Inner West Council: History
In the early 2010s, the New South Wales Government explored merging various local government areas to create larger councils within Sydney. In 2013, the Independent Local Government Review Panel (ILGRP) initially proposed a merger of the six inner west councils - Burwood, Strathfield, Canada Bay, Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville, into a single council that would govern almost all of the inner west region. Alternative mergers were also proposed, such as one between Auburn, Burwood and Canada Bay, or between Burwood, Canada Bay, Strathfield and Ashfield. The final proposal in the 2015 review of local government boundaries recommended that the Municipality of Ashfield, the Municipality of Leichhardt and the Marrickville Council merge to form a new council with an area of 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) and support a population of approximately 186,000. On 12 May 2016, Ashfield Council, Marrickville Council and the Municipality of Leichhardt merged to form the Inner West Council.
The Inner West Council was the first local authority in Sydney to end Australia Day celebrations, from 2020.
In December 2021, a majority of voters in the Inner West LGA voted in favour of reversing the 2016 merger and separating the three pre-existing councils of Ashfield, Leichhardt and Marrickville. The final declared results were: 62% yes and 38% no.
In 2022, the council prepared a business case for de-amalgamation. In December 2022, Inner West Council prepared and submitted a final submission to the NSW Minister for Local Government.
However in March 2024, the Minister for Local Government received the NSW Local Government Boundaries Commission's report regarding the Council's business case for de-amalgamation. The report recommended that the proposed de-amalgamation of Inner West Council should not proceed, stating this would be the best outcome for residents and ratepayers of the current local government area.