Development of Local Government
Written by Graham Wilson
Australian Theme- building settlements, towns and cities.
NSW Theme- utilities.
Local Themes- activities associated with the provision of services.
Powerhouse, County Council Office, windmill, bridge, culvert, weir, well and dam.
Australian Themes- governing.
NSW Theme- government and administration.
Local Themes- Municipal chambers and site of key events.
The 1858 Municipalities Act provided a framework for the development of Local government in NSW. Many problems emerged and parliament attempted to create further reform by the Municipalities Act, 1867. Many rural residents thought that decisions should be made in the districts and it was only a matter of time that various rural areas would petition for local representative government. Bingara municipality was thus created in 1889 and Warialda in 1900.
The NSW Government made a number of attempts to reform local government in the nineteenth century, but it was not until 1894 that Premier George Reid proposed a Bill that eventually determined the development of Shires in 1906. The Bill recommended compulsory incorporations and the division of country areas into units to be called shires. The Bill was withdrawn because of lack of support in the Legislative Assembly. It was in 1905 that Premier Joseph Carruthers had appointed three commissioners to divide all of NSW (apart from the Western Division) into shires. The Commissioners recommended 131 Shires and Yallaroi was one of them. At the time, the Municipality of Warialda was excluded from this Shire.
Gwydir Shire Council was formed by the amalgamation of Bingara and Yallaroi Shire Councils on 17 March 2004. Warialda is the centre for Council’s Technical Services functions and Bingara is the centre for the Administrative functions.
Bingara Municipal, Gwydir Shire and Bingara Shire Councils
The first meeting of the Bingara Municipal Council was held in Murray’s Hall and Councillor John Byrnes was elected Mayor in 1889. Other elected councillors included: John T. Bridger, James Smith, William Lee, John Turner and Harry Miller. John Byrnes was born at Hinton in the Hunter River district in 1851. After travelling throughout the northern parts of the colony, he established himself as a general storekeeper in Bingara in 1882. Later he established the Gwydir Steam Flour Mills and conducted this in conjunction with his other business.
The Council was incorporated in Marc1890 and on 21 April a letter was received from the Postmaster General stating that the name of the Post and Telegraph Office was to be changed from Bingera to Bingara.
Initially the two tenders received for construction of the proposed brick Council Chambers at Bingara were rejected in April 1905, as they were some ₤200 above the architect’s estimate.
In March 1906 the Bingara Municipal Council abandoned the Town Hall plans submitted by the Newcastle architect, Mr Menckins because of the cost. Consequently, a new set of plans was procured from Phil Ranclaud of Tamworth.
In June, the Bingara Telegraph announced that contractor Anderson had commenced construction of the new Council Chambers in Finch Street. The new Council Chamber was opened on Monday 18 March 1907 in presence of State and Federal Members of Parliament, the Hon. S.W. Moore MLA and W. Webster MHR. In May 1934 plans were announced to enlarge the Council Chambers.
Early in December 1907, the Bingara Municipal Council discussed the matter of amalgamation with the newly created Gwydir Shire at some length. It was reported ‘the idea seemed to find favour among the Aldermen, and it is quite likely that as early as practicable the Municipality will be emerged into the Shire as an extra riding’.
In May 1906 the following were declared as members of the temporary council for the Gwydir Shire- John Byrnes, Bingara; D. Charters, Hilltop; W. Sinden senr., Hampden; J. Donaldson, Myall Creek and C.E. Bull, Cooringoora. The inaugural meeting was held on Wednesday 13 June and the last meeting on Saturday 1 December 1906. On the same day, all members of the new council met: namely, John Byrnes, C.E. Bull, A.S. McColl, J.C.L. Veness, A. Capel and D. Charters. Councillor John Byrnes was unanimously elected first President.
In December 1934, some 100 residents attended a public meeting to discuss an amalgamation of Gwydir Shire and Bingara Municipal Councils. The merger was not supported. An inquiry on a possible amalgamation was held in Bingara in June 1935 but still no action was taken. The government of the day felt that the two councils were superfluous for a small area and relatively small population. Despite protests the merger of the two councils was gazetted late in 1942. R.G. Hamilton, M.L.A. forwarded a letter to the Bingara Advocate from Mr McGirr, Minister for Local Government and Housing, concerning savings to be made with an amalgamation of the two councils in January 1943. The editor of the newspaper, Samuel Dickson felt that the amalgamation would be ‘a retrograde step’.
A special meeting of the Gwydir Shire Council was held on 18 February 1943. Council asked for the matter to be deferred until after the war pending on a decision of the Post War Reconstruction Plans. Despite the protests, the government continued with its plans. At a meeting of Bingara Municipal Council held on 9 December 1943, it was revealed that the Minister for Local Government had decided to submit to the Governor the proposal that the Bingara Municipality and Gwydir Shire be united and that the name of the new area would be Bingara Shire. The amalgamation was gazetted on 17 December 1943.
An honour board for the Municipality of Bingara Council Mayors 1889-1943 is held in the Bingara Museum.
