April 1937. In 1970 it was decided to replace the old council chambers, which were demolished to make way for the Kogarah Civic Centre, opened by Governor Sir Roden Cutler in 1973. Amalgamation Efforts to bring about a unified council for the St George area were raised regularly since 1901 and the 1946 Clancy Royal Commission into local government boundaries recommended the amalgamation of the municipalities of Hurstville, Kogarah, Rockdale and Bexley. In the following act of parliament passed in December 1948, the Local Government (Areas) Act 1948, the recommendations of the commission were modified, leading only to the merger of Bexley and Rockdale councils. A merger was again considered in the 1970s, but 1977 plebiscites run in Hurstville and Kogarah rejected the idea. A further idea of amalgamating Kogarah and Hurstville with Sutherland Shire to the south was raised in 1999 but did not progress. Kogarah opposed an attempt by the NSW Government to amalgamate with Hurstville and Rockdale in 2003. A 2015 review of local government boundaries by the NSW Government Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommended that Kogarah merge with the City of Hurstville to form a new council with an area of and support a population of approximately 147,000. On 12 May 2016, the NSW Government announced that Kogarah and Hurstville would merge to form Georges River Council with immediate effect. Suburbs and localities in the former local government area Suburbs in the City of Kogarah were: Kogarah City Council also managed and maintained the following localities: Demographics At the 2011 Census, there were people in the Kogarah local government area, of these 48.8% were male and 51.2% were female. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 0.4% of the population. The median age of people in the Kogarah City Council was 37 years. Children aged 0 – 14 years made up 17.6% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 14.1% of the population. Of people in the area aged 15 years and over, 54.5% were married and 8.8% were either divorced or separated. Population growth in the City between the 2001 Census and the 2006 Census was 5.32%; and in the subsequent five years to the 2011 Census, population growth was 6.22%. When compared with total population growth of Australia for the same periods, being 5.78% and 8.32% respectively, population growth in Kogarah local government area was marginally lower