Sydney County Council
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The Sydney County Council (SCC) was a
county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Australia In the Australian state of New South Wales, county councils are special purpose ...
established in 1935 to produce electricity and operate the electricity network in a number of municipalities in metropolitan
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
. SCC was established by the ''Gas and Electricity Act 1935'' but, despite this and special legislative provisions which applied to it, SCC operated as a county council under the ''Local Government Act 1919''. On SCC's establishment, it assumed control of the Electricity Department of the
Sydney City Council The City of Sydney is the local government area covering the Sydney central business district and surrounding inner city suburbs of the Greater Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established by Act of Parliament in 1842, the City of Sydney is ...
, which was already supplying electricity to other municipalities. In 1952, the SCC lost most its electricity generation functions to the Electricity Commission of New South Wales (established 1950) and retained only its distribution functions. In 1990, SCC and other county councils were taken over by the NSW government and SCC was succeeded by Sydney Electricity, a
state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...
statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a corporation, government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, but they are corporations owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government ...
.


History

In 1904, the Municipal Council of Sydney's Electricity Department, one of the two main authorities responsible for electricity generation at the time, began to generate electricity for streetlights in the
Sydney central business district The Sydney central business district (CBD) is the historical and main Central business district, commercial centre of Sydney. The CBD is Sydney's city centre, or Sydney City, and the two terms are used interchangeably. Colloquially, the CBD or ...
.
Pyrmont Power Station Pyrmont Power Station was an electricity generating plant located in the Sydney suburb of Pyrmont, New South Wales. Sydney Electric Lighting Station The power station was built by the Electric Lighting Department of the City of Sydney, Muni ...
began operations in 1904, as the Sydney Electric Lighting Station, and was expanded over time. Construction of the
Bunnerong Power Station Bunnerong Power Station was a coal-fired power station in the south-eastern Sydney suburb of Matraville, New South Wales, Australia that was decommissioned by 1975 and subsequently demolished. When the last generating units were commissioned, it ...
began in 1926, and when Bunnerong 'A' Station was completed in 1937 it had a capacity of 175 MW, making it the largest power station in the State, and further expansion brought its capacity to 375 MW, making Bunnerong the largest power station in the southern hemisphere. In 1935, the Sydney County Council was formed and took over ownership of the Municipality of Sydney's Electricity Department including its power stations, which by then supplied electricity for domestic, commercial and community uses in addition to the original purpose of supply for street lighting.About-Ausgrid
/ref> SCC progressively took over the electricity operations of other local councils in its vicinity. SCC took over the electricity works of Sutherland Shire Council in 1949. After the Electricity Commission of New South Wales was created in 1950 to manage electricity generation and distribution across the state, the SCC's Bunnerong and Pyrmont power stations were transferred to it in 1952; and the SCC became an electricity distributor only. By 1982,
Brisbane Water Brisbane Water is a wave-dominated barrier estuary located in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. Brisbane Water has its origin at the confluence of the Narara and Coorumbine Creeks, to the south–east of Gosford and trav ...
, Mackellar and St George County Councils had merged with SCC. In 1989, the NSW government legislated to abolish the SCC and other electricity supply county councils formed under the ''Local Government Act''. SCC became Sydney Electricity, a government-owned corporation. County council employees had been entitled to payment for unused accumulated sick leave but the NSW government legislated to prohibit such, leaving the now state-owned corporation with the money. County councils had also been profitable and had significant assets in accounting provisions for equipment renewal and maintenance. The NSW government, as the new owner, required the utility providers to pay it dividends and sought to
privatize Privatization (rendered privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation w ...
and sell them. In 1996, Sydney Electricity was merged with Orion Energy to form
EnergyAustralia EnergyAustralia (formerly TRUenergy) is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. It generates electricity primarily using ...
, a government-controlled enterprise. The retail business of EnergyAustralia and its name was sold to Hong-Kong listed TRUenergy in 2010, which in 2012, changed its name to
EnergyAustralia EnergyAustralia (formerly TRUenergy) is an electricity generation, electricity and gas retailing private company in Australia. It is one of the "big three" retailers in the National Electricity Market. It generates electricity primarily using ...
. On 2 March 2011, the remaining electricity distribution business of EnergyAustralia changed its name to
Ausgrid Ausgrid is an electricity distribution company which owns, maintains and operates the electrical networks supplying 1.8 million customers servicing more than 4 million people in Sydney, the Central Coast and Hunter regions of New South Wale ...
. The state government subsequently leased ownership of Ausgrid, retaining a stake.


