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Administrative Divisions of New England

New England is divided into five separate levels of administrative divisions known as regions, counties, municipalities, parishes and suburbs. Presently, only the counties have any form of statutory power, with the other divisions existing only for general administrative and statistical purposes by the various ministries and departments of the national and county governments.

The current system of administrative divisions has existed since 2012, when the government overhauled the old system of counties and parishes that had existed since the nineteenth century, and was the basis of all land titles and urban planning. The new system aimed to create a consistent system of tiered administration to better organise planning and development in New England.

• Geographical Subdivisions
  • Regions
  • Counties
  • Municipalities
  • Parishes
  • Suburbs
• Urban Planning
• Future Plans
• Twenty Largest Urban Centres of New England

Geographical Subdivisions

The overall regulation of planning policy is shared between the local counties and the Department of Lands. The department divides New England into a number divisions that allow for the management of of the land and the determination of what developments are appropriate to that area. All of New England is divided into the following:

Regions - At the highest level stand the five regions of New England. The regions have no statutory power, and exist only for general administration by the various government ministries and departments, such as the Census and Statistics Service, which uses the regions for statistical gathering and reporting purposes. The regions are also used by many community bodies for easy grouping, such as sporting bodies, who often base their own regional leagues and associations on the five regions.

Counties - New England is divided into thirteen counties, which at present are the only sub-national governing bodies in New England. The counties have elected councils consisting of an elected earl and twelve thegns, that have responsibility for a number of functions as defined by article five of the constitution. Currently, all counties are administered in exactly the same way, although Greater Armidale possesses some additional planning and administrative functions not held by the others, and has a council of eighteen thegns.

Municipalities - The counties are first divided into municipalities named either cities or rural districts. Cities are named for areas with more than 50,000 people, while rural districts are named for areas with less than 50,000. The municipalities have no have no statutory power, and like the regions, exist only for general administrative and statistical purposes. The smaller counties use municipalities as ridings for the election of thegns to the county council, and like the regions, they may be used by sporting bodies to build a common identity around a team.

Parishes - The most fundamental unit of geographical division in New England sits at the parish level. Upon independence, the old parishes were abolished and the government instead divided all of New England into units known as hundreds. Those hundreds with a population greater than 1,000 can apply to be gazetted as a town, while the hundreds in cities are known as boroughs. It is at the parish level that many of the larger government services can be found, like grammar schools and hospitals.

Suburbs - Suburbs sit at the lowest level, and it is here that most community level functions operate, such as schools, medical clinics, local shops, post offices and churches. Most communities tend to function on this level, and so for many New Englander's weekends are occupied with community minded events. Restrictions are placed on the size of individual lots, with urban lots required to be no smaller than a quarter-acre (1000m/sq), while rural lots cannot be smaller than one acre (4000m/sq).

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Urban Planning

For an urban case study, see Urban Design of the City of Armidale.

The various cities of New England are organised into a planning hierarchy consisting of boroughs, communities, local suburbs and other industrial areas and villages. The hierarchy forms a basis for urban planning and development, and are significant to the commercial and social activities of a city. Because New England was not highly urbanised when it became independent, town planners have been able to build cities that are focused on attractive living spaces with integrated public transport and easy access to community facilities.

Since 2012, New England has become a highly urbanised society, like most nations in the west. For the most part, cities and towns tend to be clean, safe and well ordered places, with little pollution, crime or social dislocation. The infamous urban sprawl has been curtailed with some of the strictest planning regulations in the world. Regulations dictate down to the smallest degree what type of house can be built and where, and what features it can and cannot have.

New Englanders are very fussy about the kind of city they want to live in, and generally criticised as being an urban planners worst nightmare. A large number of previous legal and legitimate structures and features are now either banned or restricted. The best examples are golf courses and horse racing tracks. They take up too much room and so are only allowed in land that considered unsuitable for any other purpose. Housing is regulated as well. A house cannot exceed two stories and must have suitable environmental safeguards to save energy. Despite this, the results of many surveys confirm that urban New Englanders are some of the happiest urban dwellers in the world.

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Future Plans

For a full description, see Local Government Act 2052.

In 2050, the Social Democratic Labour Party unveiled it's policy for county governance, titled Remaking the Cities. The plan called for an overhaul of the administration of New England's cities, in particular Armidale and Port Macquarie. Under the plan, the existing governance model for these cities would be abolished and replaced with a metropolitan county. Within these new entities, a series of metropolitan boroughs would be created with an elected borough council and mayor.

Upon their victory at the 2052 general election, the SDLP began to implement the changes. The plan was opposed vigorously by the National party, but with the support by the New England Alliance, the proposal was passed by the House of Assembly in May of this year. The plan will now be voted on by the people in both Greater Armidale and Macquarie in the August county elections, and if passed, will take affect from the 1st July, 2055.

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Twenty Largest Urban Centres of New England

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