AGY-4286 | Shire of Copmanhurst

Full description

The Shire of Copmanhurst was a local government area in the north of the Eastern Division of New South Wales, created under the Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 (Act No.33, 1905). It lay between the shires of Tenterfield and Severn to the west, Woodburn and Harwood to the east, Dorrigo Shire [I] and Grafton City to the south, and the shires of Tomki and Kyogle to the north. (1)

The Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 incorporated all previously unincorporated territory of the Eastern and Central Divisions of New South Wales into new local government areas, to be called shires. Such incorporations had previously been voluntary and based on centres of population, designated as boroughs or municipal districts. The existing municipalities continued but were now embedded within shires, while remaining independent of them. Shires were to be governed by a council of 6 or 9 elected councillors, one of whom was to be chosen as president by the council. (2) The shires were further divided into ridings, the equivalent of municipal wards. (3)

The primary functions of shire councils were construction and management of public places (other than national or railway works), such as public roads, streets and footpaths, jetties and wharves, and public watering places; road and street lighting; regulation of traffic; flood and fire prevention or mitigation; and stormwater drainage, including preventing pollution of waterways. Additional responsibilities such as waste removal, sewerage, town water supplies, parks and recreation grounds, and the licensing of public vehicles and their drivers could be granted to the council on application to the Governor. (4)

In order to fund these services, councils were to levy a general rate on the unimproved value of rateable land within their jurisdiction, paid by the owner. (5) Council-appointed valuers were to conduct valuations every three years. This system was a notable change from the existing municipal rating model, which based the levy on the annual rental value of property and charged the occupant, whether owner or tenant. (6) Municipal rating was subsequently aligned with the new model by the Local Government Act, 1906 (Act No.56, 1906).

The creation of the Shire of Copmanhurst was proclaimed on 7 March 1906 (7), followed on 16 May by the appointment of a temporary council to arrange for elections (8), and the division of the Shire into ridings A, B and C. (9) The first election for all shires was to be on 24 November, (10) with the first council meeting to be held within two weeks of that date. (11) Copmanhurst was in the 6th class of the new shires for projected expenditure against rates revenue, those regarded as needing the most financial assistance. A state endowment was granted of 42 shillings for each pound gathered in the general rate. (12) By September 1907 the council was applying a general rate and so other land taxes were suspended. (13)

As of 1 January 1926, part of Tenterfield Shire was added to Copmanhurst C riding, and a revised definition of all three ridings was published. (14) On 27 January 1933 part of the Harwood Shire B riding was transferred to Copmanhurst A riding. (15)

In June 1956 the Minister of Local Government gazetted a proposal to restructure the local government jurisdictions of the Clarence region. This was to affect the shires of Copmanhurst, Bellingen, Dorrigo, Harwood, Nymboida and Orara, and related municipalities. The intention was to create five new bodies; four shires and one municipality. (16) A Commissioner looked into the proposal and supported many of the recommendations, although he did not support substantial alteration to Copmanhurst beyond a small transfer of land to Grafton City. (17) The 1956 ordinary election was cancelled and a provisional council of 6 appointed, mainly consisting of existing councillors. A new definition of the Shire territory was proclaimed, (18) and in March 1958 the ridings were redefined. (19) The apportionment of assets from this restructure was not determined until October 1959. (20)

The Valuation of Land Act 1916 (Act No.2, 1916) was applied to Copmanhurst from 8 December 1961 (21), and the first valuation list was supplied by 6 December to apply from the following January. (22) From this time the assessment of land values was no longer a function of the Shire, which now used values assigned by the Valuer-General when levying rates.

In October 1962, 220 acres of Woodburn Shire B riding was transferred to Copmanhurst A riding. (23) In September 1981, 10.8 square kilometres of Tenterfield B riding (portion 34, Parish of Hongkong, County of Drake) was added to Copmanhurst C riding. (24) New definitions of all Copmanhurst ridings were published in 1983 (25) and 1987. (26)

Under the Local Government Act 1993 (Act No.30, 1993) shires and municipalities were reconstituted as 'areas' (27). An amendment made it possible for areas to retain their old name, despite this no longer denoting a legal status. (28) 'Copmanhurst Shire' continued to be used in the names of both the area and council. (29) Under the 1993 Act, ridings were re-named wards; and their creation, abolition, naming and boundaries came under the control of the council (s.210). The council president was now the mayor (s.225).

In 2003, 9.3 hectares of Copmanhurst Shire was transferred to the Area of Kyogle. (30)

On 25 February 2004 it was proclaimed that the areas of Copmanhurst, Maclean, Pristine Waters and the City of Grafton were now amalgamated, to form the new area of Clarence Valley. At the same time, a region of 556 square kilometres of the former Copmanhurst was transferred to Richmond Valley Shire. (31)

Endnotes
1. Joy N. Hughes (ed.), Local Government…Local History, Royal Australian Historical Society, Sydney 1990. p.xiii.
2. Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 (Act No.33, 1905) s.18. The council's election of the president was clarified in the Local Government Act 1906 (Act No.56, 1906) s.35(1),(3).
3. Local Government (Shires) Act 1905, ibid., s.6.
4. Local Government Act 1906 (Act No.56, 1906) s.73.
5. Local Government (Shires) Act 1905, op.cit., s.8(1).
6. Municipalities Act 1897 (Act No.23, 1897) s.141.
7. NSW Government Gazette No.121, 7 March 1906, pp.1593, 1607.
8. NSW Government Gazette No. 161, 16 May 1906, pp.2979, 2981.
9. NSW Government Gazette No.161, 16 May 1906, pp.2899, 2904.
10. NSW Government Gazette No.221, 5 September 1906, p.5013.
11. NSW Government Gazette No.241, 17 October 1906, p.5754.
12. NSW Government Gazette No.286, 31 December 1906, p.7012.
13. NSW Government Gazette No.120, 25 September 1907, p.5318.
14. NSW Government Gazette No.170, 31 December 1926, pp.5489-90.
15. NSW Government Gazette No.16, 27 January 1933, pp.422-23.
16. NSW Government Gazette No.65, 8 June 1956, pp.1557-58.
17. 1956/57 Report of the Department of Local Government, pp.23-24, in Parliamentary Papers 1957-58 Session, Vol.1, pp.1211-12.
18. NSW Government Gazette No.129, 30 November 1956, pp.3503, 3504, 3509-11.
19. NSW Government Gazette No.31, 21 March 1958, p.735.
20. NSW Government Gazette No.114, 9 October 1959, pp.3065-67.
21. NSW Government Gazette No.131, 8 December 1961, p.3885.
22. NSW Government Gazette No.135, 15 December 1961, p.3963.
23. NSW Government Gazette No.103, 26 October 1962, pp.3012-13.
24. NSW Government Gazette No.141, 25 September 1981, pp.5048-49.
25. NSW Government Gazette No.108, 5 August 1983, p.3646.
26. NSW Government Gazette No.126, 31 July 1987, pp.4251-52.
27. Local Government Act 1993 (Act No.30, 1993) s.204(1) and Sch.7, 21(1).
28. Local Government Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1994 (Act No.44, 1994).
29. Department of Local Government Annual Reports, 1994-2004.
30. NSW Government Gazette No.83, 9 May 2003, pp.4750-51.
31. NSW Government Gazette No.46, 25 February 2004, pp.809-22.