NSW Premier Chris Minns has shared some of Sydneysiders’ wildest suggestions for the government’s naming initiative around the Bays West precinct in the city’s inner-west.
ICYMI, the NSW Government announced earlier this year that it would be making major developments to the area known as Bays West, including the building of thousands of homes across a 77-hectare area that encompasses White Bay, Glebe Island and Rozelle.
Minns said the upcoming changes to the area would constitute a whole new Sydney suburb for “the first time in a century”, and opened up suggestions for a new name to the public.
Now, the premier has revealed some of those responses in a video on his official TikTok page, and I’m delighted to share that they are gloriously unserious.
Most of them, like ‘Bayz In Da Hood’ and ‘Bayoncé’ riffed on the current name of the broader Bays West precinct, while others suggested ‘New Zetland’ and ‘Zetland By The Sea’ to compare the area to that similarly urban-planned suburb.
While those suggestions at least had a theme, a few of the names were downright silly, like ‘Glebe 2, Electric Boogaloo’ and ‘Suburb McSuburb Face’. I know I just called them silly, but walking past a sign welcoming you to the suburb with either of those names would probably put a pep in my step.
Elsewhere in the TikTok, Minns said there was one suggestion he was “not going to read”, and cited a Betoota Advocate article joking that the suburb had been renamed ‘Dog Cum’.
@chrisminnsmp Thanks for suggestions NSW, keep them coming! #bays #nsw #sydney
♬ original sound – Chris Minns MP
While Minns said he liked some of the suggestions, like ‘Bayoncé’ and ‘Zetland By The Sea’, he did warn last week that “we’re not going to be stupid” about the public naming competition.
“We can probably do better than Bays West, so I like the idea of a public competition,” he said during a press conference.
@chrisminnsmp Not many people realise this, but Sydney is about to get its first major new inner-city suburb in decades. Right near the CBD, we’re transforming Bays West into a new waterfront community with thousands of new homes, parks and public space, better transport connections and public access to the harbour for the first time in more than 100 years. We’re planning for up to 8,500 homes, including affordable housing and homes for essential workers, in a location already connected to metro, ferry, walking and cycling links. At the centre of it will be White Bay Power Station, one of the most iconic buildings in Sydney, becoming a major cultural destination for the city. Today we’re establishing the Bays West Delivery Authority to help get it done properly. Because if we’re serious about tackling the housing crisis, we need to build more homes in well-connected parts of Sydney, close to jobs, transport and services. And finally, we’ve got to come up with a better name than “Bays West”. So we’re opening it up to the public to help name Sydney’s newest suburb. No pressure NSW, but please don’t embarrass us. #fyp #bayswest #housing #competition #newsouthwales #NSW #politics
♬ original sound – Chris Minns MP – Chris Minns MP
Though the government is taking submissions by citizens who reach out to local reps or respond to social media polls, it stressed that the name will be decided by the NSW Geographical Names Board, not by popular vote.
Suggestions can honour the Durag people, who are the traditional owners of the land, represent the maritime and industrial history of the area, or describe the geography of the suburb, the NSW Government said.
Just as well, because I think I’d be too startled if Google Maps told me I’d arrived at Suburb McSuburb Face.
Lead images: Chris Minns/TikTok
The post Chris Minns Asked Sydneysiders To Name A New Suburb & It Immediately Went Off The Rails appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
