City of Penrith

This article is about the local government area. For the suburb, see Penrith, New South Wales.

The City of Penrith is a local government area in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The seat of the city is located in Penrith, located within Sydney about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west of Sydney central business district. It occupies part of the traditional lands of the Darug people. First incorporated as a municipality on 12 May 1871, 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. Penrith 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. As of the 2021 census the City of Penrith had an estimated population of 217,664.^[1] It is a member council of the Hawkesbury River County Council.

City of Penrith New South Wales
Location in Metropolitan Sydney
Coordinates	33°45′S 150°42′E
Population	217,664 (2021 census)[1] (24th)
• Density	537.57/km2 (1,392.31/sq mi)
Established	12 May 1871 (1871-05-12) (Municipality) 21 October 1959 (1959-10-21) (City)
Area	404.9 km2 (156.3 sq mi)
Time zone	AEST (UTC+10)
• Summer (DST)	AEDT (UTC+11)
Mayor	Todd Carney
Council seat	Civic Centre, Penrith
Region	Greater Western Sydney
State electorate(s)	Badgerys Creek Londonderry Penrith Wollondilly
Federal division(s)	Hume Lindsay McMahon
Website	City of Penrith
LGAs around City of Penrith: Hawkesbury Hawkesbury Hawkesbury Blue Mountains City of Penrith Blacktown Wollondilly Liverpool Fairfield

The mayor of the City of Penrith is Todd Carney, a member of the Labor Party.^[2] (No relation to the rugby league player)

Suburbs and localities in the local government area

The following suburbs and localities are located within the City of Penrith:

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

Council history

Penrith Community Centre, on the corner of Henry and Station streets, was the Penrith Council Chambers from November 1959 to December 1993.

Plaque commemorating the Penrith municipal centenary unveiled on the Penrith Council Chambers by Governor Sir Roden Cutler.

The Municipality of Penrith was incorporated on 12 May 1871 under the Municipalities Act 1858 (NSW). 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.^[3]

On 1 January 1949, under the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the Municipalities of Penrith, St Marys and Castlereagh and A Riding 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.^[3]

Demographics

At the 2021 census, there were 217,644 people in the Penrith local government area, of these 49.4% were male and 50.6% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 5% of the population; notably above the national average of 3.4%. The median age of people in the City of Penrith was 35 years; notably below the national median of 39 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 21.2% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 12.9% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 45.5% were married and 12.3% were either divorced or separated.^[4]

Population growth in the City of Penrith between the 2001 Census and the 2006 census was 0.15% and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 census, population growth was 3.68%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in the Penrith local government area was significantly lower than the national average.^[5] The median weekly income for residents within the City of Penrith was on with par with the national average.^[4]

At the 2021 census, the proportion of residents in the Penrith local government area who stated their ancestry as Australian or Anglo-Saxon exceeded 63.5% of all residents (national average was 58.4%). In excess of 28.7% of all residents in the City of Penrith area nominated a religious affiliation with Christianity at the 2021 census, which was fairly higher than the national average of 20%. Meanwhile, as at the Census date, compared to the national average, households in the Penrith local government area had a marginally lower than average proportion (23.9%) where two or more languages are spoken (national average was 24.8%); and a higher proportion (74.2%) where English only was spoken at home (national average was 72%).^[4]

Selected historical census data for Penrith local government area
Census year			2001[5]	2006[6]	2011[4]	2016[7]	2021
Population		Estimated residents on census night	171,870	172,140	178,467	196,066	217,644
		LGA rank in terms of size within New South Wales		7th	8th	13th	9th
		% of New South Wales population			2.58%	2.63%	2.67%
		% of Australian population	0.92%	0.87%	0.83%	0.84%	0.85%
Cultural and language diversity
Ancestry, top responses		Australian			29.1%	26.3%	33.3%
		English			25.2%	24.5%	30.2%
		Irish			6.8%	7.2%	8.2%
		Scottish			5.3%	5.5%	6.7%
		Maltese			3.0%	2.8%
Language, top responses (other than English)		Arabic	1.3%	1.5%	1.6%	1.6%	1.8%
		Tagalog	1.3%	0.8%	1.0%	1.1%	1.2%
		Italian	1.0%	0.9%	0.8%	0.9%
		Maltese	0.8%	0.8%	0.8%	0.7%
		Hindi	0.6%	0.7%	0.8%	0.9%	1.1%
Religious affiliation
Religious affiliation, top responses		Catholic	34.5%	34.9%	35.2%	32.1%	28.7%
		Anglican	26.1%	24.7%	23.6%	18.4%	13.1%
		No religion	9.8%	11.9%	14.0%	21.1%	28.9%
		Presbyterian and Reformed	3.4%	3.1%	2.9%
		Uniting Church	3.7%	3.1%	2.7%
Median weekly incomes
Personal income		Median weekly personal income		A$517	A$623	A$728	A$866
		% of Australian median income		110.9%	108.0%	109.6%	106.52%
Family income		Median weekly family income		A$1,147	A$1,582	A$1,858	A$2188
		% of Australian median income		111.7%	106.8%	107.1%	100.14%
Household income		Median weekly household income		A$1,285	A$1,398	A$1,658	A$1903
		% of Australian median income		109.7%	113.3%	111.5%	104.05%

