These records were originally stored in Wingham Town Hall and were moved to Greater Taree City Council for safe keeping.

Members of council's strategic heritage advisory committee were keen to see these documents sorted to determine firstly what records were available and secondly, develop a plan for how the information can be recorded for future generations.

"A team of five people are working hard over the next three weeks to categorise these documents," said council's senior leader strategic planning, Richard Pamplin. "Council is very appreciative of the time the volunteers are spending on this project. 

"Many of the documents are old ledgers with hand written entries that hold so much important information about the Manning Valley.

"It is interesting to see the different activities in which council was involved. In the earlier ledgers the maintenance of the various timber wharves was crucial to connect the community and extra rates were collected for the War Damage Fund."

Once these documents are categorised the committee will develop a program for recording the documents and will be seeking grant assistance to get this project off the ground. 

It is also hoped that a display cabinet could be set up so the community can see the detail and size of these ledgers, which are so different to how council business is undertaken today.

"This is an exciting start to this project," said Mr Pamplin. "We are very grateful to the volunteers who are giving up their time to undertake this important work."