NRS-16895 | Reports of the Town Hall / Town Hall and Municipal Property / Municipal Property and Lighting Committee [Leichhardt Council]

Full description

This series consists of volumes containing reports from the Town Hall Committee, later known as the Town Hall and Municipal Property Committee and later again known as the Municipal Property and Lighting Committee of Leichhardt Council.

The reports of the committee date from 6th March 1907 and at this time were recorded in a separate volume from that of the minutes of the Committee. From 1910 however, the reports are bound in volumes with both the minutes of the Town Hall Committee, and the minutes and reports of other Leichhardt Council committees. From this period, minute numbers have been recorded in the margins of the report pages. These numbers exist as one continuous run of numbers throughout the series. Matters recorded in both minutes and reports have the same minute number, allowing cross referencing. Separate reports from the committee ceased to be produced in 1929. From 1930 onwards the minutes and reports of each committee meeting were combined into the one document. (See the committee minutes series, NRS16894, for the combined minutes and reports.)

The reports are in the form of recommendations made to the Council and have been recorded chronologically by date of meeting. The reports also record details of meeting dates and times and the names of persons attending. They are generally signed by the Committee Chairman and some are annotated with the particulars of the Council meeting to which the recommendations were referred. Matters dealt with in the reports relate to the use of the Town Hall and maintenance of its facilities and equipment. Particular matters include committee membership, maintenance work, furniture and fittings, accommodation, hire of facilities, hire tariffs and regulations, finances and accounting. The reports also relate to the inspection and maintenance of other council properties, including the Leichhardt Swimming Baths.

The reports and recommendations document the decisions made by the Committee at its meetings, however such recommendations were not binding upon Council.  Council could reject the recommendation, send the recommendation back to the committee for further discussion, amend the recommendation, or accept the recommendation. The recommendations were not binding upon Council unless, and until, adopted by Council as shown in the minutes of the Council meeting.

The Committee was initially referred to as the Town Hall Committee and was established to oversee the construction and later the maintenance and use of Leichhardt Town Hall. The committee later broadened its purpose to include the maintenance of other Council properties and by 1925 it began to be referred to as the Town Hall and Municipal Property committee. During 1941 the Town Hall and Municipal Property committee and Lighting committee began to combine and by January 1942 the committees name had changed to reflect this, with it now being referred to as the Municipal Property and Lighting Committee.

Section 109 of the Municipalities Act of 1867 (Act No.12a, 1867), which was assented to on 23 December 1867, allowed municipal councils to appoint either standing committees or occasional (special) committees, composed of councillors, and to delegate to the committees 'any inquiry negotiation or arrangement or power to do any emergent act or to carry out any work which such Council may have ordered agreed to or directed'. However, Committees had to report to the council at the earliest opportunity. Section 45 of the Local Government Act 1906 gave councils the right to acquire, erect and maintain a town hall or other municipal building.