The Development of Local Government in Australia, Focusing on NSW: From Road Builder to Planning Agency to Servant of the State Government and Developmentalism

This paper follows the legal and functional advancement of local government in NSW, Australia by examining three historical stages. It commences with its nineteenth century vestiges, moving on to compulsory incorporation and the gradual changes to modern but diverse individual councils. Issues include financial scarcity, the traditional property-based stranglehold and the burgeoning sheer power of the State Government in the planning sector.