Areas and offices


Council areas of responsibility


SCC Offices


Queen Victoria Building, 1935–1968

On 13 December 1935, the Minister for Local Government,
Eric Spooner Eric Sydney Spooner (2 March 1891 – 3 June 1952) was an Australian politician. Early life Spooner was born in the Sydney suburb of Waterloo and educated at Christ Church St Laurence School. At 14 he became a telegraph messenger and studie ...
, officially opened the new offices of the Sydney County Council within the
Queen Victoria Building The Queen Victoria Building (abbreviated as the QVB) is a heritage-listed late-19th-century building located at 429–481 George Street, Sydney, George Street in the Sydney central business district, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. D ...
on
George Street, Sydney George Street is a street in the Sydney central business district, central business district of Sydney. It was Sydney's original high street, and remains one of the busiest streets in the city centre. It connects a number of the city's most im ...
, marking the transfer of responsibility from the Electricity Department of the City of Sydney. The redesign of a substantial portion of the Victorian building in the distinctive
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
style was undertaken by the Architect's Branch of the City of Sydney, with the primary contractor being Beat Brothers and various fittings supplied by Wunderlich. The works included a demonstration hall, executive offices, electricity showrooms and general offices for County Council staff. However, the QVB remained under the overall ownership and control of the City of Sydney, with various proposals emerging over subsequent years over the redevelopment of the site and/or its sale to the County Council, which rented its premises from the City Council. By 1945, the present amount of office space was recognised as inadequate for the SCC's needs, and the council authorised the general manager to investigate the possibilities of a new office or substantially remodelling the QVB.


SCC Building, 570 George Street, 1968–1990

No further action was taken until 1957 when the County Council began acquiring sites on the corner of
George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...
and Bathurst streets (552A-570 George Street) for the site of a new headquarters building. With acquisitions underway, in 1959 the County Council staged a design competition for the new headquarters, to be judged by an eminent committee of architects, including Max Collard,
George Molnar George Molnar () (25 April 1910, Nagyvárad – 16 November 1998, Sydney) was born in Nagyvárad, Austria-Hungary and came to Australia in 1939 as a sponsored migrant, to take up a job as government architect. His talents were such that in ...
and Walter Osborn McCutcheon. The competition, which closed on 2 May 1960 and attracted 62 entrants, specified that the building had to have "an efficient flexible plan, large areas of open space with a minimum of solid or high partitions, minimum maintenance and operational costs, and a high architectural standard imparting civic dignity consistent with the importance of the site." The first prize of £5,000 was awarded to a design from prominent Sydney firm Fowell, Mansfield & Maclurcan, with the design attributed to James Kell and Diana Parrott, with input from partner Osmond Jarvis. The winning design took the form of a tall slab block rising above the southern end of a low podium, recalling the seminal modernist
International style The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...
design of
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...
’s
Lever House Lever House is a office building at 390 Park Avenue in the Midtown East neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Constructed from 1950 to 1952, the building was designed by Gordon Bunshaft and Natalie de Blois of Skidmore, Owings & Merr ...
in
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completed in 1952. Second prize was awarded to Stephenson & Turner of North Sydney, and the third prize went to Marcus Woodforde. However, when discovering that the headquarters project would cost up £4.5 million, the council voted in August 1961 to abandon the project. In June 1963, the council voted again to restart the aborted headquarters project and re-engaged Fowell, Mansfield, Jarvis & Maclurcan to finalise the design. Site excavation by builders E. A. Watts Pty Ltd began in February 1965 and construction was completed by early 1968, being officially opened by the Governor of NSW, Sir Roden Cutler, on 5 April 1968. The building, completed at a cost of $9,300,000, at a height of 96.9 metres and 27 storeys with 200,000 square feet of office space to house 1,550 of the SCC's 7,000 staff. The dark exterior of the building contrasted greatly with the nearby QVB, St Andrews Cathedral and Sydney Town Hall, and was achieved by polished black granite cladding, with cladding at the ground floor level lined with marble. The new SCC Building remained the council's primary headquarters until its abolition in 1990. The NSW Government sold the building in 2013–2014.


