FAQs

There are three names on the shortlist:

• Stream Hill
• Haworth
• Murringah

Learn more about the names on the shortlist.

In November 2020 we asked the community to provide further naming suggestions for Suburb A. The project team and Community Working Groups worked together to review the names against the Geographical Names Board’s guidelines. Names should also be meaningful and unique.   See GNB criteria.

We are no longer accepting name nominations for Suburb A. 

We are now inviting community members to give feedback about the names on the final shortlist. If you would like to raise any other issue regarding the suburbs review process please include those comments via the feedback form.

In October 2020, staff recommended a shortlist of names for all six suburbs to Council. There was significant community interest in the names proposed for Suburb A. Council resolved to allow the community an opportunity to nominate additional names for Suburb A.  The shortlisted names proposed for the other 5 suburbs were endorsed and exhibited. 

Name suggestions for Suburb A were open between November – December 2020. These names were reviewed by the project team and the community working groups to create a shortlist. We are now seeking community feedback on the shortlist. When the exhibition is finalised and all feedback is reviewed, we will prepare a report to Council recommending names for all six suburbs.  We will let the community know when this is happening. 

We understand the historical significance of these names and suburbs. Avondale suburb profile,  Huntley suburb profile and  Kembla Grange suburb profile, provide more information about the history of these names and suburbs. Kembla Grange is proposed to remain as the name for Suburb B, Huntley for D and Avondale for F.

Stream Hill is the name of one of the oldest timber houses in the area and it is Heritage listed within the Wollongong Local Environmental Plan (WLEP) 2009. Joseph Harris was given a 100-acre soldier’s land grant in 1832, including the land that Stream Hill is now on. Before acquiring the land, Harris accompanied Captain Charles Sturt on expeditions charting major river systems and was a trusted and loyal orderly (personal assistant).  William Sheaffe, a trustee of St Luke’s Church of England in Brownsville, purchased the property in 1839 from J Harris. In 1877, William Harris (Joseph Harris’s son) purchased the property and mined sandstone from the property. The sandstone was used in the construction of the West Dapto Primary School and residence, as well as within the Stream Hill farming land and buildings.

Haworth (Robert) was a shoemaker who purchased land in Kembla Grange. He arrived in Australia (possibly as a convict, circa 1835) and worked as a labourer on land called Dunlop Vale. When he was given his ticket of leave, he brought his family to Australia. He had a successful tannery in Wollongong and bought the ‘Kembla Grange’ property, building a residence to the west of the main road.  He was Member for Illawarra from 1860 to 1864 and a prolific land holder in and around Wollongong.

Murringah is a Dharawal name for coal. 

Council acknowledges that the term Murringah holds different meaning within our community. Staff will continue to work with all Aboriginal stakeholders to ensure the use of any Aboriginal names or words reflect a collective understanding within the community.

When the exhibition period ends, all comments and submissions will be reviewed in line with Council’s resolution of 26 October 2020.  Staff will make a recommendation to Council regarding the preferred suburb names for Suburb A, based upon information received during exhibition.

The Geographical Names Board is the final decision maker.

The use of prefixes/suffixes such as ‘East’, ‘West’, ‘Upper’ or ‘Lower’ to names that are already in use is not supported by the GNB. Unique names are preferred that allow the suburb to be easily identified.

We expect that the new names and boundaries will come into effect in 2022. You can keep up to date with the project through the engagement website.  

West Dapto is one of the fastest growing residential areas in New South Wales, outside the Sydney region. Over the next few decades, the area will have around 19,500 homes with an additional population of around 56,500 people. Some of the existing suburbs are now too large and need to be split into smaller suburbs. The Geographical Names Board of NSW (GNB) has criteria to guide Councils with suburb sizes based upon area and expected population.

• New names should not duplicate an existing place name
• Local Aboriginal significance
• Gender - consider female names
• Characteristics of the suburb
• Commemorative person
• Be appropriate to relevant local cultural or historical influences in the region
• Be appropriate to relevant local natural influences in the region
• Be easy to read, spell and pronounce
• Not be offensive or likely to cause offence
• Not be a company or business name.

Two working groups were established to help with the project. The aim of the working groups was to review and assess all proposed names, and to share their local knowledge and expertise. Council invited participants from the following stakeholder groups to self-nominate to join the working groups. 

Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council, The Wodi Wodi Elders Corporation, Wadi Wadi Coomaditchie Aboriginal Corporation and Korewal Elouera Jerrungurah Tribal Elders Council, Aboriginal Reference Group, Aboriginal organisations and individual knowledge and language holders. 

The Lord Mayor & Councillors, Neighbourhood Forum 8, Wollongong Heritage Reference Group, Illawarra Shoalhaven National Trust, Illawarra Historical Society, Community groups such as CareWays, Rotary and Quota, Local primary and high schools, and the Migrant Heritage Project.

Complete the online feedback form, or email your feedback to engagement@wollongong.nsw.gov.au  

To find out more you can either email engagement@wollongong.nsw.gov.au or phone 4227 7111.

Some homes will experience a change of address if they are within a new suburb. Further information will be provided about the next steps to take once the new suburbs have been approved by the Geographical Names Board and endorsed by Council.