{"id":342,"date":"2017-09-20T15:10:00","date_gmt":"2017-09-20T05:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coffscoastheritage.wordpress.com\/?p=342"},"modified":"2017-09-20T15:10:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-20T05:10:00","slug":"jetty-village-and-top-town-a-town-divided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/2017\/09\/jetty-village-and-top-town-a-town-divided\/","title":{"rendered":"Jetty Village and Top Town – a town divided?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coffs Harbour Progress Association was formed in 1891. [1]\u00a0From 1905 to 1909 it met alternately at Top Town and Jetty Village [2], and was \u201cthe acknowledged official representative of the township in Government matters\u201d. [3]\u00a0Membership of the Progress Association (presumably) was open to anyone.
\nWith the 1905 \u201crise of Coffs Harbour\u201d, an elitism of sorts raised its head. A \u201cCoffs Harbour Ratepayers\u2019 Association\u201d was formed, membership of which was confined to ratepayers (in other words, property-owners). [4]\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>The Ratepayers\u2019 Association met monthly at Top Town.
\nOn 12 February 1907, the Coffs Harbour Advocate\u2019s <\/em>editor accused this new organisation of trying to undermine (and ultimately \u201cdisintegrate\u201d) the Progress Association. [5]\u00a0<\/sup>In mid 1909 a conference was attempted between the two associations which revealed mutual mistrust. [6]
\nAbout this time, a Coffs Harbour Jetty <\/em>Progress Association comes on the scene. [7] Its meetings over the next year are reported under the banner \u201cThe People\u2019s Parliament\u201d, fairly obviously a jibe against the more exclusive Ratepayers\u2019 Association. The issues to be discussed were also ironic, echoing complaints in 2017<\/a> about weather reporting: \u201cThe Commonwealth Meteorologist [does] not favor Coff’s Harbor Jetty being established [as] a weather reporting station, as if the desired concession were granted it would be necessary to extend it to dozens of other places. He pointed out that for scientific purposes the daily bulletins contained that was required.<\/em>\u201c
\nIn May 1911, Dr Cook was president of the \u201ccombined Ratepayers\u2019 and Jetty Progress Associations\u201d. [8] In November 1911, a meeting was called to discuss the question of whether to revive the now \u2018defunct\u201d Progress and Ratepayers\u2019 Associations, or to establish a Chamber of Commerce instead. The latter option was chosen [9], and the Chamber of Commerce was operating by December 1911. [10]
\nThe Chamber of Commerce would have looked very like the Ratepayers\u2019 Association. A win for the Top Town elitists against the Jetty Village egalitarians?
\nIn 1941, NSW Shire elections were opened up to all residents of a district. Before then, you needed to be a ratepayer (property-owner) to vote at Shire elections. [11,12]\u00a0 After 1941 Shire Councillors became the local Progress Association. Between 1912 and 1941 in Coffs Harbour, the People\u2019s Parliament went underground.
\nAcknowledgements:
\nWith thanks to volunteer Geoff Watts for research.
\nImage:\u00a0Aerial View<\/em> from Top Town to the Jetty<\/em>, Allen Hogbin, 1951-52. Picture Coffs Harbour <\/a>mus07-11313
\n________________________________________
\nReferences:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. TUESDAY FEBRUARY 12, 1907. (1907, February 12).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article187604450<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. PROGRESS ASSOCIATION. (1907, February 12).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article187604466<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. ibid.<\/li>\n
  4. RATEPAYERS’ ASSOCIATION. (1908, March 17).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article189628293<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. TUESDAY FEBRUARY 12, 1907. (1907, February 12).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article187604450<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. THAT CONFERENCE. (1909, June 18).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article189620522<\/a><\/li>\n
  7. The People’s Parliament. (1909, December 17).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article189621900<\/a><\/li>\n
  8. The Public Dinner. (1911, May 19).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article189625289<\/a><\/li>\n
  9. ibid.<\/li>\n
  10. Continuous Telephonic Service. (1911, December 8).\u00a0Coffs Harbour Advocate (NSW : 1907 – 1942; 1946 – 1954)<\/em>, p. 2. from http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article189626503<\/a><\/li>\n
  11. Hearfield and B. Dollery, \u201cRepresentative Democracy in Australian Local Government\u201d, Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, Issue 2: January 2009, p.69 and\u00a0http:\/\/epress.lib.uts.edu.au\/journals\/index.php\/cjlg\/article\/view\/1008\/1012<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  12. Advertising (1906, January 15).\u00a0The Grafton Argus and Clarence River General Advertiser (NSW : 1874 – 1875; 1879 – 1882; 1888; 1892; 1899 – 1922)<\/em>, p. 1. http:\/\/nla.gov.au\/nla.news-article234816505<\/a> (\u201cElection of Aldermen & Auditors\u201d)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Coffs Harbour Progress Association was formed in 1891. [1] From 1905 to 1909 it met alternately at Top Town and Jetty Village [2], and was “the acknowledged official representative of the township in Government matters”. [3] Membership of the Progress Association (presumably) was open to anyone. With the 1905 “rise of Coffs Harbour”, an elitism of sorts … Continue reading “Jetty Village and Top Town – a town divided?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/09\/fromtoptowntothejetty-mus07-11313.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.coffscoastheritage.info\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}