The two councils, Gwydir Shire Council and Bingara Municipal Council were forced by the state government to amalgamate to form the Bingara Shire Council. A special meeting of the Bingara Municipal Council was held on 22 December 1943 and the first meeting of the Bingara Shire Council was reported in the Bingara Advocate, 19 January 1944.
In September 1956 large celebrations were held in Bingara to commemorate 100 years of responsible government in Australia and the jubilee of shire administration. Seventy-four pioneers of the Bingara district were presented with commemorative medals at a special ceremony. The official guests of the Bingara Shire for the bestowing of the medals were the Minister for Lands, R.B. Nutt, the member for Tamworth W.A. Chaffey and Mrs Chaffey.
Municipal District of Warialda
In August 1897 a public meeting was held in Warialda to consider ‘the desirableness of transferring the village into a municipality’. After a prolonged meeting, the residents decided against the proposal.
However, a petition calling for the establishment of a municipality was sent to the Chief Secretary two years later in 1899. The petitioners felt that the municipality should have a population of more than 500 and an area of six and a quarter square miles. The NSW Government Gazette, 17 November 1899 published the petition with sixty-five names and suggested boundaries.
The Warialda Municipal District was proclaimed on 30 March 1900.
Lists of voters were prepared and the election held on 27 June. The declaration of the poll for the Municipal election for Warialda was made on Thursday 28 June by the returning officer George Ernest William Peate. Aldermen elected included: John Crane, J.A. McGregor, A.O. Butler, G.A. Prendergast, N.H. McDonald and T. Lawson. The Council met in the School of Arts on 3 July 1900 and John Crane became Warialda’s first Mayor.
The first issues confronting the newly formed council were: the provision of water; a letter carrier for the township (1900); a request for Cranky Rock to be gazetted as a recreational reserve (1901); regulation of shopping hours (1906, 1911, 1920, 1923) and support for the proposed Warialda-Boggabilla railway line (1922). Other matters concerned the common, recreation ground and other government reserves.
Many of Warialda’s streets were re-aligned by the Department of Lands in 1902. This process required the removal of fences, posts, steps, and buildings that encroached on the new lines.
In May 1915 Colin C. Campbell of the Warialda Municipal Council called tenders for the making of 150 concrete guttering blocks. These blocks can still be seen in Hope Street. Further reports on kerbing and guttering appeared in the Warialda Standard, 2 October 1917.
Early meetings of council were held in a room in the Warialda Court House and the Mayor arranged with the Bank of New South Wales for temporary accommodation. The Municipal Council continued on until 29 December 1924 when it was amalgamated with Yallaroi Shire. Aldermen R.H. McGee was the last mayor of Warialda.
Yallaroi Shire
Yallaroi Shire was notified in the Government Gazette on 7 March 1906 and the councillors met for the first time in 8 December. The Shire decided to rent premises in the Geddes Buildings, Hope Street, Warialda for one year.
The small Municipal Council and the larger Shire co-existed until the 1920s when ratepayers in the southern part of the municipality moved to join the Shire. The petitioners sought the assistance of two members of Parliament, D.H. Drummond and Lt.-Col. M. Bruxner. The council acceded to the request in March and moved a formal proposal to initiate the separation on 14 May 1923.
The Warialda Council discussed possible amalgamations in March 1924 but the Shire was greatly concerned about the possibility of inheriting poor roads particularly the one leading to Kelly’s Gully towards the south. On 21 March 1924 the Shire debated a letter from the Municipality asking for amalgamation. The complexity of the situation was revealed when two notices appeared in the Government Gazette on 30 May 1924. One advertised the proposal to unite the two councils whilst the other stated that a meeting of the Land Board, which had been scheduled for June 30 to consider curtailment of the Municipality’s southern boundary, was to be held over.
A joint meeting of the councils was held on 23 July to consider amalgamation. A critical issue was whether Warialda would become an urban area in a separate riding. The last ordinary meeting of the Warialda Municipal Council took place on 8 December 1924 and the official notice uniting the Warialda Municipality and Yallaroi Shire appeared in the Government Gazette on 24 December. The first meeting of the Provisional Council of the new Yallaroi Shire took place on 29 January 1925 at the Council Chambers in Hope Street and Councillor Houston was elected President.
Yallaroi Shire Council Chambers
The Commercial Banking Company of Sydney sold the old timber courthouse building, then occupied by the Yallaroi Shire Council, on Saturday 21 February 1925. In November 1927 the Shire Council called tenders for the construction of the new Council Chambers. Designed by Inverell architect, J.F. O’Connor, the tender of ₤3199 from the Nott Bros. of Armidale was accepted.
Mr W.E. Wearne, M.L.A. ‘in the presence of a largely representative gathering’, opened the building on Friday 20 July 1928.
The Minister for Local Government, Colonel Bruxner was unable to attend because of the wet weather. A detailed description of the building and a photograph appeared in the Warialda Standard, 23 July 1928. The report emphasised the classical detail of the building with its Ionic columns. Yallaroi Shire Council called tenders for the erection of new chambers to close on 7 December 1928.
Photograph 60: Gwydir Shire Chambers, formerly the Chambers for Yallaroi Shire, Blake & Wilson 2006