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About Whitehorse
Our Location
The City of Whitehorse is located just 15 kilometres east of Melbourne and covers an area of 64 square kilometres. The municipality is bounded by the City of Manningham to the north, the Cities of Maroondah and Knox to the east, the City of Monash to the south and the City of Boroondara to the west. Whitehorse’s suburbs include Blackburn, Blackburn North, Blackburn South, Box Hill, Box Hill North, Box Hill South, Burwood, Burwood East, Forest Hill, Mitcham, Mont Albert, Mont Albert North, Nunawading, Surrey Hills, Vermont and Vermont South.
Our Residents
Whitehorse has a population of approximately 151,000 residents with almost one-third born overseas. The 2006 Census data shows that more than 110 different languages are spoken by residents of the City. The most common languages other than English are Cantonese, Mandarin, Greek, Italian, Vietnamese, Hindi, German, Sinhalese, Korean, Indonesian and Arabic.
The 2006 Census data also reveals that approximately 66 per cent of Whitehorse’s residents are aged between 18 and 69, 21 per cent are aged under 18 years, and 13 per cent are aged over 70.
Volunteering is an important part of the lives of many people living in Whitehorse with 20.5 per cent of residents volunteering to help the community in some capacity compared to 15.5 per cent for the Melbourne average.
Community Demographics
According to the 2006 ABS Census, the City of Whitehorse has:
- 151,233 estimated resident population
- 41,823 residents born overseas
- 22.9 per cent residents from non-English speaking backgrounds
- 85.6 per cent residents Australian citizens
- 59,375 dwellings
- 2.53 persons – average household size
For detailed demographic information, view the City of Whitehorse's Community Profile, Atlas and Population Forecast (compiled using data from the 2006 ABS Census).
Our History
The City of Whitehorse was proclaimed in December 1994, following the amalgamation of the former cities of Box Hill and Nunawading. The birth of the City reunited the suburbs which formed the original Shire of Nunawading more than 100 years ago. The municipality derives its namesake and logo from a white horse dating back to the 1850s, when a white horse statue adorned the front entrance of the City’s first hotel and two-storey building. Today, a memorial stands on the former site of the hotel and the white horse symbolises the City’s identity.
The City is also recognised as the home of the Arts, stemming from its relationship with Box Hill as the original site of the Artists Camp. In 1885, artists established the first of their camps at Box Hill, and whilst the camp only lasted three years, some of the artists, including Frederick McCubbin, returned to the area often.
The City has an impressive art collection containing a total of nine works by members of the Box Hill Artists Camp, including works by McCubbin, Roberts and Streeton.
Our Logo
The City’s logo is modelled on the knight, which is one of the most powerful and flexible pieces in the game of chess. The significance of the white horse emanates from the historical and mythological representation of strength, courage and fertility. The symbol of the white horse in celtic mythology comes from the Goddess Epona (Gaul), Macha (Eire) and Rhiannon (Britain), each a guardian of good fortune ‘for monarch and tribe’. In astrology the white horse characterises freedom, strength and growth.
Our Staff
Council values its staff and the contribution they make to the organisation and the wider community. As at 30 June 2010, Council’s workforce is approximately 1121 employees, with 639 people in equivalent full time positions. Whitehorse has a high percentage of staff who live locally with approximately 44 per cent of the workforce, (494 staff members) living in the municipality.
Our Vision
We aspire to be an inclusive, supportive community with vibrant, outstanding and sustainable natural, built, social and economic environments.
Our Mission
Whitehorse City Council will provide participative, representative and straightforward government; efficient, appropriate and responsive services; and adequate and reliable infrastructure that will lead to a prosperous and sustainable municipality.
Our Values
In pursuing our goals, Whitehorse City Council believes and is committed to, these values:
- Consultation and communication: ensuring residents are both sufficiently informed and able to contribute to Council's decision-making process
- Democracy and leadership: recognising and valuing resident participation in Council's decision making as well as Council's role in providing leadership to the community
- Equity and social justice: sharing the benefits and burdens of living in this city, celebrating our cultural diversity and paying attention to the needs of our disadvantaged resident
- Integrity: making decisions and acting in ways that reflect our values
- Openness and accountability: being transparent in its decision-making, Council welcomes public scrutiny and community feedback
- Sustainability: making decisions about social, economic, built and natural environments that will benefit both present and future generations
- Wellbeing: developing a community that is cognisant of, and seeks to achieve, personal and community wellbeing
Services and Facilities
Council provides more than 100 high quality services and facilities across a range of areas including home and community care; sustainability; waste and recycling; health and family; leisure facilities; maintenance of sports fields, parks and gardens; infrastructure (operations centre and Whitehorse Recycling and Waste Centre); engineering (planning of roads, drains and streetlights); maintenance of footpaths, drains and roads; arts and culture; planning and building; traffic and community laws; libraries; community development; business and economic development.
