The City of Kingston area was originally governed by the Moorabbin Roads Board, which formed in 1862 and became a shire council in 1871, covering a large area of mixed agricultural and semi-urban land. After years of agitation, in 1917 the seaside town of Sandringham became a borough with its own council, and this fuelled the desire of those living in towns further south to combine their efforts and demand self-representation. This finally occurred in May 1920 and the "Borough of Mordialloc and Mentone" was formed. It became a town in 1923 and the City of Mordialloc in 1926.
The City of Moorabbin had a population of 109,588 by the time of the 1971 census.[4]
In 1994, the state government amalgamated local councils all over Victoria, as part of its local government reform. The new City of Kingston was one result, and on 15 December 1994 the City was formally Gazetted comprising all of the City of Chelsea, most of the City of Mordialloc, a substantial portion of the City of Moorabbin, and parts of the Cities of Oakleigh and Springvale.
A new electoral structure for Kingston was effected in November 2008. Under the new structure there are three wards – North Ward, Central Ward and South Ward, and three Councillors representing each ward. This makes a total of nine Councillors, instead of the previous structure of seven wards each represented by one Councillor, and as of November 2020 there are 11 wards each individually represented by a ward councillor.
Kingston's headquarters are located at the 7-storey '1230 Nepean Hwy' building, which has become a landmark to Cheltenham as well as the council. The A-Grade office building was built in 1993.[5]
Schools
Primary education
Aspendale Gardens Primary School
Aspendale Primary School
Bonbeach Primary School
Carrum Primary School
Chelsea Primary School
Chelsea Heights Primary School
Cheltenham East Primary School
Clarinda Primary School
Clayton South Primary School
Dingley Primary School
Edithvale Primary School
Kingston Heath Primary School
Kingswood Primary School
Le Page Primary School
Mentone Primary School
Mentone Park Primary School
Mordialloc Primary School
Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic Primary School
The council has an annual budget of $245 million (2021–22), with works involving areas such as road maintenance and construction, community, cultural and youth activities, town planning and development, waste management and recycling, maintenance of parks and public areas, public health and animal control, library services, and business and tourism support.
Election results
As of November 2020 there are 11 wards each individually represented by a ward councillor. At the 2020 election, the councillors re-elected included Tamsin Bearsley, David Eden, George Hua, Georgina Oxley, and Steve Staikos. They were joined by newly elected councillors Tim Cochrane, Jenna Davey-Burns, Tracey Davies, Chris Hill, Cameron Howe and Hadi Saab.[12]
Starting in November 2020 the City of Kingston commenced a new ward system with 11 wards each electing a single Councillor.[13] This new system was introduced by the Victorian Government under the Local Government Act 2020.[13]
^Arnold, V.H. (1973). Victorian year book 1973 (First ed.). Melbourne: Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics, Victorian Office. p. 800. ISBN0642952965.
