Camden Landscapes



Camden Council Aldermen 1950 (Camden Images)

Political landscape

Camden Local Government

Local government in the Camden area in its current form was originally established in 1883 and, until the First World War, was dominated by Camden townsmen. 

Landed Gentry

After the war the success of the local dairy industry shifted political power on council to the interests of the landed gentry. 

 

Mining magnates

The success of the Burragorang Valley coalfields after the Second World War shifted the power base, again, to miners and local business interests. 

Urban Growth Area

From the late 1960s  the rural nature of the area has been increasingly compromised by successive state governments which have seen the LGA as a growth area for Sydney urbanisation. This was detailed in the Sydney Region Outline Plan in 1967, and from it came the Three Cities Plan in 1973.

Local Administration

Throughout this period council administration has been located in the Camden township, although some administrative functions have shifted to Narellan in recent years, better reflecting the commercial  and demographic realities of the LGA.  

A Little Bit of the British Empire

Historically the LGA has been an outpost of the British Empire with Anglo-Australian Christian traditions (a ‘little England’) where localism and parochialism, amongst a host of  factors (conservatism, interpersonal and familial networks, social hierarchies, gender expectations, rugged individualism, intimacy and rural ideology), typified the social and cultural make-up of the area.  

 

 

Read more about the history of Camden local government click here  and here

Read about the history of Camden at the Dictionary of Sydney