City of Penrith

City of Penrith New South Wales
Population:	180,766 (2008)[1]
• Density:	446/km² (1,155.1/sq mi)
Established:	1871
Area:	404.9 km² (156.3 sq mi)
Mayor:	Kevin Crameri
Council Seat:	Penrith
Region:	Metropolitan Sydney
State District:	Penrith, Londonderry, Mulgoa, Smithfield
Federal Division:	Lindsay, Chifley, Prospect, Greenway
Website: http://www.penrithcity.nsw.gov.au
LGAs around City of Penrith: Hawkesbury Hawkesbury Hawkesbury Blue Mountains City of Penrith Blacktown Wollondilly Liverpool Fairfield

The City of Penrith is a Local Government Area located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

History

The Municipality of Penrith was incorporated on 12 May 1871 under the Municipalities Act 1858. On 3 March 1890, St Marys was separately incorporated, and on 26 July 1893 and 9 September 1895, Mulgoa and Castlereagh followed respectively. In 1913, Mulgoa became the "A" Riding of the neighbouring Nepean Shire.^[2]

On 1 January 1949, the Municipalities of Penrith, St Marys and Castlereagh and part of the Nepean Shire amalgamated to form a new Municipality of Penrith. It was declared a City on 21 October 1959, and expanded westwards to include Emu Plains and Emu Heights, formerly part of the City of Blue Mountains, on 25 October 1963.^[2]

Demographics

The City of Penrith's overall medians on the key measures of advantage/disadvantage, unemployment and income vary little from metropolitan Sydney's median. The 2006 SEIFA index was 999.4 for the City overall, whilst the median individual and household incomes ($517 and $1,147 respectively) are almost the same as metropolitan Sydney's ($518 and $1,166). However, the median age of the City's residents was 32 compared to 35 in metropolitan Sydney, and more Penrith residents by proportion had TAFE certificates (55.8% vs 40.1%), whilst less held bachelor or higher degrees (18.4% vs 35.0%).^[3][4]

At census district level, the SEIFA scores in Penrith ranged from 769 (2nd percentile) to 1167 (96th percentile). The lowest scores were in St Marys in the east whilst the highest were in Glenmore Park and Orchard Hills in the south.^[5]

Suburbs and localities

• Agnes Banks (shared with Hawkesbury)
• Badgerys Creek (shared with Liverpool)
• Berkshire Park
• Cambridge Gardens
• Cambridge Park
• Castlereagh
• Claremont Meadows
• Colyton
• Cranebrook
• Emu Heights
• Emu Plains
• Erskine Park
• Glenmore Park
• Jamisontown
• Kemps Creek (shared with Liverpool)
• Kingswood
• Leonay
• Llandilo
• Londonderry
• Luddenham (shared with Liverpool)
• Mount Vernon
• Mulgoa
• North St Marys
• Orchard Hills
• Oxley Park
• Penrith (administrative centre)
• Regentville
• St Clair
• St Marys
• South Penrith
• Wallacia (shared with Liverpool and Wollondilly)
• Werrington
• Werrington County
• Werrington Downs

Wards and structure

The City is divided into three wards, each electing five councillors. The mayor is not directly elected.^[6]

Current council

The current makeup of the council is as follows:^[6]

The current council, elected in 2008, is:^[6]

Sister cities

Since it signed its first agreement with Fujieda, Japan in 1984, Penrith City has gradually expanded its sister cities and international links programme. Presently Penrith has links with:

• Penrith, Cumbria, England - Sister City
• Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan - Sister City
• Hakusan City (incorporating Matto City), Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan - Friendship City
• Kunshan, Jiangsu Province, China - Friendship City
• Xicheng District of Beijing City, China - Mutual Co-operation Agreement
• Gangseo-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea - Mutual Co-operation Agreement

The partnerships enable educational, business and cultural links between the cities.

Media

The City of Penrith has three major newspapers (Western Weekender, Penrith Star and Penrith Press) and three radio stations (VINTAGE 87.6 FM, FUSION 87.8 FM and Cool Country 2KA).

References

External links

• Penrith City Council website

Coordinates: 33°45′S 150°42′E / 33.75°S 150.7°E / -33.75; 150.7