City of Port Melbourne

This article is about a former local government area. For the suburb, see Port Melbourne, Victoria.

The City of Port Melbourne was a local government area about 4 kilometres (2 mi) southwest of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia, on the south bank of the Yarra River. The city covered an area of 10.62 square kilometres (4.10 sq mi), and existed from 1860 until 1994.

City of Port Melbourne Victoria
Location in Melbourne
The former Port Melbourne Town Hall
Population	7,900 (1992)[1]
• Density	744/km2 (1,927/sq mi)
Established	1860
Area	10.62 km2 (4.1 sq mi)
Council seat	Port Melbourne
Region	Inner Melbourne
County	Bourke
LGAs around City of Port Melbourne: Footscray Melbourne Melbourne Williamstown City of Port Melbourne South Melbourne Williamstown Port Phillip Port Phillip

The council area covered the current boundaries of the suburb of Port Melbourne; the Yarra River to the west and north, Boundary Street to the northeast, Hobsons Bay to the south and Pickles Street to the east.^[2]

History

Port Melbourne was first incorporated as the Sandridge Borough on 13 July 1860. It was renamed Port Melbourne on 25 January 1884, and became a town on 20 January 1893. It was proclaimed a city on 14 May 1919.^[2]

The Labor Party normally dominated the council. In 1992, Lyn Allison was elected to the council as an Independent, a position she held until 1994.^[3] Allison was later elected as a member of the Australian Senate, and she also served as Leader of the Australian Democrats.

The council met at the Port Melbourne Town Hall, at Bay Street and Spring Street, Port Melbourne. The facility is now used as a municipal library by the City of Port Phillip.

On 22 June 1994, the City of Port Melbourne was abolished, and along with the Cities of South Melbourne and St Kilda, was merged into the newly created City of Port Phillip.^[4] At the time of its dissolution, the City of Port Melbourne had by far the fewest residents of any municipality in greater Melbourne. The second least populous, the City of Collingwood, had almost twice the population.^[5] Port Melbourne also had the highest ratio of employees to residents of any suburban council, with 21.2 full-time equivalent staff for every 1000 residents in 1992.^[5]

Wards

The City of Port Melbourne was divided into three wards, each electing three councillors:

• Boundary Ward
• Centre Ward
• Sandridge Ward

Population

Year	Population
1954	13,104
1958	12,700*
1961	12,370
1966	12,596
1971	11,705
1976	9,356
1981	8,585
1986	8,080
1991	7,496

* Estimate in the 1958 Victorian Year Book.