Municipality of Bulong
The Municipality of Bulong was a local government area in Western Australia centred on the mining town of Bulong.
It was established on 13 November 1896, separating the Bulong township from the North-East Coolgardie Road District.[1][2] The gazetting of a municipality followed lobbying from the Bulong Progress Committee, which passed on a sum of £217 to the new council upon its establishment.[3]
The first election was held on 21 December 1896, with E. H. B. Macartney elected the first Mayor of Bulong. The council consisted of a directly elected mayor and six councillors.[4] It initially met in temporary council chambers in Colin Street, before completing construction of permanent chambers in Reid Street in 1897.[5][6][7] The council grappled with the issues of establishing many basic amenities for the town, including establishing a cemetery, fire brigade, and recreation reserve, with the recreation reserve formally vested in the council in 1898.[3][8]
The municipality was enlarged in 1898 due to growth of the township.[9]
Later mayors of Bulong included James Townsend (1900-1903) and R. C. Jones.[10]
In 1906, amidst declining revenue, it decreased the wages of the town clerk and labourer.[11] In later years, the cessation or removal of public services to the struggling township were a recurring issue for the council.[12][13]
The municipality ceased to exist on 10 December 1909, when amidst "decreasing population and dying mines", it merged into the surrounding Bulong Road District, with which it had co-existed since 1899. A petition of ratepayers had been sent to the Colonial Secretary requesting the abolition.[1][10][14]
In 1948, the old municipality's seal was found in the bush and handed to the Eastern Goldfields branch of the Western Australian Historical Society and then to the State Archives.[15][10]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "Municipality Boundary Amendments Register" (PDF). Western Australian Electoral Distribution Commission. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Bulong Municipal Council". Bulong Bulletin And Mining Register. Western Australia. 20 November 1897. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ a b "Bulong Municipal Council". Kalgoorlie Western Argus. Western Australia. 21 January 1897. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "The Bulong Elections". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 22 December 1896. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Bulong Municipal Council". Kalgoorlie Western Argus. Western Australia. 21 January 1897. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Bulong Municipal Council". Kalgoorlie Western Argus. Western Australia. 12 March 1901. p. 15. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Bulong Municipal Council". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 30 March 1897. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Bulong Municipal Council". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 10 August 1898. p. 2. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Forty Years Ago March 1, 1898". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 1 March 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ a b c "Bulong Council is dissolved". Western Mail. Western Australia. 2 July 1953. p. 25. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "FORTY YEARS AGO". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 23 December 1946. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "BULONG". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 7 June 1907. p. 1. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "BULONG". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 12 June 1909. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "NEWS IN BRIEF". Coolgardie Miner. Western Australia. 18 October 1909. p. 3. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "ITEMS OF NEWS". Kalgoorlie Miner. Western Australia. 18 May 1948. p. 4. Retrieved 9 February 2020 – via Trove.