Other offices and locations

* Testing Laboratory and Northern Depot, 14 Nelson Street and Mowbray Road, Chatswood (1954–1990). * Central Bulk Stores Building, 87-103 Epsom Road, Rosebery (1956–1990) * Crows Nest Showroom, 326 Pacific Highway * Burwood Showroom, 208 Burwood Road * Campsie Showroom, 257 Beamish Street *
Bondi Junction Bondi Junction is an Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 6 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the Local government in Australia, local governm ...
Showroom, 149
Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...
* Gosford Office, 50 Mann Street
Gosford Gosford is a waterfront city at the northern end of Brisbane Water on the Central Coast in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Gosford Waterfront is known for its boating and scenic views on the shores of Brisbane Water. Gosford is ...
(former Brisbane Water County Council headquarters). * Manly Office, 48-52 Sydney Road Manly (former Mackellar County Council headquarters)


Badge and motto

In 1936 the new Council adopted a badge for general use and on the Common Seal. A competition was conducted both among staff and the general public, with the final design chosen including the sun to depict heat, the classical torch to depict light and the figure of the horse to depict power. However the original motto of this design, the Latin "''Imperium in populo ex populo''" ("Power from the people to give the people power"), was not considered a well-constructed Latin phrase by experts, and Professor Frederick Augustus Todd, Professor of Latin and Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the
University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...
(1930–1937), suggested instead that the motto be "''Peractis Postera Praestent''" ("Let the future excel the past"). This was accepted by the Council at its 1 September 1936 meeting, with the SCC General Manager, Forbes Mackay, noting: "I consider this motto suitably expresses what I believe to be the aim of the council: to give increasingly better service to the public that it serves."


Chairmen


Council elections and composition

Section 7F(8) of the ''Electricity Act, 1945'' provided that:


17 August 1935 Election


19 January 1938 Election


14 January 1942 Election


9 January 1945 Election

;14 February 1946 1st Constituency by-election On 15 January 1946, Councillor Reginald James Bartley resigned his seat. A by-election was held for the resulting vacancy on the 1st Constituency on 14 February 1946, at which Frank Grenville Pursell (Sydney) was elected unopposed. ;19 July 1946 1st Constituency by-election On 17 June 1946, Councillor and Deputy Chairman Arthur Joseph McElhone died in office. A by-election was held for the resulting vacancy on the 1st Constituency on 19 July 1946, at which William Parker Henson (Sydney) was elected. On 30 July 1946, Councillor Frank Grenville Pursell was elected as deputy chairman. ;10 September 1947 2nd Constituency by-election On 12 August 1947, Councillor Stanley Evan Parry resigned his seat due to ill-health. A by-election was held for the resulting vacancy on the 2nd Constituency on 10 September 1947, at which John Henry Gardiner (Redfern) was elected.


9 February 1949 Election

;1 May 1950 1st Constituency by-election On 18 March 1950, Councillor Joseph Anthony Bodkin died in office. Councillor Daniel Patrick Minogue also resigned his seat. A by-election was held for the two resulting vacancies on the 1st Constituency on 1 May 1950, at which Frank Green (Sydney) and Reginald Arthur Triggs (Strathfield) were elected.


17 January 1951 Election


22 January 1954 Election

;7 May 1954 2nd Constituency by-election On 2 April 1954, Councillor Colin Biggers resigned from office. A by-election was held for his seat on the 2nd Constituency on 7 May 1954, at which Herbert Reuben Thorncraft (Canterbury) was elected. ;9 March 1956 4th Constituency by-election On 23 January 1956, Councillor John Oscar Cramer resigned from office. A by-election was held for his seat on the 4th Constituency on 9 March 1956, at which George Ivan Ferris (Mosman) was elected.


23 January 1957 Election


20 January 1960 Election


23 January 1963 Election

;23 December 1964 3rd Constituency by-election On 10 November 1964, Councillor George Nicholas Elias Dan died in office. A by-election was held for his seat on the 3rd Constituency on 23 December 1964, at which Keith Bates (Sutherland) was elected.


26 January 1966 Election


6 February 1969 Election


10 November 1971 Election


6 November 1974 Election


9 November 1977 Election


5 November 1980 Election


6 June 1984 Election


25 November 1987 Election


General Managers


Notes


References

{{EnergyNSW Sydney County Council 1935 establishments in Australia 1990 disestablishments in Australia Defunct electric power companies of Australia Defunct utility companies of New South Wales