[talk-au] Local Government Areas without Councils

cleary osm at 97k.com
Wed Dec 28 22:08:17 UTC 2016


I have a different view about whether the unincorporated areas actually
exist. They have defined boundaries and names, both assigned by the
respective State governments, and included in the LGA datasets. I have
seen the boundaries signposted when travelling in rural areas of both
NSW and SA and the signs are the same as signs identifying shire/city
boundaries. Governments don't give boundaries, names and signposts to
entities that do not exist. I do agree that unincorporated areas have
different and varied governance/administrative arrangements - I
understand that State governments have considered the different
arrangements more suitable because the unincorporated areas are more
sparsely populated and/or have special circumstances. If it is important
to highlight the different administrative arrangements, then Warin's
suggestion of additional tags is a good way forward. As the areas do
actually exist, it seems to me that they warrant being appropriately
mapped with administrative boundaries, as shown in the State government
LGA datasets.

After Andrew's earlier comment about references in legislation, I looked
at NSW legislation. There are a few references to the Unincorporated
Area of NSW and generally they refer to it as if it were a local
government area. The most explicit is the Electricity Supply Act 1995
which states that the legislation "applies to the unincorporated area as
if (a) references to a local government area were references to the
unincorporated area, and (b)  references to a local council were
references to the Western Lands Commissioner" and it makes similar
provisons in regard to Lord Howe Island and the Lord Howe Island Board.
For practical purposes the Unincorporated Area of NSW and Lord Howe
Island appear to be treated as similar and equivalent to areas
administered by councils.  

I don't think I can add anything new and would be repeating myself if I
said much more. I won't keep posting further comments on this issue but
I hope that the OSM community might help clarify the matter or suggest
an alternate approach.   I have an interest in administrative boundaries
and I have travelled and mapped in rural and remote parts of NSW, SA and
other states. I remain disappointed that the Unincorporated Area of New
South Wales was deleted and I don't wish to see other unincorporated
LGAs deleted either. 




More information about the Talk-au mailing list