1865 – 1993
Valedictory Document
For 128 years the Shire of Bellarine, and its successor body Bellarine Rural City Council, has administered this very special part of Victoria known as the Bellarine Peninsula.
The valedictory document, produced on the eve of the supersession of the municipality to the City of Greater Geelong, is a small tribute to the years of service performed by councillors and staff of the organisation to help create one of the most enviable lifestyles in the State.
Since 1865 when Andrew Campbell assumed the chair as the first Shire President of the Shire of Bellarine, the peninsula municipality has evolved from one of Victoria’s most significant agricultural areas to a major urban growth corridor and increasingly popular tourism destination.
During the past 25 years the growth has been spectacular, as thousands of Victorians have discovered the delights of rural/coastal living within proximity to the State’s second city. Throughout the 1980’s and early 1990s the Bellarine municipality continually absorbed almost 40 percent of the region’s new housing growth.
Apart from the day to day work of meeting the needs of a large and diverse community, the Council during the past decade has had to meet the challenge of longer term planning to ensure the needs of its 21st century residents are also fulfilled.
However, this booklet reflects upon and commemorates the achievements of 128 years of local government history and particularly salutes the work of our pioneering civic leaders, the benefits of whose foresight and vision we are still enjoying today.
The end of the Bellarine municipality, however, spells the beginning of a new and even brighter future, as we proudly take our place as a major contributors to the new City of Greater Geelong.
Though such an amalgamation comes strength and a unity of purpose, to make our region one of the great and prosperous communities of Australia.
Cr. John D. Hayes
Mayor
Bellarine Rural City Council
May 17, 1993
Councillors and Senior Officers 1865 – 1993
*Campbell, A.M. 1865 – 1873
Bourke, J. 1865 – 1875
Clery, J. 1865 – 1873
*Devine, A. 1865 – 1879
Grange, J.T. 1865 – 1868
Hood, A. 1865 – 1868
Matthews, J.H. 1865 – 1866
Savage, T. 1865 – 1867
Wiggins, J. 1865 – 1867
Longden, D 1866 – 1868
Colins 1867 – 1869
*Henderson, G. 1867 – 1889
*Smiley, R. 1868 – 1886
*Levin, J.F. 1869 – 1875
*Trethowan, E. 1868 – 1882
*Sutterby, T. 1869 – 1889
*Curlewis, A.C 1873 – 1875
McAndrew, D. 1873 – 1876
*McLeod, A. 1873 – 1882
*McMaster, J. 1875 – 1884
Dredge, J. 1875 – 1878
Cameron, P. 1875 – 1878
*Williamson, D. 1878 – 1891
Cant, J. 1879 – 1881
Walker, W. 1879 – 1886
Hollins, J. 1881 – 1884
Martin, H. 1882 – 1888
*Harvey, E. 1882 – 1897
*Dalley, J. 1884 – 1890
*Hooper, M.J. 1884 – 1893
Cooper, J. 1886 – 1889
Curlewis, G.C. 1886 – 1890
*Crigg, T.T. 1889 – 1905
Moffat, D. 1889 – 1892
Key, W. 1890 – 1892
*McDonald, R. 1890 – 1898
*Trebilcock, R. 1889 – 1898
Adams, J. 1890 – 1891
*Capron, W.H. 1891 – 1911
Calhoun, J. 1892 – 1896
*Sutterby, R.H. 1893 – 1899
*Pacey, F.J. 1893 – 1907
*Gray, W. 1896 – 1917
*Willis, J.B. 1897 – 1903
*Webster, G.E. 1898 – 1906
