The 2016 merger of the Kogarah and Hurstville Councils was the result of 120 years of efforts to combine the Georges River district's local governments.

After an earlier merger proposal, Hurstville Mayor John George Griffin designed the 'Greater Sydney' scheme in 1898. It unified an area of about 200 square miles into a single council area. It was bounded by Manly, Ryde, Parramatta, Bankstown, and the Georges River in the south. This proposal was never realised.

Amalgamation attempts of St George Councils in 1901 and 1905 had evolved into a call for a Greater St George by the end of the decade. A supporter of this scheme saw its potential. It could become 'one of the most important centres of population in the metropolitan area'.

In 1946, a Royal Commission on local government boundaries recommended merging the Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale, and Bexley municipalities. The commission's recommendations were changed. They led to the merge of Bexley and Rockdale Councils.

In the early 1970s, an inquiry into local governments urged merging local councils statewide. The councils of St George, including Kogarah and Hurstville, responded to a push for amalgamation by referring the matter to the electorate. In 1977, the electorate rejected a proposal to merge their local councils with those of adjacent districts.

In 1999, more than a century after calls for the aggregation of the Councils of Kogarah and Hurstville, the political representatives of St George were again considering the question of amalgamation, this time with their counterparts in the Sutherland Shire.

In May 2016, the NSW Government's 'Fit for the Future' reforms merged the Kogarah and Hurstville City Councils. This created Georges River Council. To assist with the transition of the new Council Mr John Rayner PSM was appointed as Administrator of the organisation. Mr Rayner remained in the position until the first local government election. At a Council meeting on 7 August 2017, it was resolved to publish, on the Council's website, payments to the Administrator for the financial years 2015/16, 2016/17, and 2017/18. These were based on the payment set by the Minister for Local Government.

Over the listed financial periods, the administrator was paid:

Financial year	Remuneration
2015-2016	$26,554.00
2016-2017	$248,769.18
2017-2018	$65,692.00
Total:	$341,015.18

The first Georges River Council local elections were on 9 September 2017. 15 Councillors were elected across five wards. Councillor Kevin Greene of Peakhurst Ward was nominated as the new Council's first Mayor. Councillor Kathryn Landsberry of Blakehurst Ward was nominated as Deputy Mayor.

Georges River Council is now providing many benefits and services to the community. It is also planning for the future.
 

Past Mayors of Kogarah and Hurstville City Councils

The first Mayor of Kogarah Council was Edward Hogben, elected in 1886. Hurstville Council followed not long after, with Alexander Milsop being appointed in 1887. Over the last century, Hurstville and Kogarah have had over 50 mayors.

View our list of past mayors to see a pictorial timeline of the past mayors of Hurstville and Kogarah.
 

Georges River Council's Logo

After the merger of Georges River Council, we had to create a strong brand. Reflecting the new organisation but also the local area and its people.

After consulting the community, we designed the logo in-house. This saved ratepayers a lot of money. The project showed great staff collaboration. It also showed their commitment to making Georges River the best council in NSW.

View the meanings behind Georges River Council's logo.