Features
Whitehorse is characterised by quiet tree-lined residential streets; an abundance of parks, gardens and natural bushland reserves; bustling shopping centres, a diverse range of arts and cultural opportunities; and sports and leisure facilities.
The Whitehorse community has access to an extensive public transport system with trains, trams and buses serving the area. Whitehorse boasts some of the region's leading educational, medical and leisure facilities and is home to the largest high technology precinct in eastern Melbourne, placing it at the cutting edge of the telecommunications, multimedia and information technology industry.
Local Attractions
Whitehorse has many attractions for its residents and visitors to discover and experience including:
- Box Hill Town Hall is a vibrant hub for Whitehorse community groups and includes an accredited art space to display Council's comprehensive art collection and a convenient meeting place for local businesses.
- The Whitehorse Centre, the municipality's premier arts and cultural centre, attracts thousands of theatre lovers each year. The Whitehorse Professional Theatre and Music Season showcases some of the best professional theatre from around the country.
- Schwerkolt Cottage and Museum Complex in Mitcham is a heritage-listed pioneer's stone cottage in a garden setting surrounded by 2.25 hectares of bushland. This popular attraction is open to the community on weekends.
- The Box Hill Community Arts Centre is an artistic and cultural hub and home to a wide variety of local arts and community groups. The centre offers art and craft classes, an exhibition space, art shop and community meeting space.
- Blackburn Lake Sanctuary is one of the area's most important environmental assets and is regarded as one of the most important bird refuges in metropolitan Melbourne.
- Aqualink Nunawading and Aqualink Box Hill are state-of-the-art leisure facilities that attract thousands of people each week.
- An outstanding range of community events and festivals, including Australia Day celebrations, the annual Spring Festival, Summer Music Series and Carols by Candlelight.
Sister City Relationship with Matsudo
The City of Whitehorse has a sister city relationship with Matsudo, a Japanese city on the outskirts of Tokyo. The relationship was developed by the former City of Box Hill in 1971 and continued by the City of Whitehorse in 1994, when local government in Victoria amalgamated.
The two cities participate in an active exchange program for young people, which strengthens cultural understanding and promotes friendly relations. The relationship also promotes economic development opportunities between the two countries.
The City of Matsudo has a population of 461,000 and is home to a large number of foreign residents. The City of Whitehorse is home to a growing Asian residency and, with Australia generally, is focused on consolidating links with its Asian neighbours.
Suburban Heartland – A History of Whitehorse
Written by historian Lesley Alves Suburban Heartland incorporates aspects of the previously published histories of Box Hill and Nunawading and updates them with local history from the 1970s to the present. The book contains more than 320 pages of fascinating stories and colourful images drawn from public and private collections. 
Members of the Whitehorse community contributed their personal memorabilia and stories to fill the book with anecdotes, information and archival material that explores the people, places and events that shaped our community for more than 150 years.
Suburban Heartland costs $74 for the hardcover edition and $49 for the softcover version. Copies of the publication can be purchased during business hours from Council’s Service Centres at the Box Hill Town Hall, Forest Hill Chase Shopping Centre and Whitehorse Civic Centre in Nunawading.
For more information, phone Council’s Cultural Facilities and Programs Team Leader Shayne Price on 9262 6393.
Whitehorse in Yukon, Canada
People searching for Whitehorse City Council online may occasionally stumble across its namesake in Yukon, Canada. Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. The sparsely populated territory has an Arctic and sub-arctic climate and abounds with snow-melt lakes and perennial snow-capped mountains. It borders the US state of Alaska to the west, the Northwest Territories to the east and British Columbia to the south.
The territory's capital is Whitehorse, apparently named after the White Horse Rapids, which were said to look like the mane of a white horse. Whitehorse is a city under Yukon municipal legislation, and is governed by the Whitehorse City Council, a council of six councillors and one mayor, elected every three years by eligible Canadian citizens of age 18 or older who reside within city limits.
Find out about the differences and similarities of the two cities by visiting the Canadian Whitehorse City Council website.