The Sydney County Council (SCC) was a county council established in 1935 to produce electricity and operate the electricity network in a number of municipalities in metropolitan Sydney.
SCC was established by the Gas and Electricity Act 1935 but, despite this and special legislative provisions which applied to it, SCC operated as a county council under the Local Government Act 1919. On SCC's establishment, it assumed control of the Electricity Department of the Sydney City Council, which was already supplying electricity to other municipalities. In 1952, the SCC lost most its electricity generation functions to the Electricity Commission of New South Wales (established 1950) and retained only its distribution functions. In 1990, SCC and other county councils were taken over by the NSW government and SCC was succeeded by Sydney Electricity, a state-owned statutory corporation.
History In 1904, the Municipal Council of Sydney's Electricity Department, one of the two main authorities responsible for electricity generation at the time, began to generate electricity for streetlights in the Sydney central business district. Pyrmont Power Station began operations in 1904, as the Sydney Electric Lighting Station, and was expanded over time. Construction of the Bunnerong Power Station began in 1926, and when Bunnerong 'A' Station was completed in 1937 it had a capacity of 175 MW, making it the largest power station in the State, and further expansion brought its capacity to 375 MW, making Bunnerong the largest power station in the southern hemisphere.
In 1935, the Sydney County Council was formed and took over ownership of the Municipality of Sydney's Electricity Department including its power stations, which by then supplied electricity for domestic, commercial and community uses in addition to the original purpose of supply for street lighting.About-Ausgrid SCC progressively took over the electricity operations of other local councils in its vicinity. SCC took over the electricity works of Sutherland Shire Council in 1949. After the Electricity Commission of New South Wales was created in 1950 to manage electricity generation and distribution across the state, the SCC's Bunnerong and Pyrmont power stations were transferred to it in 1952; and the SCC became an electricity distributor only. By 1982, Brisbane Water, Mackellar and St George County Councils had merged with SCC.
In 1989, the NSW government legislated to abolish the SCC and other electricity supply county councils formed under the Local Government Act. SCC became Sydney Electricity, a government-owned corporation. County council employees had been entitled to payment for unused accumulated sick leave but the NSW government legislated to prohibit such, leaving the now state-owned corporation with the money. County councils had also been profitable and had significant assets in accounting provisions for equipment renewal and maintenance. The NSW government, as the new owner, required the utility providers to pay it dividends and sought to privatize and sell them. In 1996, Sydney Electricity was merged with Orion Energy to form EnergyAustralia, a government-controlled enterprise. The retail business of EnergyAustralia and its name was sold to Hong-Kong listed TRUenergy in 2010, which in 2012, changed its name to EnergyAustralia. On 2 March 2011, the remaining electricity distribution business of EnergyAustralia changed its name to Ausgrid. The state government subsequently leased ownership of Ausgrid, retaining a stake.
Areas and offices Council areas of responsibility
SCC Offices
Queen Victoria Building, 1935–1968 On 13 December 1935, the Minister for Local Government, Eric Spooner, officially opened the new offices of the Sydney County Council within the Queen Victoria Building on George Street, Sydney, marking the transfer of responsibility from the Electricity Department of the City of Sydney. The redesign of a substantial portion of the Victorian building in the distinctive Art Deco style was undertaken by the Architect's Branch of the City of Sydney, with the primary contractor being Beat Brothers and various fittings supplied by Wunderlich. The works included a demonstration hall, executive offices, electricity showrooms and general offices for County Council staff.
However, the QVB remained under the overall ownership and control of the City of Sydney, with various proposals emerging over subsequent years over the redevelopment of the site and/or its sale to the County Council, which rented its premises from the City Council. By 1945, the present amount of office space was recognised as inadequate for the SCC's needs, and the council authorised the general manager to investigate the possibilities of a new office or substantially remodelling the QVB.
SCC Building, 570 George Street, 1968–1990 No further action was taken until 1957 when the County Council began acquiring sites on the corner of George and Bathurst streets (552A-570 George Street) for the site of a new headquarters building. With acquisitions underway, in 1959 the County Council staged a design competition for the new headquarters, to be judged by an eminent committee of architects, including Max Collard, George Molnar and Walter Osborn McCutcheon. The competition, which closed on 2 May 1960 and attracted 62 entrants, specified that the building had to have "an efficient flexible plan, large areas of open space with a minimum of solid or high partitions, minimum maintenance and operational costs, and a high architectural standard imparting civic dignity consistent with the importance of the site."
The first prize of £5,000 was awarded to a design from prominent Sydney firm Fowell, Mansfield & Maclurcan, with the design attributed to James Kell and Diana Parrott, with input from partner Osmond Jarvis. The winning design took the form of a tall slab block rising above the southern end of a low podium, recalling the seminal modernist International style design of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Lever House in New York completed in 1952. Second prize was awarded to Stephenson & Turner of North Sydney, and the third prize went to Marcus Woodforde. However, when discovering that the headquarters project would cost up £4.5 million, the council voted in August 1961 to abandon the project. In June 1963, the council voted again to restart the aborted headquarters project and re-engaged Fowell, Mansfield, Jarvis & Maclurcan to finalise the design. Site excavation by builders E. A. Watts Pty Ltd began in February 1965 and construction was completed by early 1968, being officially opened by the Governor of NSW, Sir Roden Cutler, on 5 April 1968.
