City of Camberwell

The City of Camberwell was a local government area about 10 km east of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of 36.01 km2, and existed from 1914 until 1994.

History
Camberwell was first incorporated as the Boroondara Road District on 11 July 1864, which became the Shire of Boroondara on 17 November 1871. At this point, Camberwell consisted of two small settlements; one near the Camberwell Inn and the other to the east, at Hartwell. Much of the shire's area was under cultivation, with a few sites for fine residences at the northern end.

The shire was renamed to the Shire of Camberwell and Boroondara on 16 May 1905. It became a borough on 28 April 1905, a town on 15 May 1906, and was proclaimed a city on 20 April 1914.

The council's pathway to amalgamation was different from most. Following a redevelopment deal for land behind the Burke Road shops, residents rebelled and at the 1988 council elections threw out four councillors who supported the deal replacing them with opponents. The council then backed out of the deal and had over $24 million damages awarded against it. Combined with an investigation which revealed serious governance breaches and other issues, all councillors were sacked and replaced with a commissioner on 22 June 1993.

At the same time, a major reform of local government in Victoria was taking place, and the western part of the City was planned to be merged with the City of Hawthorn and City of Kew to form the City of Riversdale, while the eastern part of the City was planned to be merged with the City of Box Hill to form the City of Whitehorse. Eventually, the decision was made to merge the entirety of Camberwell with Hawthorn and Kew to form the newly created City of Boroondara, which took effect on 22 June 1994.

Council meetings were held at the Camberwell Town Hall, on Camberwell Road, Camberwell. It presently serves as the council seat for the City of Boroondara.

Suburbs

 * Ashburton
 * Balwyn
 * Balwyn North
 * Burwood (shared with the Cities of Box Hill and Waverley)
 * Camberwell*
 * Canterbury
 * Glen Iris (shared with the Cities of Malvern and Hawthorn)
 * Surrey Hills (shared with the City of Box Hill)

* Council seat.

Population
* Estimate in the 1958 Victorian Year Book.

Councillors
The City of Camberwell was subdivided into four wards on 22 May 1934:


 * North East Ward
 * North West Ward
 * Centre Ward
 * South Ward

Prior to 1934, North East and North West were combined as North Ward. Each of the four wards elected three councillors. Unlike present day multi-councillor wards, each election was staggered, with only one councillor per ward up for election at a time, and an election every year.

A number of local parties were active in Camberwell, including the Camberwell Ratepayers' Protection League (CRPL), Glen Iris Progress Association (GIPA), Reform Movement, South Camberwell Progress Association (SCPA) and the Victorian Free Trade and Land Values League.