Council

City of Penrith Council
Leadership
Mayor	Todd Carney (Labor)
Deputy Mayor	Ross Fowler OAM (Liberal)
Structure
Seats	15 councillors
Map of elected councillors by party in each of the 3 wards[8]
Political groups	Majority (9)   Labor (9) Others (6)   Independent (3)   Liberal (2)   Libertarian (1)
Elections
Voting system	Single transferable vote
Last election	14 September 2024
Next election	16 September 2028

Penrith City Council is composed of fifteen councillors elected proportionally as three separate wards, each electing five councillors. All councillors are elected for a fixed four-year term of office. The mayor is elected by the councillors at the first meeting of the council for a two-year term, while the deputy mayor is elected for a single-year term only.

Current composition

The most recent election was held on 14 September 2024. The Composition by ward is as follows:

Ward	Councillor		Party	Notes
East Ward[9]		Libby Austin	Labor
		Todd Carney	Labor	Mayor 2023–Present; Deputy Mayor 2022–2023
		Sarbjeet Kaur	Labor
		Edwin Misfud	Labor
		Garion Thain	Labor
North Ward[10]		John Thain	Labor	Mayor 2005–2006, 2016–2018; Deputy Mayor 2004–2005[11]
		Robin Cook	Labor
		Ross Fowler OAM	Liberal	Mayor 1995–1996, 2013–2015, 2018–2020; Deputy Mayor 2015–2016, 2024—Present
		Reece Nuttall	Liberal
		Glenn Gardiner	Independent
South Ward[12]		Hollie Mclean	Labor
		Kirstie Boerst	Labor
		Vanessa Pollak	Libertarian
		Sue Day	Independent
		Faithe Skinner	Independent

Penrith Civic Centre, designed by Feiko Bouman on 601 High Street, has been the council seat since December 1993.

Election methods

Term	Aldermen/Councillors	Wards	Mayor
1871–1891	9	No wards	Annual election by Aldermen
1891–1893	12
1893–1948	9
1949–1950	24	Ward One (9, Penrith) Ward Two (9, St Marys) Ward Three (3, Nepean) Ward Four (3, Castlereagh)
1950–1959	12 (3 per ward)	Ward One Ward Two Ward Three Ward Four
1959–1963	13 (3 per ward: 12 Aldermen, 1 Mayor)		Direct triennial election
1963–1968	13 (4 per ward: 12 Aldermen, 1 Mayor)	North Ward South Ward East Ward
1968–1987	12 (4 per ward)		Annual election by Aldermen/Councillors
1987–date	15 (5 per ward)

Election results

2024

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2024 New South Wales local elections in Outer Sydney § Penrith results.[edit]

2024 New South Wales local elections: Penrith

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		26,544	33.9	−0.6	9	4
	Liberal		15,303	19.5	−13.8	2	4
	Libertarian		11,849	15.1		1	1
	Greens		3,522	4.5		0
	Independents		31,490	26.9	−2.9	3	1
Formal votes			78,282	91.6
Informal votes			7,221	8.4
Total			85,503			15
Registered voters / turnout

2021

This section is an excerpt from Results of the 2021 New South Wales local elections in Outer Sydney § Penrith.[edit]

The election was conducted by the Australian Election Company.^[13]

2021 New South Wales local elections: Penrith^[13]

Party			Votes	%	Swing	Seats	Change
	Labor		36,376	34.5	–6.2	5
	Liberal		35,081	33.3	+2.9	6
	Independent		10,336	9.8
	Sue Day Independent		6,859	6.5		1
	The North Ward Independents		5,820	5.5		1
	MARCUS CORNISH		3,868	3.7
	WE DESERVE BETTER		3,073	2.9		1
	Australia First		2,549	2.4	+2.4
	People Before Politics		1,534	1.5
Formal votes			105,496