The building, completed at a cost of $9,300,000, at a height of 96.9 metres and 27 storeys with 200,000 square feet of office space to house 1,550 of the SCC's 7,000 staff. The dark exterior of the building contrasted greatly with the nearby QVB, St Andrews Cathedral and Sydney Town Hall, and was achieved by polished black granite cladding, with cladding at the ground floor level lined with marble. The new SCC Building remained the council's primary headquarters until its abolition in 1990. The NSW Government sold the building in 2013–2014.
Other offices and locations Testing Laboratory and Northern Depot, 14 Nelson Street and Mowbray Road, Chatswood (1954–1990). Central Bulk Stores Building, 87-103 Epsom Road, Rosebery (1956–1990) Crows Nest Showroom, 326 Pacific Highway Burwood Showroom, 208 Burwood Road Campsie Showroom, 257 Beamish Street Bondi Junction Showroom, 149 Oxford Street Gosford Office, 50 Mann Street Gosford (former Brisbane Water County Council headquarters). Manly Office, 48-52 Sydney Road Manly (former Mackellar County Council headquarters)
Badge and motto In 1936 the new Council adopted a badge for general use and on the Common Seal. A competition was conducted both among staff and the general public, with the final design chosen including the sun to depict heat, the classical torch to depict light and the figure of the horse to depict power. However the original motto of this design, the Latin "Imperium in populo ex populo" ("Power from the people to give the people power"), was not considered a well-constructed Latin phrase by experts, and Professor Frederick Augustus Todd, Professor of Latin and Dean of the Faculty of Arts of the University of Sydney (1930–1937), suggested instead that the motto be "Peractis Postera Praestent" ("Let the future excel the past"). This was accepted by the Council at its 1 September 1936 meeting, with the SCC General Manager, Forbes Mackay, noting: "I consider this motto suitably expresses what I believe to be the aim of the council: to give increasingly better service to the public that it serves."
Chairmen Years Name Council Notes 28 August 1935 – 19 January 1937 Stan Lloyd Enfield 19 January 1937 – 19 January 1938 Arthur McElhone Sydney 24 January 1938 – 17 January 1939 Harry Gardiner Redfern 17 January 1939 – 23 January 1940 Stanley Parry Canterbury 23 January 1940 – 21 January 1941 Ernest Tresidder Sydney 21 January 1941 – 20 January 1942 Stanley Parry Canterbury 20 January 1942 – 19 January 1943 William Neville Harding Sydney 19 January 1943 – 23 January 1945 Stanley Parry Canterbury 23 January 1945 – 15 January 1946 Arthur McElhone Sydney 15 January 1946 – 14 January 1947 John Cramer North Sydney 14 January 1947 – 20 January 1948 Frank Grenville Pursell Sydney 20 January 1948 – 24 January 1950 John Cramer North Sydney 24 January 1950 – 7 January 1952 William Parker Henson Sydney 7 January 1952 – 12 January 1953 Pat Hills Sydney 12 January 1953 – 29 January 1954 Reginald Arthur Triggs Strathfield 29 January 1954 – 10 January 1955 Harry Jensen Randwick 10 January 1955 – 9 January 1956 Frank Green Sydney 9 January 1956 – 29 January 1957 Norman Grant Crook Auburn 29 January 1957 – 28 January 1958 Frank Joyce Botany 28 January 1958 – 27 January 1959 Ernest Charles O'Dea Sydney 27 January 1959 – 16 January 1961 William Murray Marrickville 16 January 1961 – 15 January 1962 William Charles Doherty Sydney 15 January 1962 – 23 January 1963 Gordon Raymond Ibbett Sydney 29 January 1963 – 26 January 1966 John Armstrong Sydney 1 February 1966 – 10 February 1969 Kath Anderson Botany 10 February 1969 – November 1970 George Ivan Ferris Mosman November 1970 – 10 November 1971 John Shaw Sydney 29 November 1971 – November 1974 George Ivan Ferris Mosman November 1974 – 25 November 1975 Stanley Lewis Hedges Auburn 24 November 1975 – 21 November 1977 Innes Stanley Haviland North Sydney 21 November 1977 – 20 November 1978 Sir Emmet McDermott Sydney 20 November 1978 – 5 November 1979 Douglas Burleigh Carruthers Bankstown 5 November 1979 – 17 November 1980 Michael Keith Fosbery Bray Woollahra 17 November 1980 – November 1981 Kath Anderson Botany November 1981 – November 1983 Peter Clement Lewis Sutherland November 1983 – November 1984 Noel Reidy Willoughby November 1984 – November 1985 Ivan Petch Ryde November 1985 – November 1987 George Francis Moore Rockdale November 1987 – November 1988 Kevin Hill Bankstown November 1988 – 2 January 1990 Michael Keith Fosbery Bray Woollahra
Council elections and composition Section 7F(8) of the Electricity Act, 1945 provided that:
17 August 1935 Election ConstituencyCouncillorNotes1st Arthur Joseph McElhone Sydney Ernest Charles O'Dea (ALP) Sydney2nd John Henry Gardiner (ALP) Redfern Stanley Allan Lloyd Enfield 3rd John Oscar Cramer North Sydney
19 January 1938 Election ConstituencyCouncillorNotes1st William Neville Harding Sydney Ernest Philip Tresidder Sydney2nd John Henry Gardiner (ALP) Redfern Stanley Evan Parry Canterbury 3rd John Oscar Cramer North Sydney
14 January 1942 Election ConstituencyCouncillorNotes1st William Neville Harding Sydney Arthur Joseph McElhone Sydney2nd Gordon Andrew Byrne Auburn Stanley Evan Parry Canterbury 3rd John Oscar Cramer North Sydney
9 January 1945 Election