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Welcome to 150 years of local Goverment in Orange City

Message from the Mayor

On the 18th of February 1860, a group of residents gathered for the first meeting of the Orange Municipal Council. The meeting was held in the then Court House and was presided over by the Chairman, John Peisley with Councillors John Woodward, George McKay, William Dale, Dennis Hanrahan and William Tucker Evans in attendance. Crown Solicitor, George Colquhoun was appointed Council Clerk and Messer’s James Dalton and Patrick Kenna were appointed as auditors. The names read like a street directory of today’s city. The rates for that first Council year were £265. The population back then was 500 and there were barely 90 houses. I am sure Chairman Peisley and his colleagues had the future of Orange in mind as they met. I am equally sure these gentlemen would be amazed just how far Orange has come with a population of 38,000 and 13,000 homes.

As we celebrate 150 years of local government in Orange, it is worth reflecting on the role councils over the years have played in how a village evolved into a thriving regional city. A photo in the excellent book Orange—A Vision Splendid illustrates just how much we have changed and how far we have come. It shows a group of 30 or 40 men (and they are all men), many bearded and waistcoated and all with hats, at the opening of the [Orange water supply at Gosling Creek] on the 8th of October 1890. The project cost £32,688 and it was opened by NSW Governor, [Lord Carrington]. The photo is dripping with nostalgia. You get a sense of a group proud of an achievement in modernising their town.

Fast-forward 109 years to the opening of the [Blackmans Swamp Stormwater Harvesting] on the 27th of August 2009. There were no Lords present but again the [photos] and footage of the day show a sense of achievement and optimism among those present. It would be fascinating to glimpse how the harvesting project will be viewed when the 300-year celebrations of local government take place in Orange in the year 2160.

While the two opening ceremonies are separated by more than a century, they are linked by more than just water. They show a continuing thread of local government providing for the future and responding to challenges. This principle has been replicated across the city and across the last 150 years with facilities such as the [Town Hall] in Anson Street (1888), the [Olympic Pool] (1956), the [Orange Regional Library] and [Gallery] (1986), the [Sir Neville Howse Stadium] at [Anzac Park] (2009), [Cook Park] (1873) and the [Botanic Gardens] (1982), just to name a few. These are some of the tangible markers of local government. It hasn’t been all about bricks and mortar. Council first employed a [street sweeper] back in 1872. Today there is a staff of more than 400 providing a broad range of [services].

It is also notable that while local government has played a major role in the development of the city, it is just one element of the [Orange story]. Long before [John Peisley] chaired that first meeting, the region was home to the [Wiradjuri people]. That indigenous heritage and continuing presence are part of what shapes Orange.

The presence of [gold], from the first payable discovery at [Ophir] in [1851] to continuing mining operations in the [Cadia Valley] today, has carried great weight. Horticulture has been a common theme from the first [orchard] believed to have been planted in the Orange district in 1850s to the region’s growing reputation today as a [food and wine destination]. From a strong Irish Catholic community in the 1840s through to today’s newly arrived Sudanese families, the people who have chosen Orange as home have made their mark. It has been a fascinating 150 years and with my fellow Councillors, Council staff and the [Orange community], I look forward to the chapters ahead.

Cr John Davis Mayor of Orange

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