The removal of the Governor’s residence to the Domain and the demolition of the old Government House in the second half of the 1840s appeared to provide a possible location, and in 1848 the Council formally requested the land bounded by Bridge, Bent, Phillip and Elizabeth Streets. Eventually the land was granted to the Council in 1851. But this site was never the Council’s first choice, and the granting of it did not stop the petitions requesting other sites. In 1853 the sum of £3,000 was included in the estimates for commencing the building of a Town Hall on Bent Street. Plans were prepared, moves made to lay foundations, but nothing more happened. By now the Council was embroiled in acrimonious debate with the government over the administration of its affairs, and it 1853 the Council was sacked.

This particular ground plan drawn by the City Surveyor, Francis Clarke, on 16 April 1850, shows the space proposed for the Town Hall at Bent Street. As well as the public hall, there were offices for Council staff, meeting rooms for aldermen, stores and stabling.

(image: City of Sydney, Engineers Plans, S4-46/4)