South Sydney Municipal Council Municipal Engineer's Department

Unique IDAG-0017DescriptionThe basic duties of the Municipal Engineer's Department set out in Section 530A of the Local Government Act 1919, were the functions delegated to the Municipal Engineer, or in his absence, the senior engineer.

These duties involved providing holes in kerbing near hotels where casks needed to be lowered into cellars; removing dead trees; granting permission to a person(s) to dig up a road for any lawful purpose and to approve the sale of materials to public bodies subject to Town Clerk's approval; and to be in charge of minor construction and maintenance works.

The organisational structure of the Municipal Engineer's Department was made up of six sections. These were the Cleansing Section, Trades Section, Stores Section, Parks Section, Engineering Section, and the Workshop and Garage Section.

The Cleansing Section was managed by a supervisor responsible for the Depot crew and two other crews. Their duties were to check and remove commercial and domestic refuse and clean public conveniences. The total number of employees was 145.

The Trades Section was headed by a foreman responsible for teams of builders, plumbers, electricians and painters who were required to perform minor construction and maintenance on Council-owned properties such as town halls, ovals and parks, recreation and health centres, libraries etc. A depot crew was also maintained.

In the organisation which existed in August 1968, provision was made for 21 classifications in the Trades Section. Only 17 employees were actually transferred from the City Council as officers of the City Council refused to transfer carpenters to South Sydney Municipal Council.

The Stores Section originally maintained two employees as senior storemen. it had an increase of an additional storeman by 1971.

The Parks Section consisted of a Parks Supervisor and Assistant Parks Supervisor overseeing three teams of gardeners, groundsmen, attendants and labourers who were allocated to the three districts of Redfern/Waterloo, Rosebery/Beaconsfield, and Erskineville/Newtown. Others employed were drivers, mowers, nursery workers and playground/sportsground attendants. The number of employees totalled 77.

Prior to August 1968, the Parks Section consisted of a division of City Council which was smaller than the area of this municipality (South Sydney). On 1 August 1968, the whole staff of this division plus some additional labour was transferred to South Sydney Municipal Council. This arrangement left some minor gaps in the functional organisation of the Section, particularly in the Erskineville/Newtown area. In addition the City Council regularly imported temporary staff from other areas to assist with the grass mowing in the area. The above strength of 77 represented an increase of 15 over the staff transferred on 1 August 1968.

The Engineering Section within the Municipal Engineer's Department comprised a general overseer responsible for two construction gangs, a recoverable works gang and a maintenance gang. (The maintenance gang, presumably was responsible for the equipment and facilities within this section). As well as a depot crew, transport and plant employees formed part of the section.

The Workshop and Garage Section consisted of three work teams located at a depot.

The Sydney City Council previously was able to reshuffle staff within the South Sydney subdivision when necessary. With the creation of a new council, it became necessary for the new council administrators to provide sufficient staff for all council departments.

Ronald Denver Wallace was appointed Municipal Engineer on 1 August 1968 and retained that position until December 1981. In 1971 the Senior Assistant Engineer was J Pollock and the Deputy Municipal Engineer was Kevin Houlihan. Following the re-amalgamation in 1982, Ron Wallace was transferred to the City Engineer's Department as Deputy City Engineer and Kevin Houlihan became Deputy Director of the Parks Department.CreationLocal Government (City of Sydney Boundaries) Act, 1967AbolitionLocal Government (City of Sydney Boundaries) Act, 1981

Series

South Sydney Municipal Council Property Registers

Northcott Council Plans

South Sydney Municipal Council Newspaper Clippings

South Sydney Municipal Council, Municipal Engineer's Department Photographs

Photographic Prints [South Sydney Municipal Council]

Agency

Parks and Recreations Department

City Engineer's Department I

Administration Department

Cleansing Department II

Description

Start date1st August 1968End date31st December 1981Relationship legacy dataPRECEDED BY: Parks and Recreations Department AG-0010 (01/08/1968)
PRECEDED BY: City Engineers Department I AG-0005 (01/08/1968)
PRECEDED BY: Cleansing Department II AG-0001 (01/08/1968)
RELATED TO: South Sydney Municipal Council OR-0011 (01/08/1968 to 31/12/1981)
RELATED TO: Garbage and refuse cleansing FN-0003 (01/08/1968 to 31/12/1981)
RELATED TO: Parks and public spaces management FN-0014 (01/08/1968 to 31/12/1981)
RELATED TO: Streets engineering FN-0016 (01/08/1968 to 31/12/1981)
Source System ID17

Relationships

Preceding agenciesCleansing Department IICity Engineer's Department IParks and Recreations DepartmentOrganisationSouth Sydney Municipal CouncilRelated functionsStreets engineeringParks and public spaces managementGarbage and refuse cleansing

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South Sydney Municipal Council Municipal Engineer's Department