SHELLHARBOUR City councillor Helen Stewart has labelled some of her council colleagues ‘‘pig headed’’ after the council resolved to rename the controversial Shellharbour City Hub.
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Following a marathon debate, Shellharbour councillors voted 4-3 on Tuesday night to name the $59.5million building the Shellharbour Civic Centre.
The move was in line with a recommendation from the city hub’s project control group which said the name ‘’Shellharbour City Hub’’ was no longer appropriate because of overuse of the word ‘’hub’’.
Labor councillor John Murray said it made sense to call the building a civic centre.
‘‘I had cause to represent the mayor at meeting at Ulladulla on Monday ... we held the meeting at a $10million library facility called the Ulladulla Civic Centre,’’ Cr Murray said.
Cr Kellie Marsh criticised the move saying there had been no consultation with external agencies.
‘‘This has been a dog of a project from the word go,’’ Cr Marsh said. ‘‘This should have gone to the community and been placed on exhibition ... it is not for us to dictate to the community.
This has been a dog of a project from the word go.
- Cr Kellie Marsh
‘‘The bottom line is Stockland Shellharbour will always be known as the Square, McDonalds will always be called Maccas and the city hub will always be the city hub ... this is just a marketing ploy because the city hub has such a bad name.’’
Cr Helen Stewart said naming the building was a serious issue.
‘’This city hub - whether we like it or not - is going to go ahead, this is an opportunity to connect with the community.
‘’I think people relate to the name the city hub, not the civic centre which is sounds regimented. A civic centre may have been all right 20 years ago.
‘‘The trouble is some councillors are not out there with the community copping it day after day. We have four councillors on this council that are so pig headed they can’t see right from wrong.’’
Following consultation with the council’s Aboriginal Advisory Committee, a list of Aboriginal names had been provided for rooms in the building.
The auditorium will be known as Jungah, which translates to ‘‘octopus’’, while the Civic Plaza will be Mungadin which translates to ‘‘from this place’’.
The council will film one of the Aboriginal members of the advisory committee explaining pronunciation and publish it on the council’s website.
