Council commits to baker’s dozen

Wollongong City Council will retain its current number of councillors for the 2021-2024 term of office, following a decision at Monday night’s Council meeting.

At the meeting, it was confirmed that there will be 13 councillors elected at next year’s Local Government elections in September, including the popularly elected role of the Lord Mayor.

Wollongong City Acting Lord Mayor Tania Brown said that Council is required by the Local Government Act 1993 to finalise the number of Councillors for the 2021-2024 term of office now.

“At the last Local Government election in 2017 we had 13 Councillors voted in. With this decision on Monday night I think we will continue to have a strong balance of representation for our community across our three wards,’’ she said

‘’We have a large and growing population within our LGA, and this number of councillors allows the community greater access and interaction with our elected officials. ”

Council is required by the Act to determine the number of councillors for the region at least 12 months before the next ordinary election. The next ordinary election for Wollongong is scheduled for Saturday 4 September 2021. In March 2020 the Minister for Local Government announced the local government elections would be postponed by 12 months to September 2021 to address the risks posed by Coronavirus.