*O’Hallaron, D. Snr 1898 – 1937
Rhind, D. 1900 – 1902
Wilson, J.A. 1899 – 1907
Edney, W.H. 1902 – 1905
*Wilson, W.B. 1903 – 1943
*Harvey, E.A.J. 1905 – 1941
*Willey, R. 1905 – 1912
Richardson, C. 1905 – 1908
Hood, G.A. 1906 – 1919
*Turner, J. 1908 – 1928
Alder, E. 1908 – 1911
Watson, W. 1911 – 1916
*Dew, J. 1911 – 1917
McLean, A.D. 1917 – 1929
Cornall, R.G. 1917 – 1929
*Dean, W. 1917 – 1929
*Warren, A.W. 1917 – 1920
*Armytage, F. 1919 – 1926
Wallis, R. 1919 – 1920
Beal, A.H. 1919 – 1920
*Henderson, J. 1920 – 1974
*Hall, R.G. 1920 – 1941
Patching, A.S. 1920 – 1922
Jensen, J. 1922 – 1927
*Wisbey, G. 1926 – 1947
*Graham, C.E. 1927 – 1950
Gallop, R.H. 1928 – 1930
*Vines, A.N. 1929 – 1938
Anderson, J.C. 1930 – 1943
*O’Halloran, D. Jnr 1937 – 1965
*Hammond, J. 1938 – 1951
Clarke. D.G. 1941 – 1943
*McDonald, F. 1941 – 1964
*Whitcombe, R.A. 1943 – 1953
*Mitchell, E.H. 1943 – 1955
*Lennox, N.D. 1945 – 1953
Lorimer, C.O. 1947 – 1953
*Ibbotson, V.H. 1950 – 1965
*Atkins, N.W.H. 1951 – 1980
*Spry, F.R.W. 1952 – 1957
Hall, L.G. 1953 – 1955
*Nash, S. 1953 – 1957
*Guyett, R. 1955 – 1976
Durran, M.J. 1955 – 1967
Urquhart, C. 1957 – 1963
*Bennett, H.W. 1957 – 1967
*Aitken, R. L. 1963 – 1980
McDonald, P.E. 1964 – 1977
*Davies, J.G. 1965 – 1977
*Stevens, G.R. 1965 – 1980
*Crowe, B.J. 1967 – 1974 *Rice, G.A. 1968 – 1974 *Terrier, C.J. 1967 – 1979
*Jones, W. 1973 – 1985
Moloney, D.R.P. 1974 – 1976
Cull, J.E. 1975 – 1981
*Stacey, D.S. 1976 – 1984
Musgrave, L.J. 1977 – 1979
*Wynn, J.H. 1977 – 1980
Davey, R. 1980 – 1981
Bjork, I.J. 1980 – 1984
Tew, E. 1980 – 1983
Hawkins, G. 1981 – 1984
McKenzie, D. 1981 – 1984
*Maddison, G. 1981 – 1987
*Nairn, W.W. 1981 – 1987
Cotton, A.G. 1982 – 1985
*Bell, K.J. 1983 – 1985
Palethorpe, K. 1984 – 1986
*Robinson, V.F. 1984 – 1992
*Johnson, L.K. 1984 – 1989
West, G.D. 1985 – 1988
Stewart, N.R. 1985 – 1987
**Howard, I.T. 1985 – 1993
O’Kane, B.P. 1986 – 1988
Eadie, R.J. 1987 – 1989
**Knight, B.M. 1987 – 1992
**Hayes, J.D. 1987 – 1993
**Mannix, A.E. 1988 – 1993
Mortimer, D.A. 1988 – 1993
Macdonald, A.J. 1989 – 1992
Rickards, M.S. 1989 – 1991
Egan, G. 1991 – 1992
Powell, R.A. 1992 – 1993
McWhinney, D.A. 1992 – 1993
Pape, T.H.L. 1992 – 1993
Hughes, M.D. 1992 – 1993
Joint Secretary and Engineer
McWilliams, A. 1865 – 1899
LeCocq, S. 1899 – 1907
Strettle, W.A. 1907 – 1908
Tuffs, J.R. 1908 – 1924
LeCocq, S. 1924 – 1925
Dean, A. 1926 – 1948
Engineer
White, C.H. 1950 – 1952
Leggo, L.M. 1952 – 1954
Dallimore, F.C. 1954 – 1974
Loney, A.L. 1974 – 1983
Couper, I.N. 1983 – 1990
McPherson, N.W. 1990 – 1993
Secretary / Town Clerk
Williams, H.A. 1948 – 1976
Pearce, G.L. 1976 – 1984
Wignall, P.L. 1984 – 1993
Deputy Shire Manager
Couper, I.N. 1983 – 1984
Wignall, P.L. 1984 – 1989
Shire Manager
Pearce, G.L. 1976 – 1984
Couper, I.N. 1984 – 1989
City Manager
Couper, I.N. 1989 – 1993
Deputy City Manager
Wignall, P.L. 1989 – 1993
*Denotes has held the position of Shire President
**Denotes has held the position of Mayor
Commemorating 128 years of local government
Bellarine Peninsula inhabitants were among the first in Victoria to take advantage of the 1853 “Act for making and improving Roads in the colony of Victoria”.
