Wanganui County Council [I]

The Wanganui County was established by the Counties Act of 31 October 1876. It covered a large area of the Wanganui hinterland, including the areas that later became Waitotara and Waimarino Counties.Representatives were elected from Waitotara, Westmere, Brunswick, Warrengate, Waipakura, Makirikiri and Mangawhero ridings. The Council was concerned with implementing the Rating Act, the Counties Act and the Public Works Act. In its early years the main priority was the construction and maintenance of roads. The size of the County was altered in 1884 and again in 1902, with the formation of the Waitotara and Waimarino Counties. After this time the functions of the Council expanded into such diverse areas as health and building inspection, noxious plants control, refuse collection, reserves and plantation management, public hall control, housing finance, cemetery administration, and land development. From 1877 through the 1880s the Council employed a small staff with a clerk, an engineer (HC Field) in 1880, and a number of road workers. Council revenue was gathered from rates, Central Government subsidies and licence fees. The Council was reconstituted with the Waitotara County Council to form a larger Wanganui County Council in 1988.