Warringah Council was a local government area in the northern beaches region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.

The traditional Aboriginal owners of the land we now know as Warringah had mostly disappeared from this area within years of European settlement, mainly due to an outbreak of smallpox in 1789.

[14] The name Warringah was taken from the Aboriginal word for Middle Harbour, which was recorded as "Warrin ga", by the government surveyor, James Larmer, in 1832.

[15] Warringah had been in use for several years in the late 1800s and early 1900s as the name of the NSW electorate covering the areas of Mosman, Neutral Bay, North Sydney, Manly and the Northern Beaches.

While it was geographically close to the city centre, to reach the area over land from Sydney via Mona Vale Road was a trip of more than 100 kilometres.

Upon its establishment a temporary council of nominated representatives was installed by the State member for Middle Harbour Dr. Richard Arthur: George Alderton, of Frenchs Forest, George Brock, of Mona Vale, Thomas Gibbons, of Narrabeen, David Skene, of Brookvale, and Prof. Anderson, of Bayview (Who resigned on 9 June 1906 and was replaced by Herbert Sturman, of Mona Vale).

[20][21] A tramline was established through the south-eastern area of the shire, running along Pittwater Road from Manly Lagoon eventually stretching all the way to the tramshed at Narrabeen in December 1913, with a later additional terminating line through Harbord to Freshwater Beach.

Early subdivisions were usually given over for weekenders and holiday homes, and at the same time the surf clubs and rock pools on the beaches began to be developed.

After World War II, urbanisation began to occur, with family homes beginning to be built in the area, especially near the beaches.

[23] Work began on a new Dee Why civic centre in 1971, designed by Sulman Prize-winning architect Colin Madigan, to replace the Shire Hall in Brookvale which had been in use for the past 60 years.

[25] The Glen Street Theatre was officially opened in July 1985 as part of the Forest Community Centre by the Shire President, Darren Jones.

[7] Also on that day, the offices of Robert Dunn, Eric Green and Ronald Starr, former Warringah 'A' Riding Councillors, were terminated with those persons forming, with others, a Provisional Council of the Municipality of Pittwater.

For it reminds us of Australia's choicest things, her wealth of flowers, her sunny skies, and the strange magic of the marvellous bush.

It features heraldic dolphin supporters, a wedge-tailed eagle rising from a mural crown as the crest, a flannel flower within a green shield, and the Latin motto, "Arte et Labore" ("by Skill and Labour").

[33] Warringah Shire Council was first dismissed in April 1967 by the Askin State Government and was triggered by the gaoling of two councillors for bribery.

He subsequently sought legal advice from a leading authority on environmental law as to the merits of the application and the former council's handling of it.

He found that "these resolutions were clearly valid...and that they therefore remedied the situation given by the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales on 6 March 1986 and removed any point of continuing illegality.

[43][44][45] On 15 January 2003 the then Minister for Local Government, Harry Woods, announced a formal public inquiry into Warringah Council.

The commissioner found that the majority of the community had lost confidence in the councillors' ability to fulfill their roles and he recommended their dismissal.

[46] The findings of the inquiry were criticised by the former mayor, Julie Sutton, who said she found the report to be "very, very biased" and the then New South Wales Opposition Leader, John Brogden, who warned that the dismissal should not be used as a back door for amalgamations on the northern beaches or to prevent the elections scheduled for March 2004.

Former Warringah mayor, Michael Regan, noted to the Manly Daily that this was an indication of the level of interest in the Northern Beaches over the future of their local government: "given the choice of splitting the northern beaches or uniting it the community opted for unity", while former Manly mayor, Jean Hay, commented that this interest translated into the final result: "Everyone is passionate about the area and we came out and let the powers-that-be know, [...] It must have made an impact because the minister and the premier looked at what the community told them and it was the majority decision to go with a single council.