AGY-6449 | Shire of Macleay

Full description

The Shire of Macleay 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 on the coast between the shires of Hastings to the south and Nambucca to the north, and Apsley and Dumaresq to the west. The principal town of the region, though administratively independent of the Shire, was Kempsey. (1)

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 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 Macleay 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) Macleay 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 40 shillings for each pound gathered in the general rate. (12)

All changes to the territory of the Shire of Macleay consisted of adjustments of boundaries with the Municipality of Kempsey. In December 1920 a transfer of 296 acres from Kempsey to Macleay was proposed, (13) and proclaimed with consequent alterations to A and B ridings in March 1923. (14) 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. (15) In March 1953 a further 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. (16) In June, a definition of the Macleay ridings was published, although the proposed exchange had not yet occurred; (17) this was proclaimed in December, with the final ridings. (18)

The Shire of Macleay and Kempsey Municipal Council formed the Macleay River County Council in 1947, for matters requiring cooperative administration. (19)

The Valuation of Land Act 1916 (Act No.2, 1916) was applied to Macleay Shire from 14 December 1962 (20), and the first valuation list was supplied in December to apply from the following January. (21) 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.

On 1 October 1975 the Shire of Macleay and the Muncipality of Kempsey were amalgamated to form the new Shire of Kempsey, under a provisional council. (22)

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, 1621.
8. NSW Government Gazette No. 161, 16 May 1906, pp.2979, 2982.
9. NSW Government Gazette No.161, 16 May 1906, pp.2899, 2907.
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.207, 3 December 1920, p.7140.
14. NSW Government Gazette No.31, 9 March 1923, pp.1369-71.
15. NSW Government Gazette No.87, 26 May 1950, pp.1607-08.
16. NSW Government Gazette No.48, 13 March 1953, p.771.
17. NSW Government Gazette No.113, 12 June 1953, p.1917.
18. NSW Government Gazette No.223, 11 December 1953, pp.4072-73.
19. NSW Government Gazette No.74, 20 June 1947, p.1434.
20. NSW Government Gazette No.126, 14 December 1962, p.3694.
21. NSW Government Gazette No.128, 21 December 1962, p.3781.
22. NSW Government Gazette No.114, 5 September 1975, pp.3561-63.