Mayors

Mayor		Party	Term	Notes
	Patros Athanas Tornaros	Labor	1 January 1949 – 5 December 1949	[14]
	Bill Chapman	Independent	5 December 1949 – 11 December 1956	[15]
	Bernard Noel Fowler	Independent	11 December 1956 – 11 December 1957	[16]
	Leo Joseph Spies	Labor	11 December 1957 – 19 April 1961	[17][18][19][20][21][22]
	Bill Chapman	Independent	3 June 1961 – December 1968	[23][24]
	Ron Mulock	Labor	December 1968 – September 1971	[25]
	Brian King	Independent	September 1971 – September 1974	[25]
	Eileen Cammack OBE	Independent	September 1974 – September 1977	[26]
	Brian King AM	Independent	September 1977 – September 1985	[25]
	Kevin Dwyer OAM	Independent	September 1985 – September 1987	[25]
	Rodney Field	Independent	September 1987 – September 1988	[25]
	Kevin Dwyer OAM	Independent	September 1988 – September 1989	[25]
	Brian King AM	Independent	September 1989 – September 1990	[25][27]
	Faye Lo Po' AM	Labor	September 1990 – September 1991	[25]
	Tony Aquilina		September 1991 – September 1992	[25]
	Bill Gayed	Independent	September 1992 – September 1993	[25]
	Diane Beamer	Labor	September 1993 – September 1994	[25]
	Pat Sheehy		September 1994 – September 1995	[25]
	Ross Fowler	Independent	September 1995 – September 1996	[25]
	Kevin Crameri OAM	Independent	September 1996 – September 1997	[25]
	Kevin Dwyer OAM	Independent	September 1997 – September 1998	[25][28]
	John Bateman OAM	Independent	September 1998 – September 2000	[25]
	David Bradbury	Labor	September 2000 – September 2001	[25]
	Pat Sheehy		September 2001 – September 2002	[25]
	Greg Davies		September 2002 – April 2004	[25]
	David Bradbury		April 2004 – September 2004	[25]
	Jackie Greenow	Independent	September 2004 – September 2005	[25]
	John Thain	Labor	September 2005 – September 2006	[25]
	Pat Sheehy AM		September 2006 – September 2007	[25][29]
	Greg Davies		September 2007 – September 2008	[25]
	Jim Aitken OAM	Independent	September 2008 – September 2009	[25][30]
	Kevin Crameri OAM	Independent	September 2009 – September 2011	[25][31][32]
	Greg Davies	Labor	September 2011 – September 2012	[25]
	Mark Davies	Liberal	September 2012 – 23 September 2013	[25]
	Ross Fowler OAM		23 September 2013 – September 2015	[33][34]
	Karen McKeown OAM	Labor	September 2015 – 26 September 2016	[25]
	John Thain		26 September 2016 – 24 September 2018	[11]
	Ross Fowler OAM	Liberal	24 September 2018 – 28 September 2020	[35]
	Karen McKeown OAM	Labor	28 September 2020 – 13 January 2022	[2]
	Tricia Hitchen	Liberal	13 January 2022 – October 2023	[36]
	Todd Carney	Labor	October 2023 – present

Media

The City of Penrith is served by a weekly newspaper, The Western Weekender, which was founded in 1991. It produces a print edition each Friday as well as a digital news service. The newspaper is independently owned.

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

Heritage listings

The City of Penrith has a number of heritage-listed sites, including:

• Agnes Banks, Rickards Avenue: Agnes Bank Natural Area^[37]
• Castlereagh, Castlereagh Road: Upper Castlereagh Public School^[38]
• Emu Plains, Main Western railway: Emu Plains railway station^[39]
• Londonderry, 947–953 Londonderry Road: Fossil and Petrology collections, New South Wales^[40][41]
• Mulgoa, Fairlight Road: Fairlight Homestead^[42]
• Mulgoa, Mulgoa Road: Fernhill, Mulgoa^[43]
• Mulgoa, 754–760 Mulgoa Road: Glenmore, Mulgoa^[44]
• Mulgoa, St Thomas Road: St Thomas' Anglican Church, Mulgoa^[45]
• Mulgoa, 2 St Thomas Road: Cox's Cottage^[46]
• Penrith, 34–40 Borec Road: Craithes House^[47]
• Penrith, 26 Coombes Drive: Torin Building^[48]
• Penrith, Great Western railway: Penrith railway station, Sydney^[49]
• Penrith, Nepean River, Great Western Highway: Victoria Bridge (Penrith)^[50]
• Penrith, Off Bruce Neale Dr, Steel Trusses 1.3 km past station: Emu Plains Underbridge^[51]
• Penrith, 1 Museum Drive: Penrith Museum of Fire,^[52] including the following:
  • Fire and Rescue NSW Heritage Fleet^[53]
  • NSW Fire Brigades No 10 Vehicle Number Plates^[54]
  • 1869 Shand Mason 7 inch Manual Fire Engine^[55]
  • 1891 Shand Mason Fire Engine^[56]
  • 1898 Shand Mason Curricle Ladders^[57]
  • 1909 Edward Smith Headquarters Switchboard^[58]
  • 1929 Ahrens Fox PS2 Fire Engine^[59]
  • 1939 Dennis Big 6 Fire Engine^[60]
  • 1942 Ford 21W Fire Brigade Mobile Canteen^[61]
• Regentville, 427 Mulgoa Road: Glenleigh Estate^[62]
• St Marys, Great Western Railway: St Marys railway station, Sydney^[63]
• St Marys, Mamre Road: Mamre, St Marys^[64]
• Werrington, Water Street: Rose Cottage and Early Slab Hut^[65]