Proposed names for new city west of Caboolture

Moreton Bay Regional Council has revealed its top three preferred names for the new city west of Caboolture. They will now be considered by the State Government.

The administrative name ‘Caboolture West’ used in the Moreton Bay Regional Council Planning Scheme and other planning documents is not a gazetted place name.

Council’s community consultation process to name the new city is nearing its end. On March 16, Council resolved to refer to the State Government for formalisation the recommended names for the city and four other suburbs within it, as well as the indicative suburb boundaries.

Three names will be suggested to the State Government for the new city (in order of preference):

• Moreton Valley - reflects the city’s topographical location between the mountains to the west and the bay to the east
• Waraba - means “burn”. It references the traditional land management practices carried out by the Kabi Kabi people for 18,000 years as they cared for country
• Brightmore -  ‘bright’ is intended to evoke optimism, 'more' to reflect the broader Moreton Bay Region 

Scroll down to see the map of proposed suburbs

Which one of these three names will ultimately become the city’s name will be determined as part of the State Government’s formalisation process under the Place Names Act 1994 and the name Waraba will not be considered without the endorsement of the Kabi Kabi Traditional Custodians.

The whole city and “city centre” suburb (potential future suburb 6) will share the same name, in the same way the Brisbane CBD services the City of Brisbane and the Ipswich CBD services the City of Ipswich.

Recommended names for the other four potential suburbs in the southern part of Caboolture West that mainly overlie parts of Upper Caboolture, Bellmere and Rocksberg are:

• Lilywood (potential future suburb 1) - a nod to the evergreen perennials, the Blue Flax-lily, that flourish along the waterways, including the Caboolture River
• Wagtail Grove (potential future suburb 2) - a nod to the Willy Wagtail bird
• Greenstone (potential future suburb 3) - references the unique igneous rock found in the area known as Rocksberg Greenstone
• Corymbia (potential future suburb 4) - a nod to a genus of about 100 tree species generally referred to as Eucalyptus

A statement from Moreton Bay Regional Council on its website said the recommended names were consistent with what the community said it wanted - names that reflected the local environment foremost, followed by names that referenced Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and culture.

The northern part of Caboolture West area contains another potential three suburbs mainly overlying parts of Wamuran, Bellmere and Moodlu that will be progressed for naming and formalisation in the future in line with growth and development demand.

How the names were chosen

“The Name Your Place community survey was used to collect name suggestions and to better understand community values, preferences and aspirations. These name suggestions were screened against Council’s Place Naming Criteria before the 160 names that met the criteria were presented to the Place Naming Committee for short-listing,” the statement said.

“The Place Naming Committee, established through an expressions of interest process, was comprised of seven members: the local Councillor, two land developers, a historian, a Traditional Custodian and two members of the general public. It was chaired by Council’s CEO. The short-listed names were then provided to our Councillors and Mayor for their feedback.

“To ensure the process was transparent and unbiased, the names of people who submitted suggestions and the number of times a name was suggested was never shared with the Place Naming Committee, Councillors or the Mayor.

“Community input was also an important part of reshaping the existing suburbs to accommodate the new suburbs. Suburb Boundary Focus Groups, for which community participants were also selected through an expressions of interest process, were held to understand the preferred alignments of the new boundaries between existing and new suburbs considering perceptions of community identity and community values.”

What happens now?

The State Government will consider the recommended names and boundary changes put forward by Council.

The process includes a two-month community consultation period before the Resources Minister will make the final decision.

The Minister’s decision will be published on the Department of Resources website and recorded in the Gazetteer of Place Names, the official record of approved names recognised under the Place Names Act 1994.