“It cost council $98,000 to find out what everyone living here should already have known – we love Blacktown,” Mayor Bali said.
Last night, council’s Policy and Strategy committee recommended that no further action be taken on the issue. The final decision will be made at next week’s council meeting (scheduled for 6.30pm, Wednesday, March 2).
Four survey streams conducted by Council found that just under 80 percent of those surveyed or offered opinions don’t want a name change, he said.
“Because people kept constantly reviving the name change issue, it was necessary to determine the matter once and for all,” Mayor Bali said.
During November and December last year, opinions were gathered through an impartial, city-wide phone survey, an online survey through the council’s “Bang the Table” portal, hard copy survey forms and the collected opinions of those who spoke at community consultation meetings.
According to a Council report, 76 percent of those surveyed by phone, 78 percent of those who took part in the online survey, 90 per cent of those in the hard copy survey and 96 per cent of speakers at public forums opposed the name change.
“The whole name change issue was a monstrous distraction from the great work council is doing in the community,” he said.
“The issue has been thrown out and it’s not escaping from the garbage truck ever again,” Mayor Bali said.
Late last year a group of Blacktown councillors moved to change the city’s name, suggesting options such as “Western Sydney Council”.
Mayor Bali said the issue gained state-wide media attention and also drew criticism from Aboriginal groups, when it was suggested the name “Blacktown” was disrespectful to indigenous Australians.
“We also asked the Blacktown Aboriginal community and discovered the situation was quite the reverse – they are proud to live in Blacktown,” Mayor Bali said.
Survey Information
Community consultation on the possible renaming of Blacktown City Council was conducted during November and December 2015. Consultation was via:
• City-wide telephone survey (a statistically-valid sample of 600 residents).
• On-line survey.
• Hard copy survey (available at meetings and on request).
• Six ward-based consultation sessions.
Ciuncil make the Blacktown community aware of the process through:
• Letterboxed fliers sent to all households.
• Local media through media releases.
• Notification on the Council website.
• Posters and social media promotion.
Council’s Aboriginal Advisory Sub-Committee was asked to the question in December and resolved: “We, the members of the Blacktown Aboriginal Advisory Sub-Committee, unanimously oppose the move to change the name of the Blacktown Local Government Area. These views are endorsed by the community.”
Cost of Community Consultation
The cost of the community consultation program was $98,000 – broken down into:
• Direct mail (printing and distributing flyer to all households): $48,000.
• Surveys (phone, on-line and hard copy): $20,000.
• Consultation sessions including facilitation: $20,000.
• Printing and sundry costs :$10,000.
