AGY-5002 | Shire of Dumaresq

Full description

The Shire of Dumaresq 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 Gostwyck to the west, Macleay the east, Apsley to the south and Guyra to the north. Dumaresq Shire encompassed the municipalities of Armidale and Hillgrove. (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 Dumaresq 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 temporary council had its first meeting on 16 June, at which the chairman was chosen, (10) followed by a temporary shire clerk on 28 June. (11) The first election for all shires was to be on 24 November. (12) The first meeting of the elected council was held on 8 December, at which the president and clerk were selected. (13) Dumaresq was in the 5th class of the new shires for projected expenditure against rates revenue, those regarded as needing substantial financial assistance, and received a state endowment of 30 shillings for each pound gathered (14). Dumaresq levied a general rate of 1d in the pound of unimproved capital value. (15)

In 1917 part of the Shire of Apsley was transferred to Dumaresq, and new definitions of both shires proclaimed. The area transferred was not estimated in the proclamation, but included part of the parish of Kunderang, county of Vernon. (16) This was proposed as an addition to the C riding of Dumaresq (17), which was proclaimed on 12 April 1918. (18)

In June 1923 it was proposed to amalgamate the Municipality of Hillgrove with the Shire of Dumaresq. (19) The amalgamation was proclaimed on 21 December, to be effective on 1 January 1924. (20) The first meeting of the new joint Provisional Council was held on 3 January 1924, and a new council was elected on 28 June. (21)

In 1959 18,800 acres of Guyra Shire and 10,700 acres of Uralla Shire were added to A riding of Dumaresq Shire, and revised definitions of ridings B and C were published. (22) The following year, 2789 acres of Dumaresq Shire A and B ridings were gazetted for transfer to the City of Armidale, more than doubling the territory of the city as of 1 January 1961. (23)

The Valuation of Land Act 1916 (Act No.2, 1916) was applied to Dumaresq from 12 December 1969 (24), and the first valuation list was supplied by 10 December to apply from the following January. (25) 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.

A further 3414 acres of Dumaresq was added to Armidale City as of 1 January 1971, and the definitions of A and B ridings altered. (26) A further redefinition of all ridings was published in 1983. (27) Three hectares of Nymboida Shire went to Dumaresq in 1995. (28) Further minor territorial adjustments occurred in 1998 with the transfer of 84 hectares of the parish of Serpentine, county of Clarke, from Guyra to Dumaresq; and 86 hectares of the parish of Elderbury, county of Hardinge, from Dumaresq to Guyra. (29)

Under the Local Government Act 1993 (Act No.30, 1993) shires and municipalities were reconstituted as 'areas' (s.204(1)). An amendment made it possible for areas to retain their old name, despite this no longer denoting a legal status. (30) Dumaresq continued to use 'Shire' in the names of both the area and council. (31) 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)

The Department of Local Government annual report for 1999-2000 noted that the boundaries of Dumaresq, Uralla, Guyra and Walcha areas were adjusted with the transfer of four parcels of land so that they would be wholly within one of the local government areas. (32)

In October 1999 the Shire of Dumaresq and the City of Armidale announced a consultation process for voluntary amalgamation. (33) The new Armidale Dumaresq Council was established on 21 February 2000. (34)

Endnotes
1. Joy N. Hughes. Local Government ... Local History. Sydney: Royal Australian Historical Society, 1990, p.xiii.
2. Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 (Act No.33, 1905) s.18. The election of the president was clarified by 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, 1609.
8. NSW Government Gazette No. 161, 16 May 1906, pp.2979, 2981.
9. NSW Government Gazette No.161, 16 May 1906, pp.2899, 2912.
10. Dumaresq Shire Council minute book NRS17803/1/V5247, p.2.
11. Ibid., p.4.
12. NSW Government Gazette No.221, 5 September 1906, p.5013.
13. Dumaresq Shire Council minute book, op.cit., pp.29-30.
14. NSW Government Gazette No.286, 31 December 1906, p.7012.
15. Public Works Department annual report 1906/07, p.111, App.1; in Parliamentary Papers 1907 Session 2, Vol.2, p.559.
16. NSW Government Gazette No. 216, 21 December 1917, pp.6857-58.
17. NSW Government Gazette No.8, 25 January 1918, pp.328-29.
18. NSW Government Gazette No.45, 12 April 1918, p.1723.
19. NSW Government Gazette No.63, 1 June 1923, p.2498.
20. NSW Government Gazette No.156, 21 December 1923, pp.5879-80.
21. Local Government Dept. annual report 1924, p.10; in Parliamentary Papers 1924 Session Vol.1, p.490.
22. NSW Government Gazette No.103, 11 September 1959, pp.2761-64.
23. NSW Government Gazette No.148, 23 December 1960, pp.4070-72.
24. NSW Government Gazette No.144, 12 December 1969, p.5078.
25. NSW Government Gazette No.146, 19 December 1969, p.5156.
26. NSW Government Gazette No.161, 18 December 1970, pp.5036-38.
27. NSW Government Gazette No.105, 29 July 1983, pp.3527-28.
28. NSW Government Gazette No.99, 18 August 1995, p.4333-37.
29. NSW Government Gazette No.94, 19 June 1998, pp.4381-83, 4386-88.
30. Local Government Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Act 1994 (Act No.44, 1994).
31. Local Government Dept. annual report, 1999-2000, p.115.
32. Ibid., p.62.
33. NSW Government Gazette No.116, 8 October 1999, pp.9848-49.
34. NSW Government Gazette No.25, 18 February 2000, pp.1279-81.