/sq mi)
Established	7 September 1895
Abolished	12 May 2016 (2016-05-12)
Area	76.8 km2 (29.7 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Mayor	Khal Asfour
Council seat	Bankstown
Region	Inner West
Website	City of Bankstown
LGAs around City of Bankstown: Strathfield City of Bankstown Canterbury Sutherland Hurstville

The City of Bankstown was a local government area in the south-west region of Sydney, Australia, centred on the suburb of Bankstown, from 1895 to 2016. The last mayor of the City of Bankstown Council was Clr Khal Asfour, a member of the Labor Party.

A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that the City of Bankstown merge with the City of Canterbury to form a new council with an area of 110 square kilometres (42 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 351,000. On 12 May 2016, the NSW Government announced that Bankstown would merge with the City of Canterbury to be known as the City of Canterbury-Bankstown.

Suburbs of the City of Bankstown

Suburbs and localities in the former local government area were:

Notes

History

District of Bankstown was named by Governor Hunter in 1797 in honour of botanist Sir Joseph Banks, who travelled to Australia with Captain James Cook in 1770. The area was discovered during an expedition of the Georges River by George Bass and Matthew Flinders. The area of first European settlement along the river has been partially preserved as part of the Mirrumbeena Regional Reserve. Bankstown also includes large areas of the Georges River National Park. Railway formed an important part of the development of Bankstown. After the extension of the railway from Belmore to Bankstown in the 1890s, rapid development of the area followed – so much so that the commercial centre of Bankstown moved from its former position in Irish Town (Now Yagoona) on Liverpool Road to the vicinity of Bankstown railway station.

In March 1895 a petition was submitted to the NSW Colonial Government by 109 residents of the Bankstown area, requesting the establishment of the "Municipal District of Bankstown" under the Municipalities Act, 1867. The petition was subsequently accepted and the Municipal District of Bankstown was proclaimed by Lieutenant Governor Sir Frederick Darley on 7 September 1895. The first six-member council, standing in one at-large constituency, was elected on 4 November 1895. With the passing of the Local Government Act 1906, the council area became known as the Municipality of Bankstown.

Bankstown's city status was proclaimed in 1980 in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the "City of Bankstown". On 12 May 2016, the City of Bankstown was merged with the City of Canterbury to form the Canterbury-Bankstown Council.

World War II

The Bankstown Bunker was an exact replica of the underground Ops rooms of wartime England, which directed Britain's air defence fighter plane attacks on the invading German Luftwaffe. Entrance to the bunker was obtained through a concrete passageway which was well screened by a grassy slope; a stairway led to a virtual maze of corridors and hallways leading to various sections. There were two points into to the bunker (escape hatches) which were guarded by military police, and access was gained via the bottom level.

The walls of the bunker could almost withstand a direct hit from a 300 pounds (140 kg) bomb.

Council seats

Council Chambers (1918)

The second Council Chambers on South Terrace, Bankstown, was the council seat from 1918 to 1963.

On 29 June 1918 the new Council Chambers building located on South Terrace south of the Bankstown railway station (now No. 9 Bankstown City Plaza) was officially opened by the mayor, A. Townsend. Completed to a cost of £4,000, the new Council Chambers building was designed by prominent architect and mayor of Kogarah, Charles Herbert Halstead, and built by A. G. Swane. At the time of opening the street frontage included a post office, and a branch of the Australian Bank of Commerce. This remained the Council's primary meeting place and offices until new offices in the Civic Centre to the north were completed in 1963.

Civic Centre and Council Chambers (1963)

By the early 1960s, Bankstown Council sought a new headquarters that would be able to accommodate a growing organisation as well as provide a new 'civic centre' for the Council area. In 1961, the council commissioned a modernist design by architect Kevin Curtin, which envisaged a complex of an Administration Building, a Council Chamber roundhouse, and a Town Hall with the capacity for 1,500 people, to be located on a large block north of the Bankstown railway station between Chapel Road, Rickard Road, Appian Way and The Mall. The Council Chambers was the first building completed and took the form of a roundhouse and was built by Monier Builders Pty Ltd, with the interior fittings and furniture designed by Maison Paul Pty Ltd of Greenacre, featuring timberwork in Queensland walnut timber (Endiandra palmerstonii). The consulting engineers for the project were M. G. Bull (structural) and John R. Wallis, Spratt & Associates (electrical and mechanical).

Administration building

The administration building was officially opened on 2 December 1963. It was built to house the majority of council's staff and departments, and was a two-storey square block with an external colonnade and basement level for parking. The rates, health & building, and Town Clerk's departments were located on the ground floor, while the upper floor contained the engineering and planning departments. The building's main lobby featured a mosaic mural by Michael Santry depicting the history of Bankstown, in addition to marble-clad columns, timber panelling, and terrazzo floors. In 1964, the exterior lighting of the Civic Centre received an award for meritorious lighting from the Australian Illuminating Engineering Society. In 1966 a new fountain, the "Dane Fountain", was unveiled outside the building to commemorate the service of H. W. Dane as administrator of the council.

