Nelson City Council had its first meeting on 30 March 1874, making this week our 150th. Queen Victoria declared us a city in 1858 but 1874 was the beginning of Nelson being a self-governing democratic city.
The first year was messy. The city Treasurer resigned over allegations the Provincial Government was raiding Council coffers. A public meeting passed a vote of no confidence in Council. A cheque for the Town Clerk’s salary was dishonoured, five Councillors resigned and that was the end of the first Council.
The second Council set the first rate in 1875 at one shilling (10 cents) per year. New Town Clerk, Harry Gully, pulled the Council out of bankruptcy and went on to serve the city for more than 30 years.
Council’s core role has been providing city infrastructure starting with roads and sewage drains that in later years expanded to bridges, public reserves, electricity, halls, footpaths, dams and water treatment plants. More recently, Council has provided libraries, swimming pools and cycleways as well as arts and sporting facilities.
We are indebted to generations of people who have served our Council. History will record the Mayors, Councillors, Town Clerks, City Engineers and Chief Executives but Council has been served by hundreds of people in our roads, parks, water, libraries, civil defence and events teams who have given years, often decades, of their lives to building this beautiful city.
We are taking a modest approach to Council’s sesquicentennial but have commissioned a book, being authored by Paul Christoffel, about the past 50 years. It follows The Jubilee History of the Nelson City Council (1874-1924) and Unfinished Business (1924-1974). We are grateful for $20,000 from the City of Nelson Civic Trust for its publication in early 2025.
Council is busy working on the next chapter in Nelson’s story. This week, we hosted a summit on revitalising the city and our draft Long Term Plan 2024-34 is out for consultation today. We welcome community input into how we can be wise guardians of the $2.4 billion of assets built up over the past 150 years and how we can continue to invest prudently in our city’s future.