The Portarlington Road District was proclaimed in the Government Gazette of December 12, 1853. However, it was nearly six months before ten residents: Caroline Newcomb, H. (J.C.?) Langdon, John Armstrong, Thomas Shanklin, Joseph Burkitt, Richard Sabine, James McAndrew, Thomas Gange, John Wylie and Laurence Webb, requested Police Magistrate at Geelong, William H. Bonsey, to call a meeting for the purpose of forming a Road Board.
The meeting held June 27, 1854 at the Bucks Head Inn, Bellarine, decided to appoint a road board to superintend the “providing and completing the construction, repair and maintenance of roads in the Portarlington road District.
These six men and women, with J.C. Langdon as Chairman and Caroline Newcomb as Secretary, were all faced with the daunting task of putting into place the foundations of what was to become in time fully fledged local government: daunting because, being one of the first boards, there was no precedent for them to follow – all they had to work from were the details of the Act.
Under the Act, the Board had the power to levy rates and could also raise money from tolls on those who used the roads. It instructed Charles Rowand to erect a toll house and gate at the north-east corner of Reserve No.1 (probably at the intersection of Portarlington Road with today’s Moolap Station Road) and another on the road to Shortland’s Bluff (as Queenscliff was then known).
The first annual meeting was held on July 11, 1855, when a large number of land and householders attended at the Bucks Head. The Board reported that, as a result of its endeavours, it had been able to form one mile, 416 yards of road and had practically formed a further one mile 144 yards.
It elected Septimus Lord Curlewis of Hermsley as its chairman and Captain A.W. Bailey as the first paid secretary at L50 per annum.
Bailey was replaced a Secretary by Charles Thomson in 1858, who was replaced a year later by Andrew McWilliams, thus beginning his association with local government that was to last until 1889.
In 1861 McWilliams was also appointed engineer at £175 per annum, thus combining the posts of Secretary and Engineer, a not unusual procedure until quite recent times. He also added the hitherto honorary post of treasurer to his list of titles, at £2.10s per annum.
On January 2, 1858, the Board met in the original Road Board office for the first time. The office had cost £100, with £14 for furnishings, and as the only public building in the area, it was made available for meeting deemed by the Chairman to be of public benefit.
The Board’s first step was to clear the roads; felling trees, grubbing out the stumps and removing any rocks. By 1860 the framework of today’s roads had been established, at least on paper, although it was many a long day before many of them achieved the status of roads by today’s standards.
As the population increased, the need for extending the boundaries of the Portarlington Road District became apparent. Not only were there people in other areas needing roads, but those same people were enjoying the benefits of what roads were already constructed without contributing rates to their construction and upkeep.
During February 1859, new boundaries were gazetted, which included that part of Paywit Parish north of Andersons Road and part of Moolap more or less following section boundaries westward from Portarlington Road to Boundary Road, the original eastern limit of the town of Geelong.
Almost a year later the Board decided it was ready to annexe the rest of the Peninsula (excluding Queenscliff) provided that the Government guarantee a special grant of £2,000 to be expended in the new district, plus an annual sum of at least £1,000 to maintain the Queenscliff Road.
In a proclamation dated October 29, 1860, the Indented Head Road District was created by adding to the existing Portarlington Road District the southern portions of Bellarine and Paywit (excluding Queenscliff). On July 3, 1861 the Board agreed to seek the annexation of the southern portion of Moolap, with the change being proclaimed on July 8. The road district now covered the whole of the Peninsula eastward from Boundary Road, excluding the proposed municipality of Queenscliff.
