The Greater Perth Movement describes a movement in the first three decades of the twentieth century to consolidate the town planning and urban administration of the

Perth metropolitan region The Perth metropolitan region or the Perth metropolitan area is the administrative area and geographical extent of the Western Australian capital city of Perth and its conurbation. It generally includes the coastal strip from Two Rocks in the ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

under a single municipal government. The movement is characterised as a period of conflict between those who sought a metropolitan municipal authority with control of key infrastructure and services, and the growth of state government control via statutory authorities. The movement is most strongly associated with its chief proponent, W.E. Bold, who was influenced by ideas of

municipal socialism Municipal socialism is a type of socialism that uses local government to further socialist aims. It is a form of municipalism in which its explicitly socialist aims are clearly stated. In some contexts the word "municipalism" was tainted with t ...

, and saw its initial successes in the amalgamation of the local governments of Leederville, North Perth, and

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

in 1914, joined by Victoria Park in 1917. A further proposal to merge Subiaco into the City of Perth was defeated in a 1935 referendum, followed by a 1938 Royal Commission into Bold's administration of the City of Perth which effectively marked the end of his political influence and the movement itself.

Key events

*1906 - Perth Chief Clerk WE Bold delivers an address to the Western Australian Municipal Officers' Association outlining a vision of municipal socialism. * 1908 - The City of Perth Council purchases the Perth Gas Co. at considerable expense. * 1912 - The Council unsuccessfully bids against the state Labor government to purchase the Tramway. * 1914 - WE Bold sent by Council to further investigate municipal developments in Britain and North America. * 1917 - The City of Perth purchased the Limekilns Estate (comprising 1300 acres (526 ha)), adjacent to their endowment lands.

Aftermath and legacy

Following the 1920s there was a shift away from municipal consolidation towards metropolitan planning under statutory authorities of the state government commencing with Stephenson-Hepburn plan of 1955, leading to the creation of the Metropolitan Region Planning Committee in 1963. The consolidation of the City of Perth was reversed in 1993 with the creation of three new local government authorities within the former boundaries: the

City of Vincent The City of Vincent is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of approximately in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and lies about 3 km from the Perth CBD. The City of Vincent maintains 139&nb ...

, the

Town of Cambridge The Town of Cambridge is a Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area in the inner western List of Perth suburbs, suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth, about west of Perth central business district, P ...

, and the

Town of Victoria Park The Town of Victoria Park is a local government area of Western Australia. It covers an area of 17.62 km² in metropolitan Perth, the capital of Western Australia. It had a population of approximately 35,000 as at the 2016 census. It li ...

. A 2015 attempt by the Barnett government to facilitate voluntary amalgamations amongst local government authorities led to the City of Perth and the

investigating a potential merger. Despite initial support from the Mayor

Alannah Mactiernan Alannah Joan Geraldine Cecilia MacTiernan (born 10 January 1953) is a former Australian politician. From 1988 to 2023, she has served in politics at a federal, state, and local level, including as a minister in the Western Australian state gove ...

, the City of Vincent concluded that there was irreconcilable differences between the authorities which could not be resolved. Having failed to expand the boundaries of the City via voluntary amalgamation, the state government legislation a minor expansion of the City’s municipal boundaries via the ''City of Perth Act 2015'' to include several key state assets including the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

, Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, Perth Children’s Hospital and Kings Park. Attempts by the City to acquire the Burswood peninsula (containing the Crown Casino) were opposed by the Town of Victoria Park and not supported by the state government.{{Cite news , last=Law , first=Peter , date=12 September 2014 , title=City of Perth misses out on Burswood and UWA; Vincent to join Perth , url=https://www.perthnow.com.au/news/wa/city-of-perth-misses-out-on-burswood-and-uwa-vincent-to-join-perth-ng-ead1d1db4e2e3f05a76d80a99996f9c7 , work=Perth Now

References

History of Perth, Western Australia Urban planning in Australia

Key events

Aftermath and legacy

See also

References