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August 1, 2014
Issue 51
Public consultation on Wyong Shire name change yong Council has decided to undertake community and had never even heard consultation on whether the name “Wyong Shire” best of it. “In fact, our represents the identity of the whole of the Shire.
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It’s all part of a push to better position the Shire to attract more business, investment and jobs as well as reflect the rapidly changing nature of the area, by creating a strong, marketable ‘place brand’. There is no intention to change the name of any suburb, including the town of Wyong itself. The question of the Shire’s name came up during initial consultation with more than 650 locals earlier this year. Director of Community and Recreation Services Ms Maxine Kenyon said that there are many examples of cities and local government areas that have successfully redefined their identities to change perceptions by creating a Place Brand. “Places like Newcastle have repositioned their community as innovative and cultural following the decline of the steel industry; and Penrith has recently redefined itself as the ‘New West’ to highlight a more vibrant, multicultural and young entrepreneurial community,” Ms Kenyon said. “Maitland is another area that last year created a new Place Brand to highlight its growing
sophistication while still leveraging its significant heritage attributes,” she said. However, unlike Newcastle, Penrith, or Maitland, Wyong Shire does not have one large, lynch-pin city on which to pin a Place Brand. “Our geography is more diverse and is based around a collective of smaller townships,” Ms Kenyon said. She said the issue of a possible name change had been raised without prompting in nearly all initial stakeholder workshops and clearly warranted further investigation. “Some people felt that the word ‘Wyong’ was perceived to be first associated with the Wyong township rather than the whole Shire; others felt that there might be more equity in other town names or that there should be a completely new name to reflect the broader area. Mayor Cr Doug Eaton said that there was no doubt that the Wyong Shire area had grown into a significant community in its own right over the last 30 years. “There is so much happening here in this
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area; we are no longer a small country outpost between Sydney and Newcastle or just a Sydney ‘week-ender’. “The Shire was formed 68 years ago, in 1946, from the old Erina Shire, and back then the population was only 10,000 people. “Today we’ve got 160,000 and this is projected to grow to over 200,000 by 2030. “We have a passionate community that is growing and evolving and becoming more vibrant all the time, and the work council is doing with the community to revitalise town centres is breathing new life into places like Toukley, The Entrance and Long Jetty. “At Warnervale and other places in North Wyong, the State Government has earmarked another 40,000 people to be housed. “It is clear Wyong Shire is far more than Wyong Town Centre. “A survey of people in Sydney indicates that perceptions of our area are stuck in the past. “Only 7% of people surveyed said they would actively recommend Wyong Shire as a place to live or visit and 23% did not know where it was
independent research found that externally, The Entrance, Tuggerah Lakes, and Long Jetty were more recognised than the name Wyong. “So it is critical that we work to increase awareness and change the way people think about our area, because that affects their decisions on whether to live, visit or bring business here. “Part of this rebranding process is considering if we’ve got the name right for this community,” he said. Deputy Mayor Cr Lynne Webster said she would really like to see this go out for public consultation. “I’m a strong believer in promoting our area’s unique qualities and the strengths of our people,” said Cr Webster. “This is a great exercise to see if the community believes the Shire needs a much stronger, more marketable name. “It is very important our community understands that suburb and town names are not changing,” Cr Webster said. “I’m prepared to listen to what our people are saying and to see what comes back. “I’ve been happy with what we’ve done so far
in looking at rebranding but it’s now at the point that we need to go out to the community for constructive comment.” Cr Eaton stressed nothing had been decided by council yet. “Personally I’d like to see a name like Coast Lakes, to give prominence to our iconic Tuggerah Lakes and beautiful coast and beaches, but I’m looking forward to seeing what members of our community think,” he said. Long term resident Ms Edna Wacher, who was also Wyong Shire Citizen of the Year and is a Multicultural Advisory Committee member, said she believed it was important to get involved in an initiative like this and she was keen to hear what the community thinks about a name change. “Whether or not we change the name, I think that the only way forward
is to see a refreshed identity that will be visible not only within the local community but also the neighbouring localities. “In this way, we can then attract more investors, tourists and potential residents to our area,” said Ms Wacher. Council will undertake a two stage engagement to seek the community’s level of interest in a change and what suggestions they have, before going back to let people chose a preference. It should be noted that if a name change did occur for council, branded assets would be changed over a period of time on a zero waste basis, such as during the replacement of assets in routine maintenance programs, and as such, if the project proceeds, it will be at minimal cost. Media release, 24 Jul 2014 Wyong Council media
the Wyong Shire