Webb ParkPrint Page

Webb Park was named after the Mayor of Waratah Municipal Council, Alderman S.F. Webb who was instrumental in the establishment of the park and whose father and grandfather had been associated with Newcastle Council. The opening of the park and the switching on of the central lighting system was the one of last official functions of the Waratah Municipal Council before it was abolished. The lamp post in the park contains the names of the last serving members of the Waratah Municipal Council as the municipality became part of the Greater Newcastle Council.

"The aldermen of Waratah are handing over to the Greater Newcastle Council a very fine asset; they  are also handing over a responsibility. I hope that the Greater Newcastle Council will shoulder that responsibility, which is to administer the affairs of the district in the same manner as they have been administered during the past three years, and even before that time,"  said the Mayor of Waratah (Ald. S. F. Webb) last night. He was speaking at the official opening of Webb Park, Waratah, and the switching on of the new central lighting system.

Dealing with more personal matters Ald. Webb said that the name of Webb had been associated with local government in Newcastle since the pioneer days: His grandfather had been an alderman of Newcastle council in 1872; and a son of that man was Mayor of Newcastle 50 years ago.  He appreciated the thought which had prompted the Waratah Council to name the area Webb park. That he accepted as a great compliment.

The history of the acquisition of the area now known as Webb Park is interesting. On January 1935, the (Ald. S. F. Webb) suggested that the area which was then waste, swamp land, should be acquired for the people. The area was approximately one acre, and the cost of acquisition £1200. Two months later on March 19, 1935, Waratah Council approved of the purchase, and the land eventually came into possession of the council.

In recent months, when it desired to establish a suitable lighting system in the park, Mr Baker, who is an employee of the Hunter District Water Board again came to the council's assistance. He designed the central lighting standard which was eventually adopted. The standard, which cost £119 to erect, is a red Terazzo column 18ft. high, with a granite base and concrete foundation. It is surmounted by a 400-watt gaseous discharge lamp. The names of  the alderman and the council's officers are inscribed on the base.
Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW), 18 December 1937.

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