Oroua County Council Subdivision Files

This series contains subdivision files created by the Oroua County Council. As originally formed, county councils had very little to do with subdivisions and the government Lands and Surveys Department was responsible for monitoring and approving subdivisions within counties. It wasn’t until the Land Subdivisions in Counties Act 1946 that provisions were made for counties to comment on subdivisions, but this did not give them the same authority that borough and city councils had. They didn’t receive those powers until the passing of the Counties Amendment Act 1961. The files in this series start in 1961, although a small number of files have papers earlier than this. The files were closed off in 1989 following the amalgamation of most of the county into the new Manawatu District Council, although a small number of files have papers after this date. The Ashhurst area was broken off and amalgamated with Palmerston North City Council and all files for that area are held by the City Council.