The Local Government Act passed on September 2, 1863 made it possible for a road district to become a shire if its area was at least 100 square miles and its total rate revenue £1,000. Three weeks later the Board made its first application to become a Shire. When it was asked to provide a name, it stuck with Indented Head, although Barwon was also proposed.
The same process was repeated in 1865, but this time the Indented Head Road District was reckoned to have an area of 74,240 acres and a population of 3,300, about 600 dwellings, rateable property valued at £180,702, an annual value of rateable property valued at £20,078 and revenue from all sources of £5,647 7s 10d. The Shire was proclaimed on September 18, 1865, with A. Campbell as its first president.
The change from road board to shire involved little more than a change of name. Even the seal was retained, with the words “Shire of Bellarine” substituted for Indented Head Road Board. But the responsibilities of the new organ of local government were far greater than those of the old board which was concerned only with road making. Shire councillor had to deal as well with matters of health – such as disposal of rubbish and nightsoil, control of abattoirs and adequate water supply; with control of wharves; with the provision of footpaths and parks and lighting.
The slower tempo of life, the difficulties of transport, the fact that nearly all the councillors were farmers had its effect on attendances at Council meetings. There were many meetings, particularly annual meetings, when there was no quorum present and a rider was despatched post haste to round-up councillors.
They were farmers representing farmers who found little fault with the elected representatives, keeping them in office over long periods in time. Candidates were frequently elected unopposed and only left council when forced to do so by illness, increasing age or removal from the district.
Officers of the early Council were also distinguished by outstanding service. Andrew McWilliams died in office in 1889 after 40 years in the job. Dr. J.G. Carstairs was appointed Heath Officer in 1870 and held the post until his death in 1904.
In 1867, as well as Secretary / Engineer / Treasurer / Toll Manager McWilliams, there was a Thistle Inspector (£20 pa) Dog Inspector (£20) and Valuer (£25). Sometimes more than one man would hold one of the positions, as in the case of George Hebbard, valuer in 1867, who by 1873 had become Inspector of Thistles and Dogs, Valuer, Collector of Rates and Revenue, Land Bailiff and Revenue Officer. He died in office in 1894.
The local police were also employed by the council at small emolument in certain positions, such as manager of wharves, and inspector of slaughterhouses. Other lesser posts the Shire had to fill included the herds and pound keepers at various centres of population, park caretakers and lamplighters.
The financial situation of the Shire varied from year to year, but a balanced budget was usually thought to be a necessity. It was many years before Council exercised the power to borrow, which had so worried some of the opponents of the creation of a Shire.
In the first year the estimated expenditure was £2,734 13s 3d – the same as the expected revenue, of which only £807 7s 9d was to be derived from rates. Government subsidies made up most of the remainder.
Council inherited as its headquarters the Roads Board office at Drysdale, an inadequate structure for its needs, despite additions and beautifications over the years, but it was October 1888 before the combined courthouse and Shire Office was opened amid great festivities on its High Street, Drysdale site. The handsome building designed by Secretary / Engineer McWilliams, cost £971, of which the government was to pay £400.
Roads continued to be the major preoccupation of the Council. The Queenscliff and Portarlington Road carried the most traffic and consequently required the most attention. Funding for new roads and road maintenance was dealt a severe blow in 1875 when road tolls were abolished by the Government without any compensation for the lost income.
Another area of new concern of the Shire was the responsibility for the health of the community. In 1869 the Health Statutes were proclaimed and the Secretary prepared the necessary bye-laws to control privies, cesspools, drains, passages, yards, premises, removal of house refuse, stables, cowsheds, pigstyes, abattoirs and slaughterhouses, offensive trades, and the depositing of manure and rubbish. Further bye-laws were passed in 1871 to prevent the deposit or discharge of rubbish or liquids in places where it might be injurious to public health, to protect water courses, reservoirs and dams, and to preserve timber and soil.
Andrew McWilliams was followed by Samuel Le Cocq in 1889, who was followed by briefly by W.S. Strettle. Following a short incumbency by S.C. Jones in 1908, John Robert Tuffs was appointed to the position and allowed to continue as consulting engineer to Newtown and Chilwell Council.
