News

Name change win

Cumberland will again be recognised as a ‘City’

WHAT’S in a name?
Well that depends on whether, like Cumberland Mayor Steve Christou and six of his fellow councillors, you feel that being identified as part of a ‘city’ is important.
At Council’s last meeting, Cr Christou successfully called for the registration of the trading name ‘Cumberland City Council’.
“This move will strengthen our position as a Council, but also how others see us and in turn benefit of our local economy and community,” he said.
In November 2018 a majority of councillors, including Cr Christou, voted against following the lead of the neighbouring Canterbury Bankstown Council which since amalgamation has operated using the registered trading name ‘City of Canterbury-Bankstown Council’ on its website and in promotional material.
At the time, a report estimated a similar move would cost Cumberland anywhere between $900,000 for a full and immediate switch through to $160,000 for an initial outlay to change essential signage, followed by a ‘staggered’ move to replace existing stocks of non-city branded items with ‘city-branded’ materials as they needed to be reprinted or reordered.
This time around, Councillors Greg Cummings and Suman Saha opted to abstain from the vote, while five Labor Councillors opposed the name change, arguing it would bring no tangible benefit to the daily lives of residents.
Cr Ola Hamed labelled the move “inward looking” and said it was spending resources “we don’t particularly have”.
Also arguing against the move, Cr George Campbell said the name change was entirely arbitrary, adding that it would only be used on formal occasions and it meant “nothing to the population and brings no benefits”.
“This name change will strengthen our position as a Council and also how others see us, including the business community,” the mayor said.