City of Prospect

City of Prospect South Australia
Population	21,416 (2015 est)[1]
• Density	2,742.1/km2 (7,102/sq mi)
Established	1872
Area	7.81 km2 (3.0 sq mi)
Mayor	David O'Loughlin
Council seat	Prospect
Region	Metropolitan Adelaide
State electorate(s)	Adelaide, Enfield
Federal Division(s)	Adelaide
Website	City of Prospect
LGAs around City of Prospect: City of Port Adelaide Enfield City of Port Adelaide Enfield City of Port Adelaide Enfield City of Charles Sturt City of Prospect Town of Walkerville City of West Torrens City of Adelaide Town of Walkerville

The City of Prospect is an inner urban local government area (LGA) in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1872, it is one of the oldest LGAs in South Australia. As of 2009 the population is estimated at 21,000.

Prospect's population is growing and reflective of a broader demographic. Prospect has a relatively young resident population (average age 36yo), many of whom are ‘knowledge workers’, with high education, skills, intellectual capacity and disposable incomes.

The community has embraced the significant change effected in recent years. The City of Prospect has had a clear intent over recent years to encourage new, mixed use, larger scale, high quality sustainable development along the arterial roads. This intent has been reflected in council's integrated strategic planning, master plans, public realm and infrastructure upgrades and changes to council's Development Plan. This has created many commercial and business opportunities along the main roads, more housing options to accommodate a growing and diverse residential population and greater capacity for jobs and positive impact on the local economy.

Council

The current council as of June 2016 is:^[2]

History

Prior to European settlement in 1838, the Prospect area was a tiny part of the traditional lands of the Kaurna people, who lived in small bands across the Adelaide Plains.^[4]

To the new settlers, the locality presented a "beautiful prospect", being described as "well timbered, with waving gum and shady trees".^[5] Thus Prospect Village was named by Colonel William Light shortly after the colonisation of South Australia in 1838. George Fife Angas was given the right to make first choice of "country lands". The area, under Light's plan for the city and adjoining rural areas, was laid out as hundreds. These, in turn, were divided into sections, usually of 80 acres (32 ha).^[6] At a meeting in March 1838, Angas made his choice, selecting section 474, now Collinswood, and Rosebery. Later in 1838 further selections were made and six sections were purchased by the Mechanics Land Company. The company divided the 80-acre sections into 8-acre (3.2 ha) blocks, and sold them for £10 a block.^[6]

As early as November 1838, plots of land "fronting the new road to the harbour" had been created from subdivisions of the Hundred of Yatala in the new village of Prospect and were being publicly advertised for sale.^[7] These subdivided sections came to be known as Prospect Village. Early attempts to garden in the vicinity of Prospect failed as the soil is naturally dry, the nearest source of water then being the River Torrens. For many years blocks of land in the area remained unfenced and, in springtime, livestock from nearby areas were not prevented from feeding on the thick grass growing on the hills of Prospect.^[6]

Establishment of local government

In 1846 the District Council of Yatala was established and included, at its extreme south centre, the future area of the City of Prospect. In 1868 Yatala DC was divided at Dry Creek into the District Councils of Yatala South and Yatala North.^[8][9][10] In August 1872 the new District Council of Prospect split from the Yatala South DC following lobbying by residents of Prospect village.^[10]

Land boom and collapse

In the 1880s there was a land boom in Prospect. Many new subdivisions were made and new houses built. The 1890s saw a collapse of land values and vacant houses were available to rent for just a few shillings per week.^[11]

Symbols

In 1934 a competition to design a coat of arms for the Town of Prospect was held and a design by Mr. Allan F. Sierp was chosen.^[12] It contained the following emblems:

• The first and fourth quarters had shocks of wheat signifying "the early days of the district".
• The second quarter contained a pair of wings to "show the progress to the present prosperity".
• The third depicted a cornucopia, or horn of plenty, overflowing with fruit.

Suburbs

See also

• Local Government Areas of South Australia
• List of Adelaide suburbs
• List of Adelaide parks and gardens

References

External links

• Official website
• Old Prospectors of South Australia: A Project of Prospect Local History Group
• Prospect Local History Group

Coordinates: 34°53′S 138°36′E / 34.883°S 138.600°E / -34.883; 138.600