President of the Greater Blacktown Business Chamber Trevor Oldfield is shaking his head over the council decision made late August, led by Liberal councillors and independent long-term councillor Russ Dickens, to go to the people over a name change for the council area - but not the suburb - and what that name should be.
As Mr Oldfield pointed out, only people against the decision attended the council meeting to protest any move to change the City’s name.
Judging by all media reports, no-one in the general public has come out in support of a name change.
To most of the 332,000 plus residents of the City, it is business as usual with no apparent community campaign to drop the Blacktown name.
The indigenous community - the largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait urban population in NSW - certainly is upset over the council decision.
Darug tribe Aboriginal Corporation chairman Gordon Workman was at the council meeting and said he was infuriated by the council’s actions.
“Blacktown is our history, our home and it’s what we are proud of,” Mr Workman told the media after the meeting.
“We love this area and council is trying to take that away from us.”
Labor Mayor Stephen Bali has always been vehemently opposed to a name change, saying Blacktown was a proud area with a proud history. He and other Labor councillors were proud enough to don I Love Blacktown t-shirts at the fiery council meeting
He has suggested that the Liberals pushed for a name change to garner the crucial vote of Clr Dickens in the upcoming mayoral elections, as the veteran councillor holds the balance of power.
But Clr Dickens told WSBA that the name Blacktown did not reflect the diversity of the local government area.
Changing the name of the city has been a passion of Clr Dickens since he was elected to council more than 30 years ago.
“The council area is more than just Blacktown - we have 48 suburbs in the local government area, the biggest in the state,” Clr Dickens.
“I think an Aboriginal name such as Bungarribee and Nurragingy would be more suitable for the local government area, with the suburb staying the same.”
At one stage, the Liberals wanted the area to be called Western Sydney but now the decision is being handed to the people, probably to coincide with next year’s local government elections.
Mr Oldfield said the business community could not understand the economic sense of council calling in re-branding consultants and then, before their job was done, decide to go ahead with a renaming exercise.
“I certainly don’t support a name change - it suggests there is something wrong with Blacktown,” he said.
Mr Oldfield said Blacktown businesses had not encountered negative reactions to the city’s name, which goes back to the early days of the colony when the area was named Blacks Town to denote the high Aboriginal population.
What’s in a name change?
● Under the Local Government Act, councils can only hold referendums on specific subjects and changing a name is not one of them.
● Even with a non-binding poll, a proclamation by Governor David Hurley and support from Local Government Minister Paul Toole would be required to enact the name change.
● Council needs to show evidence of significant support for the new name and a case outlining the costs versus benefits to the community.
● Only half of the 16 councils that have requested a new name in the past decade have been successful.
- By Di Bartok
