Full description
The Borough of Kempsey (1886-1906), later the Municipality of Kempsey (1906-1975), 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 parishes of Kalateenee, Yarravel, Beranghi and Kempsey, in the counties of Dudley and Macquarie.
The Municipalities Act 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 Borough of Kempsey was gazetted on 21 August 1885. (3) A counter-petition the following April claimed that many earlier signatories had mistakenly believed that their landlords would be liable for the rates. (4) The first petition was successful, and the new borough was proclaimed on 11 June 1886. (5) A returning officer was appointed to organise an election for 5 August (6) at which nine aldermen were elected. (7) The mayor (8) and town clerk were appointed before the end of August. (9) The mayor applied for and was granted a three month extension for compiling valuations under the 1867 Act. (10) By February 1887 Kempsey had collected over 321 pounds in rates, 30 of which had been spent on the valuation process. (11)
When first established, Kempsey was an island of local authority in lands under control of the Colony of New South Wales. The Local Government (Shires) Act 1905 (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 Kempsey became the Shire of Macleay. (12)
The Borough of Kempsey became the Municipality of Kempsey on 31 December 1906. Under the Local Government Extension Act, 1906 (Act No.40, 1906) the terms municipal district and borough ceased to be used. (13) In 1907 it was listed as having nine aldermen, and no ward divisions. (14)
In December 1920 a proposal was gazetted to transfer 296 acres from Kempsey to Macleay Shire, (15) and this transfer was proclaimed in March 1923. (16) Extracts of relevant valuations were to be provided by Kempsey, and documentation of rate arrears to be supplied until requested back. Eleven acres were transferred from Macleay C riding to Kempsey in May 1950. (17) In March 1953 an exchange was proposed of 77 acres from Macleay to Kempsey, and 60 acres from Kempsey to Macleay, both being sections of the parish of Yarravel, county of Dudley. (18) The exchange was proclaimed on 11 December. (19)
The Kempsey Municipal Council and the Shire of Macleay formed the Macleay River County Council in 1947, for matters requiring cooperative administration. (20)
The Valuation of Land Act 1916 (Act No.2, 1916) was applied to Kempsey from 14 December 1951 (21), and the first valuation list was supplied to apply from the following January. (22) 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.
In 1959 the Kempsey Municipal Council applied to have the mayoral position popularly elected, under the Local Government (Amendment) Act 1959 (Act No.21, 1959). This took effect from the elections of 5 December 1959. (23) As the mayor was no longer one of the nine aldermen, this measure increased council membership to ten.
On 1 October 1975 the Municipality of Kempsey and the Shire of Macleay were amalgamated to form the new Shire of Kempsey, under a provisional council. (24)
Endnotes
1. An Act to Establish Municipalities, 1867 (31 Victoria Act No.12), s.10.
2. Ibid, s.8.
3. NSW Government Gazette No.358, 21 August 1885, pp.5459-60.
4. NSW Government Gazette No.644, 30 December 1885, pp.8455-56.
5. NSW Government Gazette No.322, 11 June 1886, p.3991.
6. NSW Government Gazette No.385, 12 July 1886, p.4659.
7. NSW Government Gazette No.468, 20 August 1886, p.5672.
8. NSW Government Gazette No.475, 24 August 1886, p.5729.
9. NSW Government Gazette No.499, 3 September 1886, p.6010.
10. NSW Government Gazette No.538, 21 September 1886, p.6404.
11. NSW Government Gazette No.105, 22 February 1887, p.1284.
12. NSW Government Gazette No.121, 7 March 1906, pp.1593, 1621.
13. 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.
14. NSW Government Gazette No.146, 20 November 1907, p.6309.
15. NSW Government Gazette No.207, 3 December 1920, p.7140.
16. NSW Government Gazette No.31, 9 March 1923, pp.1369-70.
17. NSW Government Gazette No.87, 26 May 1950, pp.1607-08.
18. NSW Government Gazette No.48, 13 March 1953, p.771.
19. NSW Government Gazette No.223, 11 December 1953, pp.4072-73.
20. NSW Government Gazette No.74, 20 June 1947, p.1434.
21. NSW Government Gazette No.220, 7 December 1951, p.3605.
22. NSW Government Gazette No.232, 21 December 1951, p.3800.
23. Department of Local Government annual report 1959-60, p.18; in Parliamentary Papers 1960-61 session, Vol.1, p.1388.
24. NSW Government Gazette No.114, 5 September 1975, pp.3561-63.
User Contributed Tags
Login to tag this record with meaningful keywords to make it easier to discover
