City of Perth: History
In 1829, Captain James Stirling founded Perth as part of the Swan River Colony. A Perth Town Trust was formed in 1838, but remained largely non-functional for many years due to lack of finance and administrative capacity leading to its dissolution in 1858. The City of Perth was officially declared on 23 September 1856 with council meeting for the first time in December 1858. In 1871, the City of Perth was reconstituted as a municipal corporation.
In 1915, following the efforts of WE Bold and the greater Perth movement, the city absorbed the Municipality of North Perth (1901) and the Municipality of Leederville (1895), and on 1 November 1917, the Municipality of Victoria Park was also absorbed. A year later, it absorbed territory from Perth Road Board (including the Belmont Park Racecourse) and purchased the 526 hectares (1,300 acres) Limekilns Estate in the western suburbs. The City developed the suburbs of Floreat Park, Wembley Park and City Beach on these lands.
The City of Perth Act 1925 gave the city additional powers over building control and regulation, including the power to declare new streets. In 1930 the first town planning committee was established.
Criticism of the city's governance by the David Davidson, the state's Town Planning Commissioner, led to a royal commission in 1938 on the grounds that the development of the western suburbs had led to the neglect of health and building administration in the central city area.
By 1962, the council had 27 members representing nine wards. The Metropolitan Region Town Planning Scheme Act Amendment Act 1963 required the city to establish a town planning department—which they did by appointing architect Paul Ritter in 1965. Ritter's two-year tenure was short and turbulent, leading to public conflict with councillors and his termination in 1967.
The city's first town planning scheme was submitted to the Town Planning Board in 1973, but not formally adopted until 1985. The reason for the delay was a state government desire to take discretionary powers out of the hands of the council. Council was felt to be too easily influenced by powerful developers.
On 1 July 1994, following the passage of the City of Perth Restructuring Act 1993, the City of Perth was broken up and a significantly reduced City of Perth constituted. The Town of Shepperton, Town of Cambridge and Town of Vincent were created from the former boundaries of the city. The first elections were held on 6 May 1995, with eight councillors and a mayor.
The City of Perth Act 2016 defined Perth as the capital of Western Australia, and expanded the city's boundaries to include a number of landmarks including Kings Park, University of Western Australia, Perth Children's Hospital and the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre. The boundary changes took effect on 1 July 2016. Approximately 1,247 residents from Nedlands and Subiaco in the City of Subiaco were transferred to the City of Perth, and the city expanded to a total area of 20.01 square kilometres (8 sq mi).
The Perth City Council was suspended on 2 March 2018, pending the establishment of a public inquiry into the council, by Local Government Minister David Templeman. The council was administered by three commissioners until 18 October 2020. …