Item Type: Series

Linked To

Organisation

Sydney City Council

Preceding series

Minutes of the Finance Committee I [Municipal Council of Sydney]

Related series

Minutes of the Staff and Labour Committee

Creating agencies

General Purposes Committee

Related activities

Item

Items in this series (12)

Box

Boxes in this Series (6)

Series

CC-BY 4.0

The item is licensed for use under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, which is Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. When using or sharing this material, attribution must be given to City of Sydney Archives. Full license details are available from Creative Commons. In some cases copyright may be held by the City of Sydney. In other cases copyright may be held by a third party and the material is licensed to the City of Sydney.

Tools

Download Add to My Collection Contact us about this Suggest an edit to this item Citation for this item

Minutes of the General Purposes Committee

Description

Unique IDAS-0008Start dateBetween 23rd March 1899 and 17th December 1973Start date qualifiercircaFormatVolume - Leather BoundShort descriptionThis series covers the minutes of the meetings of the General Purposes Committee, a special committee of the whole of Council, 1899-1973. The committee considered all matters affecting staff and other matters not considered by a special committee.DescriptionThis series covers the minutes of the meetings of the General Purposes Committee, a special Committee of the whole Council (AG-0123) in the period 20/12/1898 to 17/12/1973.

In 1904 the Town Clerk reported that the responsibility of the General Purposes Committee (and thus the possible range of subjects covered in the Minutes) was to consider ‘all matters affecting the staff and other matters not specially relegated to any special committee’ (Town Clerk's Annual Report, 1904, page 56).

The minute books were indexed alphabetically at the front or back of each volume, except for the first volume (A-00432599), covering 1899-1901, and the last volume (volume 12, A-00432610), covering 1960-1973, which were not indexed. The indexes listed the subject matter and the relevant page number in the minutes.

The minutes recorded matters requiring general discussion by Council such as election and abolition of committees; amalgamation with other councils; appointments, resignations, salaries, and duties of Council staff; allowance of the Lord Mayor; drafting and amending of bills and by laws; usage and leasing of properties around the city as well as venues in the Sydney Town Hall building; construction, resumption, extension, paving, realignment and widening of streets; yearly salary schedules; discussion of annual rates and the rating system; disposal of garbage; printed copies of annual estimated receipts and expenditures; development applications and the re-organisation of departments in Council.

Discussion of staff appointments (often accompanied by actual applications) for various positions included among others: Town Clerk (volume 1, A-00432599), City Organist (volume 2, A-00432600), City Solicitor (volume 7, A-00432605 and vol 8, A-00432606), City Surveyor (volume 2, A-00432600 and volume 5, A-00432603) and City Health Officer (volume 8, A-00432606).

The first 4 volumes were handwritten but from volume 5 (A-00432603) onwards the entries were typed (all the indexes were handwritten, except in volume 8 (A-00432606), where the index was typed). Submitted reports and copies of the Lord Mayor's Minutes were often bound in amongst the minutes.

Volume 1 (A-00432599) included a specification for erection of garbage destructors; consideration for the Mayor's proposals regarding a ‘Greater Sydney’ (19 July 1899 & 20 November 1899); agreement to the request of the Northern Suburbs Municipal Committee for co-operation in inducing the Government to construct the North Shore Bridge (20 November 1899); discussion of what was being done about the plague, especially in regards to the Moore Park tip; enquiry into the conduct of the City Surveyor's Department (6 July 1900 & 17 July 1900); suggestion that, if necessary, a portion of Green Park could be used as a site for an electric light substation (13 July 1900) and authorisation for the Mayor to negotiate the purchase of water frontage property at Pyrmont in connection with the Electric Lighting of the City (21 September 1900).

Volume 2 (A-00432600) included discussion of a report by Messrs Preece & Cardew on tenders received for an Electric Generating Plant (9 July 1902).

Volume 5 (A-00432603) included consideration of the Martin Place Extension Resumption Scheme.

