Waverley Municipal Council - History

History

The Municipality of Waverley was established under the Municipalities Act of 1858, and a proclamation of the municipality was published on 16 June 1859. The first Council meeting was held on 16 June 1859, but there was no permanent office for the conduct of Council duties some early meetings were held in the Charing Cross Hotel and others in the old School of Arts building in Bronte Road.

In December, 1860 the Council accepted an offer from Francis O'Brien of a site for a Council Chambers, free of cost, in Bondi Road. The cost of building was to be limited to ₤500, although approximately £700 was eventually spent. The foundation stone was laid in 1861, and a first meeting of Council was held there on 21 November 1861, the first Council building erected by any municipality under the Municipalities Act of 1858. Discussions were held during the early 1900s over the need for new Council Chambers, and in 1913 a portion of the north-west corner of Waverley Park was dedicated as the site for a new building. A report of the same year stated that the original building was too small for the staff, and had poor ventilation and lighting. It was later sold for £1,600. The new building was completed by the end of 1913, and on 6 January 1914 the Council met for the first time in the new chambers.

Parts of the 1913 chambers still form the shell of the present Council Chambers, although extensive alterations in 1962, and further development in 1976 and 1977 have altered its appearance considerably. There is clear evidence - in the form of significant Aboriginal rock carvings in particular - that Aboriginal people occupied sites in the area now known as Waverley in the period before European settlement. A number of place names within Waverley Municipal Council area, most famously Bondi, have been based on words derived from Aboriginal languages of the Sydney region.