The 'Spirit of Botany' in its second location in front of Bankstown Town Hall.

On Tuesday 1 July 1997, a fire in the building, caused by a spark from maintenance works to bring the building up to modern standards, resulted in the complete destruction of the Administration Building, along with a large number of council records and historical items. With the Council offices relocated to the nearby Bankstown Civic Tower, the remains of the Administration Building were cleared and its site became the location for a new central park which was officially named Paul Keating Park on 13 June 2000.

Spirit of Botany

In 1963, as part of the works to complete the new Bankstown Civic Centre, the council commissioned sculptor Alan Ingham to create a memorial statue to Sir Joseph Banks. Ingham accepted on the basis that he would create a statue that would be to the 'spirit of botany', a more abstract representation of Banks' work in the field, that would blend with the modernist style of the new Civic Centre: "It would be controversial and create far more interest than a statue of the man". The cast aluminium statue was officially unveiled on 7 April 1964 atop a base of rocks. When the Town Hall was completed in 1973, the statue was moved to the Town Hall forecourt as part of a fountain. In 2012 as part of the Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre project the statue was moved again to a more prominent location further south at the south-western corner of Paul Keating Park.

The Bankstown Town Hall, pictured in 2010 before the right section was demolished in 2013 for the new library.

Town hall

The final element of the Civic Centre to be completed was the town hall, designed as a theatre for 1,500 people, at the north-western end of the site. It was officially opened on 30 June 1973 by Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. The Town Hall project was overseen by Civil and Civic (a Lendlease subsidiary). In 2013, the Town Hall was upgraded and redeveloped as part of the Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre project to become a 300-seat theatre named the "Bryan Brown Theatre", with the eastern side demolished and replaced by a new Library and "Knowledge Centre".

Civic Tower

Bankstown Civic Tower, opened in 1990, was the primary offices of Bankstown council from 1997–2016. It is now the offices of the City of Canterbury Bankstown.

In 1989, Council commissioned a new 14-storey "Civic Tower" office building at 66-72 Rickard Road to accommodate additional council staff, state government agencies, and rented office space. With construction beginning in 1990, the tower was complete by 1991. The Civic Tower became the primary Council offices from 1997 to 1999 following the destruction of the Administration Building.

Demographics

At the 2011 Census, there were 182,352 people in the Bankstown local government area, of these 49.3% were male and 50.7% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.8% of the population. The median age of people in the City of Bankstown was 35 years, which is slightly lower than the national median of 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.7% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 52.1% were married and 11.0% were either divorced or separated.

Population growth in the City of Bankstown between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 3.43%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 6.96%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Bankstown local government area was approximately 75% of the national average. The median weekly income for residents within the City of Bankstown was slightly lower than the national average.

At the 2011 Census, the proportion of residents in the Bankstown local government area who stated their ancestry as Lebanese, was in excess of eight times the national average. The proportion of residents who stated an affiliation with Islam was in excess of eleven times the national average. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, the area was linguistically diverse, with Arabic or Vietnamese languages spoken in 30% of households, both languages approximately seven times the national averages.

Selected historical census data for Bankstown local government area
Census year			2001	2006	2011
Population		Estimated residents on Census night	164,841	170,489	182,352
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales			6th
		% of New South Wales population			2.64%
		% of Australian population	0.88%	0.86%	0.85%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			15.2%
		Lebanese			14.9%
		English			12.5%
		Vietnamese			7.2%
		Chinese			6.3%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Arabic	13.6%	19.3%	21.2%
		Vietnamese	7.2%	8.3%	9.1%
		Greek	4.1%	3.8%	3.6%
		Cantonese	3.0%	3.2%	3.2%
		Mandarin	n/c	1.9%	2.3%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	31.1%	29.6%	28.0%
		Islam	11.9%	15.2%	19.1%
		Anglican	15.5%	12.5%	10.2%
		Eastern Orthodox	8.7%	8.6%	8.5%
		No Religion	6.3%	7.1%	8.3%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$372	A$428
		% of Australian median income		79.8%	74.2%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$926	A$1,228
		% of Australian median income		90.2%	82.9%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,069	A$1,091
		% of Australian median income		91.3%	88.4%

Council

Bankstown Council Chambers, designed in 1963 by Kevin J. Curtin & Partners, adjacent to Paul Keating Park in Bankstown, was the council seat from 1963 to 2016. It is now the seat of the City of Canterbury Bankstown, and was the location of the first council meeting on 24 May 2016.