Until the end of World War One, employees had accepted what remuneration the Council offered or looked elsewhere for work. Any raises were an act of generosity. From 1914 onwards Council found that the wages it paid were determined by the Arbitration Court in response to logs of claims put forward by the Federated Municipal and Shire Council Employees Union.
Street lighting was still dependent on oil lamps during the early years of the 20th century, but in 1911 the Council accepted an offer from Aerogen Safety Gas Company for a free month’s trial at Drysdale. The gas was produced in a simple looking plant near the Shire Hall and reticulated to eight lamps. Council made the gas available to private consumers at 6s per 1,000 cubic feet (soon reduced to 5s 10d). By 1917 189 consumers were connected to the system, but the 1920s saw the supremacy of gas being challenged by electricity and Council was finding the cost of running the system excessive. It tried leasing, but the arrival of electricity to Drysdale and Portarlington in 1924 and its control by the State Electricity Commission ended council’s involvement in energy supply.
Modern methods also began to make an impact on Council’s roadmaking activity. In 1909 the engineer was empowered to employ a traction engine when necessary to roll road metal and the following year the Council purchased an Improved Steel Champion road grader. In 1919 the main road through Drysdale was “tar painted” as an experiment. The formation of the County Roads Board in 1912 to assume responsibility for main roads was initially opposed by the Council until the revelation that £1,000 was available for the Shire’s two main roads allayed all fears and the two bodies worked amicably from then on.
In 1921 Council appointed a full time Secretary and a consulting engineer. Tuffs, who had held the part-time post since 1908 agreed to full time involvement at an annual salary of £325, but resigned in late 1923, to replaced by a former holder of the post, Samuel Le Cocq.
In 1925 Arnold Dean replaced Le Cocq as Secretary / Engineer, Rate Collector and Interim Valuer at £500 per annum plus residence, plus £75 travelling allowance. In 1928 his duties were lightened and salary reduced, but Council appointed its first woman appointee, Miss Mary Moffat to assist him.
The depression of the 1930s brought to a halt subdivision and many blocks that had been purchased were later sold by Council to recover unpaid rates. Unemployment had been endemic in Australia during the 1920’s and Bellarine Shire had its share of unemployed.
It used relief funds to provide works on Shire roads. At the same time its revenue was affected and had to economise by cutting employee salaries by 10%. To lighten ratepayer’s burdens, it instructed the valuer to reduce all valuations by 20 percent and to drop the rate in the pound.
Council used government grants to provide work on the roads and foreshores for the municipality’s 117 unemployed (according to the 1933 census) and protested when the CRB gave work to the unemployed from outside the Shire.
During World War Two, as well as losing many of its men, Council also lost its equipment. In 1942 the Allied Works Council commandeered the grader and heavy road plough. Roadmaking subsequently suffered, especially as a result of a lack of tenderers for advertised works because of manpower problems among private contractors.
For a time in the immediate post-war period there were special grants for construction, such as £3,500 for road and bridge works, but in the 1950s Council was resorting to loans to finance special urgent projects.
There were also changes in personnel employed by the Council. In 1948 Mary Moffat resigned after 20 years’ service, followed two months later by the resignation of Arnold Dean, who had been secretary-engineer for 23 years. Council took the opportunity to separate the two positions. It appointed H.A. Williams as secretary and H. Thompson as consulting engineer for a minimum of four days a month. Thompson resigned in 1952 and a full time engineer and building surveyor, L.M. Leggo was appointed. Lego was followed in 1954 by F.C. Dallimore.
During the post war period, subdivision on the peninsula spread like the plague, at first close to the city, then later further out in the existing towns of the Shire, reaching a peak in 1960. Every Council meeting dealt with at least one subdivision.
The post-war shortage of materials meant that many of the habitations were often substandard and usually erected without a building permit. In 1949 Council appointed a building inspector, at two-thirds of the fees collected.
