Caboolture West suburb names revealed

The names of five new suburbs being created at Caboolture West have been confirmed.

Queensland Resources Minister Scott Stewart said the names would be Waraba, Lilywood, Wagtail Grove, Greenstone and Corymbia.

They celebrate Indigenous language, local wildlife, plants and rocks with Waraba, which will be part of the town centre, being the Kabi Kabi word for ‘burn’.

All five names were put forward after community consultation by Moreton Bay Regional Council (MBRC) in a project started in 2021.

Such is the projected growth of Caboolture West, which will be home to 70,000 people in the next 40 years, three more suburbs may be needed.

Six schools

The new township will include a variety of housing, four state primary schools, two State secondary schools, four neighbourhood hubs and 15 parks.

Boundaries of Wamuran, Bellmere, Rocksberg and Upper Caboolture have been amended to accommodate the new suburbs.

“Caboolture West will develop to the size of a regional city similar in size to Rockhampton, accommodating about 30,000 new homes,” Minister Stewart said.

“The formation of these suburb names has been empowered by community involvement to promote local connections. It’s something they should take great pride in.”

The names were supported by Associate Professor Eve Fesl, Gubbi Gubbi Senior Elder - and Norman Bond and Kerry Jones on behalf of the Kabi Kabi First Nation Traditional Owners Native Title Claim Group.

'Significant' move

“Place names are a way to recognise the valuable role our culture plays in the history and future the area,” they said.

“The name Waraba is significant for us. It means ‘burn’ and refers to our traditional land management practices carried out all over Country, including the Caboolture West area.

“Extending this to the modern urban context, we hope the communities that come to Caboolture West will also thrive season after season.”

Resident Peter Zillman, a sixth-generation local whose family arrived in 1858, joined the Suburb Boundary Focus Groups set up by MBRC.

Although he liked the era of dairy and banana farms and knowing his neighbours, Mr Zillman said it’s “to the future we owe allegiance”.

'Nice association'

“It’s reassuring to see real results from that consultation,” he said. “It was even more pleasing to see the name Greenstone, after my wife raised it as a suggestion.

“The Rocksberg greenstone is a relatively localised geological formation and the name is a nice association with the future development.”

Mayor Peter Flannery said Council undertook the “largest community consultation process in Queensland’s history for the place-naming project”

“The aim was to get ahead of the developers by putting the power into the hands of residents. In return we received an amazing 572 ideas for names,” he said.

State member for Morayfield Mary Ryan said: “The name of a place is very important because it becomes the area’s identity and forms a connection with everyone who chooses to live there.”