Final composition and election method

Bankstown City Council was composed of twelve councillors elected proportionally as four separate wards, each electing three councillors. All councillors were elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor was elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council. The most recent and last election was held on 8 September 2012, and the makeup of the council prior to its abolition was as follows:

Mayors and General Managers

Mayors

Town clerks and general managers

Geography

The former Bankstown City region was approximately 76 square kilometres (29 sq mi) and had a population density of about 21.46 people per hectare. The boundaries of the former Bankstown City were, clockwise, the Prospect water supply pipeline and Liverpool Road (also known as Hume Highway) along the north, Roberts Road, Juno Parade, Koala Road, Punchbowl Road, Canterbury Road and the Salt Pan Creek along the east, the Georges River in the south and the Georges River, Prospect Creek, the Hume Highway and Woodville Road along the west. Salt Pan Creek is a saltmarsh and mangrove swamp that extends from Canterbury Road to Georges River.

Paul Keating Park, in the centre of Bankstown, stands on the old site of the Council Administration building, which burned down in an accidental fire in 1997. The Park is used for a variety of concerts and festivals (including the annual Bankstown Christmas Carols), and is otherwise a large playing field. Nowadays, all of the Council operations are contained in the Civic Tower, adjacent to the Park. Bankstown Town Hall faces opposite.

Bankstown Civic Tower, home to the Bankstown City Council

The three-storey complex of Central Bankstown Library, opened in 1983.

Parks

Bankstown had 293 parks covering 730 hectares (1,800 acres) within its city limits. There are 41 sports grounds, 12 community parks and 18 natural parklands. In the CBD, major parks include Bankstown Oval, McLeod Reserve, Paul Keating Park and Bankstown City Gardens. Other major parks include Mirambeena Regional Park, The Crest, Middleton Park, O'Neill Park, Terry Lamb Complex, Garrison Point, Jensen Oval and the extensive parklands around Georges River, among others. The entrance to Georges River National Park is also located within the city.

Libraries

The Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre next to the Town Hall, designed by Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp, was opened in 2013.

In 1946, Bankstown became the first municipality in Western Sydney to adopt the Library Act, 1939 by opening a Children's Library, located at Restwell Street. A central branch library was established on The Mall in Bankstown in 1954, followed by a mobile library service from 1955. In 1958–1961, three more branch libraries were opened in Chester Hill, Greeacre and Padstow, followed by a branch in Panania in 1968. The original Bankstown City Library was demolished in 1981 to make way for a much larger 2700sqm facility, which officially opened on 28 May 1983.

In 2013, the Bankstown City Library was closed when the new "Bankstown Library and Knowledge Centre" next to the Town Hall was officially opened. Designed by architects Francis-Jones Morehen Thorp (FJMT), the new library has been praised by the NSW Government Architect as a "reference for better design quality across the town centre" and as having "expanded the traditional idea of what a public library is, becoming a welcoming and socially engaging community hub". In 2015 the design received the Australian Institute of Architects Emil Sodersten Award for Interior Architecture, the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW Chapter) John Verge Award for Interior Architecture and Commendation for Public Architecture.

Sister cities

Sister Cities of Bankstown include:

• Broken Hill, a city in remote New South Wales. Bankstown signed its first Sister City Agreement with Broken Hill on 16 September 1986.
• Suita, Osaka, Japan. Bankstown signed its first international Sister City agreement with Suita City, Japan, in March 1989.
• Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States. Colorado students in Bankstown signed a new Sister City Agreement with Colorado Springs, home of the United States Olympic Committee, on 13 July 2001.
• Yangcheon-gu City, Seoul, South Korea. In 1997, Bankstown signed a Friendship Agreement with Yangcheon-gu City in South Korea, resulting in the establishment of youth exchanges and the sharing of information between both local authorities. During a tour in 2001, Bankstown Council delegates met with Korean officials to discuss ways of promoting Bankstown companies with a view to creating new export markets. The Cities exchanged details of Management Planning Processes and inspections of community facilities took place in Yangcheon. A Sister City Agreement was subsequently signed with Yangcheon City in September 2002.
• Shijiazhuang, Hebei, China. In February 2000 a friendship agreement was made between Shijiazhuang City and Bankstown. The friendship agreement signifies that the two cities are exploring the possibility of venturing into a sister city agreement.

Crest and logo

In 1963, to coincide with the official opening of the new Bankstown Civic Centre, Bankstown Council adopted a new civic badge to serve as the primary visual symbol of the council. It took the form of a royal blue and gold heraldic shield quartered into four fields by a white cross charged with a golden lion passant guardant from the Coat of Arms of New South Wales. The top left corner included a Southern Cross to represent Australia; A mace and mayoral chain in the top right corner to represent authority; A stork on an oak stump sprouting new branches in the bottom right corner and a fleur-de-lis in the bottom left corner are both taken from the coat of arms of Sir Joseph Banks, as are the blue and gold colours and white cross. A simple crown on top of the shield represents the monarchy of Queen Elizabeth II. The crest formed the primary logo of the council until 1995 when a logo featuring the 'Spirit of Botany' statue was adopted, which remained in use until the council's end in 2016.

The coat of arms of Sir Joseph Banks as granted in 1803.	The 'crest' of Bankstown Council, as adopted in 1963.	The 'Spirit of Botany' statue unveiled in 1964.	The 'Spirit of Botany' logo adopted in 1995