City of Boroondara

The City of Boroondara is a local government area in Victoria, Australia. It is located in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. It was formed in June 1994 from the amalgamation of the Cities of Kew, Camberwell and Hawthorn.

It has an area of 60 km² and at the 2011 Census, the City had a population of 159,184. Boroondara was rated ninth of 590 Australian local government areas in the BankWest Quality of Life Index 2008.

History
This area was originally occupied by the Wurundjeri, Indigenous Australians of the Kulin nation.

In 1837, John Gardiner (after whom Gardiners Creek was named) and his family were the first Europeans to settle in the area. Robert Hoddle surveyed the area in 1837 and declared it the "Parish of Boroondara". The area was densely wooded, so he took a word from the Woiwurrung language (as spoken by the Wurundjeri), meaning "where the ground is thickly shaded".

The first Local Government body was the Boroondara District Road Board, formed on 11 July 1854 and incorporating the areas which were to become the City of Hawthorn, City of Kew and City of Camberwell. Hawthorn and Kew were created as separate municipalities in 1860 and the remaining area of the Road Board became Shire of Boroondara on 17 November 1871, which later became the City of Camberwell. The three were amalgamated on 22 June 1994 to create the City of Boroondara.

Local government
Boroondara City Council is the third tier of government and deals with services such as waste and recycling collection, leisure centres, building and planning permits and approvals, roads, drainage, health services, youth services, children's services, food safety, parks and gardens, library services, pets, street parking permits and the collection of rates and charges.

Boroondara Council's main office in Camberwell underwent a $20 million redevelopment. The historical facade facing Camberwell Road remains largely unchanged, whereas the main entrance facing Inglesby Road has been refurbished. The project was completed in February 2010.

Boroondara mayors

 * List of mayors of Boroondara

Infrastructure
The Council is responsible for the management of stormwater collection and removal. The water supply authority is Yarra Valley Water.

Libraries
The City of Boroondara has five libraries at Camberwell, Ashburton, Balwyn, Kew and Hawthorn.

Schools
Boroondara contains many private schools, including Xavier College, Methodist Ladies' College (MLC), Strathcona Baptist Girls' Grammar School, Camberwell Grammar School, Trinity Grammar School, Ruyton Girls' School, Carey Baptist Grammar School, Scotch College, Fintona Girls' School, Genazzano FCJ College and Preshil. It contains Catholic schools such as St Michael's Parish School (Ashburton) Our Lady of Good Counsel (Deepdene) and St Bede's School (Balwyn North) and a number of public schools, including Canterbury Girls Secondary College, Balwyn High School, Kew High School, Solway Primary School and Camberwell High School.

Some of the suburbs mentioned above are shared with other City Councils, including:
 * Glen Iris (Shared with the City of Stonnington)
 * Mont Albert (Shared with the City of Whitehorse)
 * Surrey Hills (Shared with the City of Whitehorse)

Sister city
The City of Boroondara has one sister city.


 * Same, East Timor (2001)