Volume 6 (A-00432604) included a report by the assessors on the Hyde Park re-modelling competition, dealing with the modified plan by Mr. Norman Weekes as well as a discussion of the offer of a Memorial Fountain to Council by the Trustees of the estate of the late J.F. Archibald (24 August 1927).

Volume 7 (A-00432605) recorded discussion of the Martin Place extension and the disposal of refuse, including selection of an incinerator site.

Volume 8 (A-00432606) included a report by the sub-committee appointed to safeguard Council's interests in the matter of the control of the Electricity Undertaking (11 March 1935) and consideration of the proposals for an overhead roadway between Macquarie St and the Bradfield Highway (22 November 1938).

Volume 12 (A-00432610) included discussion of the City of Sydney Planning Scheme and the Development Control Plan for the Circular Quay Area (31 March 1965, 12 April, 5 July 1965 & 26 July 1965).

Relationship summaryPRECEDED BY: Minutes of the Finance Committee I AS-0011 (23/03/1899)
RELATED TO: Meetings of Council and Committees AY-0060 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Personnel and employee management and services AY-0070 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Management of administrative change AY-0085 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Management of public monuments and artworks AY-0075 (25/05/1903 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Minutes of the Staff and Labour Committee AS-0989 (24/04/1901 to 26/10/1903)
RELATED TO: Electric power generation AY-0010 (21/09/1900 to 21/12/1935)
RELATED TO: Removal of waste from streets, public places and premises AY-0005 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Development applications inspection and approval AY-0029 (1/4/1957 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Electric power reticulation and supply AY-0011 (13/07/1900 to 31/12/1935)
RELATED TO: Provision and management of aged care and welfare centres and services AY-0040 (8/7/1957 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Parking regulation AY-0054 (01/01/1934 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Construction and repair of bridges, overpasses and tunnels AY-0049 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Traffic regulation and control AY-0053 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Town hall venue management AY-0120 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Financial management AY-0071 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Road construction and maintenance AY-0047 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Purchase and sale of land and buildings AY-0018 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Levying and collection of rates AY-0014 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Property valuation and assessment AY-0013 (23/03/1899 to 31/12/1950)
RELATED TO: Construction and maintenance of buildings and structures AY-0001 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Disposal of waste by punting, tipping or destruction AY-0008 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Drafting of By laws AY-0034 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Management of Council property AY-0019 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973)
RELATED TO: Boundary changes AY-0061 (23/03/1899 to 17/12/1973) LanguageEnglish (eng)

Item

Box

CSA047064

CSA047063

CSA047062

CSA047061

CSA047060

CSA047059

Series

Committee Reports (Various committees)

Minutes of Council [Municipal Council of Sydney / City of Sydney]

Access

Public access statusOpen to public access

Identification and Arrangement

Source system ID8System of arrangementChronological

Digitisation

Digitisation statusNot digitised

Data Quality

Authenticity & integrityThese are the original Minutes of the General Purposes Committee. The record has been held in the Council’s custody and has a high level of authenticity. Users should be aware that this is an historical record and the language used within the record was the language of the time it was captured, and may not reflect current community values or expectations.

Relationships

OrganisationSydney City CouncilPreceding seriesMinutes of the Finance Committee I [Municipal Council of Sydney]Related seriesMinutes of the Staff and Labour CommitteeCreating agenciesGeneral Purposes CommitteeRelated activitiesManagement of administrative changePersonnel and employee management and servicesMeetings of Council and CommitteesBoundary changesManagement of Council propertyDrafting of By lawsDisposal of waste by punting, tipping or destructionConstruction and maintenance of buildings and structuresProperty valuation and assessmentLevying and collection of ratesPurchase and sale of land and buildingsRoad construction and maintenanceFinancial managementTown hall venue managementTraffic regulation and controlConstruction and repair of bridges, overpasses and tunnelsParking regulationProvision and management of aged care and welfare centres and servicesElectric power reticulation and supplyDevelopment applications inspection and approvalRemoval of waste from streets, public places and premisesElectric power generationManagement of public monuments and artworks

Menu

Minutes of the General Purposes Committee