City of Launceston explained

Type:lga
Launceston City Council
State:tas
Pop:70055
Pop Year:2021
Pop Footnotes:[1]
Area:1414
Est:1 January 1853[2]
Seat:Launceston
Mayor:Matthew Garwood
Region:Launceston and surrounds
Logo Upright:1.2
Url:http://www.launceston.tas.gov.au
Stategov:Bass
Stategov2:Lyons
Fedgov:Bass
Fedgov2:Lyons
Near-Nw:West Tamar
Near-N:George Town
Near-Ne:Dorset
Near-W:West Tamar
Near-E:Break O'Day
Near-Sw:Meander Valley
Near-S:Northern Midlands
Near-Se:Northern Midlands
Coordinates:-41.3605°N 147.3044°W

Launceston City Council (or City of Launceston) is a local government body in Tasmania, located in the city and surrounds of Launceston in the north of the state. The Launceston local government area is classified as urban and has a population of 77,363,[1] which also encompasses localities including Lilydale, Targa and through to Swan Bay on the eastern side of the Tamar River.

Government

The current Mayor is Matthew Garwood, elected in 2023.

Name Position[3]
Matthew Garwood Mayor/councillor
Hugh McKenzie Deputy mayor/councillor
Danny Gibson Councillor
Andrea Dawkins Councillor
Alan Harris Councillor
Tim Walker Councillor
George Razay Councillor
Joe Pentridge Councillor
Andrew Palmer Councillor
Lindi McMahon Councillor
Susie Cai Councillor
Alex Britton Councillor

History and attributes

Launceston is classified as urban, regional and medium (URM) under the Australian Classification of Local Governments.[4] The population at the 2016 Census was over 65,000, making Launceston the most populous of the 29 local government areas in Tasmania.

The municipality logo features the now extinct Tasmanian tiger, an indigenous marsupial that used to be prevalent in the Launceston district.

History

Launceston was first declared as a municipality in 1853 and declared a city in 1888.[5] Its original boundaries have long since been redefined and the area now known as the City of Launceston includes parts of the former Lilydale, St Leonard's, Evandale and Westbury Municipalities.[6] In the 1890s, the municipality grew to include Galvin Town (South Launceston) and in 1906 to include the northern suburbs of Invermay, Mowbray and Trevallyn.[7] This has produced a local government area that overlaps its similarly named city, rather than either being contained by or encompassing it.

Women were ineligible to stand for election to the Launceston City Council until 1945,[8] despite being granted the same rights at federal and state level in 1902 and 1921, respectively.

Localities

Suburbs of the city of Launceston

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Localities other than suburbs

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Sister city relations

Homelessness

Homelessness in Launceston has been a growing problem. Launceston City Council does not hold or track statistics on homelessness but relies on Homes Tasmania to do so.

2024 Strike it Out, Inc Removal

Charity Strike it Out, Inc operating in Launceston was forced remove sleeping trailers during the middle of winter with recorded overnight minimum temperatures of -3°, which the charity acquired to alleviate the situation of rough sleepers sleeping in freezing conditions in Launceston City during the winter periods after a long running tussle between the council and the charity. The Launceston City Council rejected the blame releasing a press release on 1 July 2024 after media scrutinity following the removal of the pods.

The charity has been attempting to get permits from council for the infrastructure but the council had imposed ad-hoc arbitrary conditions, including compliance with privacy act it has no enforcement jurisdiction on. The council neither has any general policy of approving homeless accomodation providers proposals or requests.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2021 Launceston, Census All persons QuickStats Australian Bureau of Statistics . Australian Bureau of Statistics. 23 July 2023. Resident population on census night, 10 August 2021.
  2. http://www7.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/tas/num_act/aatemcitcohtatol16vn17854/
  3. Web site: Meet Us - Launceston City. launceston.tas.gov.au. Launceston City Council. 22 March 2021.
  4. Web site: Local government national report 2014-2015 . 8 June 2018 . Australian Government . regional.gov.au.
  5. Web site: History Pages. 2007. Significant works of architects in Launceston. live. Architecture History of Tasmania. https://web.archive.org/web/20201030133233/https://architectlaunceston.com.au/ . 30 October 2020 .
  6. Web site: Agency Details: Launceston City Council . search.archives.tas.gov.au . January 1852 . Tasmanian Government . 11 June 2018.
  7. Web site: Properties in Launceston - their owners and occupiers. State Library Service of Tasmania. 1999. 2007-05-22.
  8. News: Women may be eligible for Council. Launceston Examiner. 14 April 1945.