The City of Wanneroo is considering a major shake-up of its ward system, which could change how residents are represented on council.
The review comes as population growth in the city’s north has left some wards with significantly more electors per councillor than others.
While each of the city’s seven wards has two councillors, their elector numbers vary significantly — from 28,648 in the North ward to 18,279 in the North-East ward.
As a result of the imbalance, three new ward structure options have now been put forward by the city for public consultation.
One of the options is to reduce the number of wards from seven to four, while another option is to scrap wards altogether and have all 14 councillors represent the entire city.
The third proposal is to merge the existing seven wards into three larger wards.
Camera IconThe City of Wanneroo’s proposed option one ward map. Credit: Supplied
Camera IconThe City of Wanneroo’s proposed option two ward map. Credit: Supplied
Despite the last ward review being carried out in 2020 and reviews being required only every 10 years, the city said rapid population growth meant its ward configurations needed to be regularly reviewed.
The council formally resolved in June 2025 to carry out the review, with work starting after the 2025 local government elections.
“In 2025 it was found that the North-East ward had too few electors per councillor compared with other wards, and the North ward had too many,” the city stated in a discussion paper.
“In both cases, the ratio of electors to councillors fell outside the range acceptable position of the Local Government Advisory Board.
“Excessively unequal elector-to-councillor ratios across wards undermine the foundational democratic principle of one vote, one value.”
Camera IconThe City of Wanneroo’s proposed option three ward map. Credit: Supplied
The city has warned each option would involve “trade-offs”.
In the discussion paper on the proposed changes, it said options one and three could make representation more even, but may make it harder for councillors to stay close to individual neighbourhoods.
It said option two would remove the imbalance altogether by scrapping the wards, but it could “arguably” come at the cost of local representation.
Spanning 684sqkm, the City of Wanneroo is Perth’s second-largest local government area, stretching from Koondoola in the south to Two Rocks in the north.
Public consultation on the three options is now open and will close on Monday, October 19.
The council is expected to vote on a preferred option in December.