As the speed of subdivision increased the need to control it became apparent. From 1950 the areas west of Christies Road came under control of the Geelong and District Planning Scheme and subdividers had to comply with its conditions as well as Council’s. When there was an increase in subdividing further east, Council found it necessary in 1959 to draw up its own Town Planning Scheme.
Approved houses continued to be built at a steady rate and in 1970, when 326 new house permits were issued, Bellarine Shire led the state, signally the start of an era of consistently high growth, culminating in a frenzy of building activity during the past decade.
When the Shire held its centenary meeting in 1965 in the presence of Governor Sir Rohan Delecombe and Lady Delecombe it did so in new premises. The expanding activities of the Council meant that the 1888 building was no longer big enough or suited to the changed conditions.
Council bought 3.5 acres from Mr and Mrs A. Drake in 1960. Brown and Bunbury drew up plans for the new offices and the tender of Len Bell and Sons of £22,285 was accepted.
The first meeting was held in February 1962, but the new building was not to last the 70 years of its predecessor. An expansion of the Collins Street building in 1972 and subsequent additions in 1983 and 1987 were necessary to cope with the volume of work generated by the fast growing municipality.
The old Shire Hall continued to be used by the Law Department until 1971 when its judicial role came to an end. It became the headquarters of the Bellarine Historical Society when it was formed in 1976.
The mid 1970s marked the end of another era when in 1974 the Council’s longest serving councillor, Jim Henderson of Portarlington ended 54 years’ service to the municipality, following the tradition of his grandfather who served the Council between 1867 and 1889. F.C. Dallimore ended 30 years as Shire Engineer in 1974 and was followed by A. Loney until 1983. Harold Williams continued as secretary until 1976, to be succeeded by Graeme Pearce, who left in 1984. In that year Bellarine became one of the first Victorian municipalities to adopt a corporate management structure, with the appointment of Ian Couper as Shire Manager / Shire Engineer and Peter Wignall as Deputy Shire Manager / Shire Secretary, plus four operations managers covering the areas of administration, engineering, finance and building/planning.
A new area of activity for Council in the post war era was the provision of infant welfare centres and pre-school centres. At the other end of the age spectrum, Council also found itself providing for the needs of its older residents, through the provision of elderly citizens clubs in Ocean Grove (1963), Portarlington (1976), Drysdale (1976) and Newcomb (1983).
During the 1980s its range of human and community services grew dramatically under government encouragement and community expectation to include family planning, child care, playgroups, social work, recreation, community transport, youth and a range of domiciliary care services such as Home Care, Meals on Wheels and the Home Maintenance program.
In 1977 the Council decided to join the Geelong Regional Library Service, with branch libraries established in Ocean Grove and Newcomb, and other areas of the municipality serviced on a weekly basis by a bookmobile.
A range of community health and recreation facilities, including “The Springs” Reception centre and community complex (purchased 1977), Newcomb Community Centre (1981) and Bellarine “Splashdown” Leisure Centre (1987) have not only expanded the opportunities for community recreation, but have also enabled the Council to embark on self-funding entrepreneurial activities in an effort to reduce the rate burden.
An annual budget of $33 million in 1993, of which is less than half is generated through rate revenue, is administered by a staff of more than 500 employees, providing services that could not have been imagined by the municipal pioneers.
For several years the Bellarine Rural City has absorbed almost 40 percent of new housing growth in the Geelong region and remains the fastest developing Victorian municipality outside the Melbourne Statistical Division.
The municipality’s dynamic growth and mixture of urban and rural areas made it an obvious candidate on December 12th, 1989 to become the first Victorian municipality under the 1989 Local Government Act to be officially proclaimed as a Rural City.
During the early 1990s Bellarine Rural City Council became one of the region’s most active voices in the move to amalgamate the nine local government bodies of the Geelong region, to create one voice for Victoria’s leading provincial city.
The final meeting of Bellarine Rural City Council on May 17th, 1993 expressed confidence and optimism for the peninsula’s future as an integral part of the City of Greater Geelong, which superseded Bellarine Rural City, the Shire of Corio and the Cities of Geelong, Geelong West, Newtown and South Barwon on May 18th, 1993.
