Municipality of Collie

The Municipality of Collie was a local government area in Western Australia, centred on the town of Collie. It covered an area of 1,170 acres in the Collie and Worsley townsites in 1950.[1][2]

It was established on 17 May 1901, separating the town of Collie from the surrounding Collie Road District, which had been established a year earlier.[3] The process of establishing the new municipality had been fraught: local residents had been divided regarding the municipality, with public meetings being held for and against the move, and then initial proclamations in January and again in early May were found to be invalid due to technical errors, resulting in its formal establishment being delayed until mid-May.[4][5] The first election was finally held on 27 July 1901, with J. C. Coombes becoming the first mayor.[6][7]

The municipal council consisted of nine councillors elected at large and a directly elected mayor.[6][7] The new municipality assumed the functions of the Collie Coalfields Local Board of Health, which had existed since 1897, and initially met at the health board's offices.[8][9] It soon negotiated space for a council chambers in the Collie Mechanics' Institute building.[10] The municipality built permanent municipal buildings on the corner of Throssell Street and Steere Street in 1907, consisting of a two-storey building with three shops facing the street, two sitting rooms at the rear, and the council chamber, mayor's office, town clerk's office and other offices on the first floor. The buildings were demolished during the 1970s to make way for the current Shire of Collie Council Chambers.[11]

It ceased to exist on 2 March 1951, when it merged with the Collie Road District to form the Collie Coalfields Road District following a report from the secretary of the Department of Local Government recommending amalgamation. The recommendation was supported by a "large majority" of ratepayers at a public meeting in November 1950. The municipality had been financially struggling, running a substantial deficit in the previous year and being unable to afford to carry out needed maintenance and construction work and facing criticism over the state of council services. The former municipality became the seven-member Town Ward of the thirteen-member amalgamated council.[3][12][13][14][15][16]

Herbert Wells served as mayor of the council, while George Henderson served as a councillor.[17][18]

References
  1. "Local Authorities' Merger". Collie Mail. Western Australia. 23 November 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  2. Palmer, Beth & Buckland, Adelene. A Return to the Common Reader: Print Culture and the Novel, 1850-1900. Ashgate Publishing. p. 164.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. "Municipality Boundary Amendments Register" (PDF). Western Australian Electoral Distribution Commission. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  4. "COLLIE MUNICIPALITY". The Collie Miner. Western Australia. 25 May 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  5. "PROPOSED COLLIE MUNICIPALITY". Southern Times. Western Australia. 22 November 1900. p. 6. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  6. "COLLIE". Southern Times. Western Australia. 30 July 1901. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  7. "DISTRICT NEWS". Bunbury Herald. Western Australia. 27 July 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  8. AU WA A1783 - MUNICIPALITY OF COLLIE. State Records Office of Western Australia.
  9. "DISTRICT NEWS". Bunbury Herald. Western Australia. 27 July 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  10. "COLLIE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL". Southern Times. Western Australia. 17 August 1901. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  11. "Collie Municipal Chambers (fmr) - Site of". inHerit. Heritage Council of Western Australia. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  12. "TOO MUCH WORK". Collie Mail. Western Australia. 21 December 1950. p. 5. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  13. "NEW LOCAL AUTHORITY". Collie Mail. Western Australia. 4 January 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  14. "SERVICE CRITICISED". Collie Mail. Western Australia. 14 December 1950. p. 1. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  15. ""VERY POOR STATE"". Collie Mail. Western Australia. 7 December 1950. p. 7 (NOEDITION 2). Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  16. "NEW LOCAL AUTHORITY". The West Australian. Western Australia. 25 November 1950. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
  17. Herbert Edward Wells, Biographical Register of Members of the Parliament of Western Australia. Retrieved 4 January 2017.
  18. Oliver, Bobbie. "HENDERSON, Christopher George (1857–1933), Senator for Western Australia, 1904–23 (Australian Labor Party; National Labour Party; Nationalist Party)". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 10 October 2017.

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