City of Nedlands

History

The City of Nedlands originated in the Claremont Road District, which was established on 30 March 1893 after a petition from ratepayers who lived in the areas of Nedlands and Claremont, which had grown substantially in population at the end of the 19th century. Seven men were nominated to the new Board, which became the first local government authority for the Nedlands/Claremont area.

In 1898, Claremont itself split away to form a municipal government, which still exists today as the Town of Claremont.

It was renamed the Nedlands Road District on 12 August 1932 and given municipal status as the Municipality of Nedlands on 17 February 1956. It then assumed its current name when it was granted city status on 1 July 1959. The city was made up of four wards – Melvista, Hollywood, Dalkeith and Coastal. These wards continue to the present day.

Following an unsuccessful effort to amalgamate metropolitan local governments in 2016, the state government expanded the boundary of the City of Perth to incorporate a portion of the City of Nedlands that included the University of Western Australia and surrounding residential areas.

Following the change of government in the 2017 state election, the City of Nedlands experienced sustained political pressure to accommodate infill development and higher residential densities. The failure of Council to cooperate in replacing the city's 30-year old planning scheme led to the imposition of a new planning scheme by the Minister of Planning. A subsequent spate of development applications led to significant community unrest and opposition and contributed to the resignations of key executive staff (including the chief executive officer and director of planning) and the mayor.

In July 2025 the council was sacked by the Local Government Minister, following the resignation of four councillors. The city is run by three commissioners until the March 2026 elections: chair commissioner David Caddy and commissioners Bianca Sandri and Cath Hart.

Wards

The town is divided into four wards, each electing three councillors. The mayor is directly elected.

• Coastal Ward
• Dalkeith Ward
• Hollywood Ward
• Melvista Ward

Mayor

Main article: List of mayors of Nedlands

As of July 2025, the City of Nedlands has no mayor.

Suburbs

The suburbs of the City of Nedlands with population and size figures based on the most recent Australian census:

• Shared with other council areas (Subiaco; Cambridge; Perth)

Population

| 1911 | 1,230

| 1921 | 3,557

| 1933 | 10,580

| 1947 | 18,226

| 1954 | 22,814

| 1961 | 23,218

| 1966 | 23,320

| 1971 | 22,878

| 1976 | 20,974

| 1981 | 20,257

| 1986 | 18,623

| 1991 | 20,210

| 1996 | 20,598

| 2001 | 21,047

| 2006 | 20,334

| 2011 | 20,534

| 2016 | 21,121

| 2021 | 22,132

Heritage listed places

Main article: List of State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Nedlands

, there are 22 places on the State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Nedlands, among them the Captain Stirling Hotel and Graylands Hospital.

References

References

1. "Municipality Boundary Amendments Register". Western Australian Electoral Distribution Commission.
2. Piesse, Emily. (13 February 2018). "Nedlands residents concerned high density plan will lead to traffic, environmental issues". ABC News.
3. (30 January 2019). "City of Nedlands forced to increase housing density by Planning Minister Rita Saffioti". ABC News.
4. Pascual Juanola, Marta. (11 November 2020). "Nedlands planning director resigns amid avalanche of development applications". WA Today.
5. de Kruijf, Peter. (23 February 2021). "Western suburbs mayor exits, leaving Nedlands leadership vacuum". WA Today.
6. Flinn, Harriet. (31 July 2025). "Commissioners get to work bringing stability to Nedlands". [[Community Newspaper Group]].
7. (2025-07-08). "City of Nedlands council to be sacked, replaced by three commissioners, despite defiant mayor". ABC News.
8. (10 July 2025). "The entire City of Nedlands council has been sacked and replaced by three commissioners after four councillors quit". News Corp Australia.
9. . ["SLIP Map"](https://maps.slip.wa.gov.au/landgate/locate/). *[[Landgate]]*.
10. . ["NationalMap"](https://nationalmap.gov.au/). *[[Geoscience Australia]]*.
11. . ["City of Nedlands State Register of Heritage Places"](http://inherit.stateheritage.wa.gov.au/Public/Search/Results?newSearch=True&placeNameContains=&streetNameContains=&suburbOrTownContains=&lgaContains=Nedlands&isCurrentlyStateRegistered=true&isCurrentlyStateRegistered=false). *Heritage Council of Western Australia*.