PROCLAMATION
PORTARLINGTON ROAD DISTRICT
By His Excellency Charles Joseph La Trobe, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor of the Colony of Victoria and its Dependencies, &c., &c., &c.
Whereas by an Act of the Lieutenant Governor and Legislative Council of the Colony of Victoria, made and passed in the sixteen year of the Reign of her present Majesty, intituled, “An Act for making and improving Roads in the Colony of Victoria” it is amongst other things enacted, that it shall be lawful for the Lieutenant Governor, from time to time, to proclaim and declare, any such portion of the said Colony as to him should seem meet, as and to be a Road District for the purposes in the said Act contained, and also to define the boundaries of every Road District thereby proclaimed and declared, and to give a specific name or destination to every such Road District, and from time to time to revoke any such Proclamation, and vary and alter the boundary of any such District as may be necessary and advisable: Now therefore I, Charles Joseph La Trobe, Esquire, Lieutenant Governor as foresaid, in pursuance of the power so vested in me by the said in part recited Act, and of every other power and authority enabling me in this behalf, do herby proclaim and declare the undermentioned portion of the said Colony to be a Road District, and that such Road District is bounded as follows:- On the East by the part of the Eastern Boundary of the parish of Bellarine, commencing at Port Phillip Bay, bearing south five miles sixty chains, and by a divisional line between portions 3 and 4 of block 2, parish of Paywit, bearing south one mile; on the South by a line bearing west seven miles to the Eastern boundary of the parish of Moolap, and thence by a line bearing north 82° west, five miles and three chains to the Corporation Boundary of the town of Geelong; on the West by the Corporation Boundary bearing northwards to Port Phillip Bay; and on the North by the waters of Port Phillip Bay to the commencing point: and I do hereby further proclaim and declare, that such Road District shall be called and known as the “Portarlington Road District.”
Given under my hand, and the Seal of the said Colony,
at Melbourne, this twelfth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and fifty three, and the seventeenth year of Her
Majesty’s reign.
(L.S.) C.J. LA TROBE.
By His Excellency’s Command,
JOHN FOSTER.PROCLAMATION
THE INDENTED HEADS ROAD DISTRICT
By His Excellency Sir Henry Barkly, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Captain-General and Governor-in-Chief of the Colony of Victoria, and Vice-Admiral of the same, &c., &c., &c.
Whereas by an Act of the Lieutenant Governor and Legislative Council of the Colony of Victoria, passed in the sixteenth year of Her present Majesty’s reign, intituled, An Act for making and improving Roads in the Colony of Victoria, it was amongst other things enacted, that it should be lawful for the Lieutenant Governor, from time to time, by notice in the Government Gazette, to proclaim and declare any such portion of the said colony as to him should seem meet, as and to be a road district for the purposes in the said Act contained, and also to define the boundaries of every road district thereby proclaimed and declared, and to give a specific name or designation to every such road district; And whereas by a Proclamation under the hand of the Governor and the seal of the colony, bearing date the twelfth day of December, in the year One thousand eight hundred and fifty three, a portion of the County of Grant therein described was erected into a road district, under the designation of the “Portarlington Road District:” And whereas by another Proclamation, bearing date the seventh day of March, in the year One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, the boundaries of the said road district were altered: And whereas it is deemed expedient again to alter the boundaries of such district, and to change the designation thereof: Now therefore, I, Sir Henry Barkly, do hereby, with the advice foresaid, I do herby proclaim and declare that the portion of the County of Grant hereinafter defined shall be a road district for the purposes in the said Act contained, that is to say: Commencing at a point on the shore of the inner Geelong harbour, about forty chains east of Point Galena; thence south to the south-west angle of portion 5, section 4, of the said parish; thence south to the sought-west angle of portion 1, section 13, of said parish; thence east to the north-west angle of portion 1,
PROCLAMATION
The Shire of Bellarine
By His Excellency Sir Charles Henry Darling, Knight Commander of the Most Honorable Order of the Bath, Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Victoria, &c,. &c,. &c,.
