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County council (New South Wales)

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Local government type in NSW, Australia

A county council in New South Wales Australia, is a special purpose local government corporation to which a group of local government councils delegate the provision of certain services. Under the Local Government Act 1993, a county council can exist only for a specific purpose or purposes identified by the proclamation of the Governor which establishes it. The councillors of a county council are not directly elected but are delegates of the member local governments. Historically, county councils were widespread, even in metropolitan areas, particularly in electricity distribution but, by the 2020s, only nine remained, all but one in regional areas with many former county councils having been taken over by the NSW government which privatised and sold the businesses of many.

The territory of a county council is known as a "county district" and is composed of the territory of the member local government areas, although the legislation permits an LGA to belong to a county council in respect of only part of its territory, in which case only that part of the LGA will belong to the county district. Although the State of New South Wales is divided up into 141 counties, for the purposes of surveying and the registration of land titles, counties and county districts are distinct legal entities, generally with different names and territories. There is presently a Rous County Council – but despite being named after Rous County, and covering a roughly similar geographical area, the territory of Rous County Council is Rous county district not Rous county, and the territories of the county and the county district do not coincide. Similarly, the former Cumberland County Council which played an important role in Sydney's urban planning in the 1940s thru 1960s had as its territory Cumberland county district, which was distinct from the County of Cumberland.

The institution of county councils was established by the Local Government Act 1919 (NSW); the first county council to be promulgated was St George County Council on 4 December 1920.

County councils in New South Wales

Presently there are nine county councils in New South Wales:

Former county councils in New South Wales

In previous decades, county councils were much more numerous, with many having been disbanded or amalgamated. In particular, they used to play a major role in electricity distribution, with many acting as electricity supply utilities. Defunct county councils include:

References

  1. "County councils in NSW" (PDF). Parliament of New South Wales. February 2024. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
  2. "Local Government Directory - Office of Local Government NSW". Office of Local Government NSW. Archived from the original on 20 December 2024. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
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