Full description
The Municipal District of Moree (1890-1906), later the Municipality of Moree (1907-1980), was a municipality in the north of New South Wales, constituted under the Municipalities Act 1867 and subsequent legislation. (1) It was established in the parish of Moree in the county of Courallie.
The Municipalities Act of 1867 (31 Victoria Act No.12) provided for the establishment of a municipality on receipt of a petition signed by at least 50 persons who would be taxed in respect of property or household residence within the area to be incorporated. The petition was to be published in the Gazette and a local newspaper. If no counter-petition signed by a greater number of persons was received within three months, the Governor could proclaim the area a municipality and define its boundaries. Municipalities proclaimed under the Act might be designated a borough or a municipal district, based on population and area. Boroughs were cities or towns, suburbs of the City of Sydney, or a populous country district, with a population of at least 1000 and an area of no more than nine square miles. A municipal district required a population of at least 500 and an area of no more than 50 square miles. (2)
A petition to establish the Municipal District of Moree was gazetted on 13 February 1890. (3) A counter-petition published in July (4) was unsuccessful, and the new municipal district was proclaimed on 5 December 1890. (5) A returning officer was appointed to organise an election for 17 February 1891 (6), rescheduled for 24 February (7) and held on 28 February (8), at which six aldermen were elected. The gazette notice of the appointment of the mayor was dated 3 February. (9) By August 1891 Moree Council had collected over 243 pounds in rates. (10) In September 1891 the Council applied to increase the number of aldermen to nine (11) to reflect a district population of over 1000, and this was granted. (12)
When first established, Moree Municipal District was an island of local authority in lands under the direct control of the Colony of New South Wales. In 1905 the Local Government (Shires) Act (Act No.33, 1905) incorporated all previously unincorporated territory of the Eastern and Central Divisions of New South Wales into new local government jurisdictions, to be called shires. On 7 March 1906, the territory surrounding Moree became the shires of Boolooroo and Boomi, although the town remained administratively independent. (13)
The status of 'municipal district' was abolished by the Local Government Extension Act 1906 (Act No.40, 1906). (14) The Municipal District of Moree became the Municipality of Moree on 31 December 1906.
There was a high level of co-operation between Boolooroo, Boomi and Moree, and in 1955 the Moree and District Local Government Standing Committee was formed to co-ordinate the activities of the three councils. (15)
The Valuation of Land Act 1916 (Act No.2, 1916) was applied to Moree from 13 December 1963 (16), and the first valuation list was supplied to apply from the following January. (17) From this time the assessment of land values was no longer a function of the Municipality, which now used values assigned by the Valuer-General when levying rates.
On 22 December, 1972 an area of 56 acres, portion 117 and part of portion 245 of the parish of Moree, county of Courallie, was removed from the Shire of Boolooroo and added to the Municipality of Moree. (18)
The Committee of Inquiry into Local Government Areas and Administration in New South Wales in 1974 recommended uniting the Municipality of Moree with its surrounding shires. (19) On 1 January 1981, under the Local Government Areas Amalgamation Act 1980 (Act No.110, 1980), the Municipality of Moree amalgamated with the Shires of Boolooroo and Boomi (20) to form the Shire of Moree Plains. (21)
Endnotes
1. An Act to Establish Municipalities, 1867 (31 Victoria Act No.12), s.10.
2. Ibid., s.8.
3. NSW Government Gazette No.79, 13 February 1890, pp.1271-2.
4. NSW Government Gazette No.359, 5 July 1890, pp.5213-15.
5. NSW Government Gazette No.695, 5 December 1890, p.9309.
6. NSW Government Gazette No.65, 27 January 1891, p.684.
7. NSW Government Gazette No.85, 5 February 1891, p.1033.
8. NSW Government Gazette No.157, 10 March 1891, p.1898.
9. Ibid., p.1901. (The appointment of the Mayor predates the election. This may have been submitted as 3/2 and intended as March 2, the first Monday following the election.)
10. NSW Government Gazette No.625, 29 September 1891, p.7725.
11. NSW Government Gazette No.583, 9 September 1891, p.7142.
12. NSW Government Gazette No.631, 2 October 1891, p.7789.
13. NSW Government Gazette No.121, 7 March 1907, pp.1593, 1599-1601.
14. Local Government Extension Act, 1906 (Act No.40, 1906) s.3, Sch.1, s.9; NSW Government Gazette No.286, 31 December 1906, p.7019.
15. Notes prepared by RAIM April, 1993.
16. NSW Government Gazette No.126, 13 December 1963, p.3666.
17. NSW Government Gazette No.128, 20 December 1963, p.3732.
18. NSW Government Gazette No.138, 22 December 1972, pp.5206-5207.
19. Report of The Committee of Inquiry into Local Government Areas and Administration in New South Wales in 1974, Appendix 3, p. 68 in NSW Parliamentary Papers 1973-74 Vol 2, p.446.
20. Local Government Areas Amalgamation Act 1980 (Act No.110, 1980) Sch.1 Pt.2.
21. NSW Government Gazette No.152, 17 October 1980, p.5393.
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