Whereas by The Local Government Act 1863 it is amongst other things enacted that if at any time in any district, whether single or united, which shall contain an area of not less than one hundred square miles, the total amount actually paid in respect of the general rate then last made shall have amounted to One thousand pounds, it shall be lawful for the Governor in Council to proclaim, if it shall seem fit, such district shall thereupon be and be called such shire accordingly; and no district, after the proclamation thereof as such shire, save as therein provided with regard to the adjustment of boundaries to those of electoral districts, shall be united with any other shire or district, or with any borough or municipal district: And whereas by a Proclamation under the hand of the Governor and the seal of the colony, bearing date the twenty-ninth day of October, 1860, a Road District was proclaimed under the designation ”The Indented Heads Road District:” And whereas by another Proclamation bearing date the eighth day of July, 1861, the said Road District was altered as therein mentioned: And whereas by an Order of the Governor in Council made on the twenty-seventh day of February, 1865, the said Road District was divided into the three electoral subdivisions therein defined: And whereas the area of the said district and amount of the last general rate therein are not less than the area and amount in the said Act mentioned; and it seemed fit to make an Order in Council this day to proclaim the said district to be a shire accordingly: Now therefore I, Sir Charles Henry Darling, the Governor of Victoria, with the advice of the Executive Council, do hereby proclaim the district theretofore proclaimed and called the Indented Heads Road District to be a Shire within the meaning of the said Act, by the name in and by such Order in Council assigned thereto, that is to say:-
THE SHIRE OF BELLARINE
Given under my Hand and the Seal of the Colony,
at Melbourne, this eighteenth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundredand sixty-five, and in the twenty-ninth year of Her
Majesty’s reign.
(L.S.) C.H.DARLING.
By His Excellency’s Command,
J.F. SULLIVAN.
God Save the Quee
PROCLAMATION
Bellarine Rural City Council
LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACTS 1958 & 1989
PROCLAMATION OF THE MUNICIPAL DISTRICT
OF THE SHIRE OF BELLARINE TO BE THE
BELLARINE RURAL CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS Part 11 of the Local Government Act 1958 and section 4 (3) of the Local Government Act 1989 provide that the Governor in Council may on the recommendation of the Minister for Local Government proclaim a municipal district that is partly urban and partly rural in character to be a Rural City;
AND WHEREAS the municipal district of the Shire of Bellarine is party urban and partly rural in character.
NOW THEREFOR I, J. Davis McCaughey, Governor of Victoria acting with the advice of the Executive Council and under Part 11 of the Local Government Act 1958 and section 4 (3) of the Local Government Act 1989 proclaim the municipal district of the Shire of Bellarine to be a Rural City under the name of the Bellarine Rural City Council with effect on and from 12 December, 1989.
By His Excellency’s Command
Maureen Lyster
MINISTER FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
City of Greater Geelong Bill
(extract)
Constitution of City of Greater Geelong
(1) On the appointed day-
(a) there is deemed to have been constituted under the Local Government Act 1989 a body corporate constituted as a City Council by the name of Greater Geelong City Council;
(b) the boundaries of the municipal district of the Greater Geelong City Council shall be fixed as described in Schedule 1;
(c) the following Councils cease to exist by virtue of the Act –
(i) Bellarine Rural City Council
(ii) City of Geelong;
(iii) City of Geelong West;
(iv) City of Newtown;
(v) City of South Barwon;
(vi) Shire of Corio;
(d) The person holding office as Councillors of the Councils specified in paragraph (c) cease to hold such office by virtue of this Act;
(e) The Commissioners appointed under section 7 are deemed to be the Councillors of the Greater Geelong City Council and together shall be deemed to constitute the Greater Geelong City Council as Councillors and may perform the functions and exercise the powers conferred on the Commissioners by this Act.
(2) The boundaries fixed under sub-section (1) (b) are deemed to have been fixed under an Order in Council made under Part 11 of the Local Government (Miscellaneous) Act 1958 or any subsequent provisions.
PROCLAMATION
I, Richard E. McGarvie, Governor of Victoria declare
that I have assented in her Majesty’s name to the
following Bill.
(L.S.) R.E. McGARVIE
By His Excellency’s Command
J. KENNETT
Premier