The Bungendore Community Centre will be renamed in honour of Norah Starrs. Photo: Google Maps.
A decision to rename a Bungendore facility after a community advocate, despite a meeting hearing worries about the change, has been described as “formalising” an unofficial name.
At a recent meeting, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) voted to rename the Bungendore Community Centre as the Norah Starrs Community Centre.
Ms Starrs was a founding member of Bungendore Community Aid (BCA) and a community nurse.
The BCA has used the Bungendore Community Centre since shortly after it opened in 1986 and is supportive of the change, council documents state.
Earlier this year, councillors endorsed the proposal and put it on public exhibition for people to have their say.
At the time, councillors heard from several speakers who praised Ms Starrs’ community efforts.
“She was the person that organised the medical equipment that we [the BCA] still loan out,” one speaker said.
“[That’s] a service that’s fantastic for an area like this … Norah was someone who deserved something named [after her] because she was all about community.”
When the proposal came back before the council for a formal decision in an October meeting, Councillor John Preston said it recognised her community service.
“This is clearly a popular decision … a lot of people around the community already considered this the Norah Starrs Community Centre, though I gather that was by tradition, rather than formality.”
During the earlier meeting, he also suggested a plaque could be installed with information on Ms Starrs’ achievements at the centre but acknowledged that would be a longer-term project.
However, the meeting also heard worries it would be inappropriate to name the centre after Ms Starrs.
Councillor Mark Schweikert pushed back on the proposal, saying it “blindsided” him and that people in the community had told him of their disapproval.
“It sounds like the building has now been sold to some private equity firm,” he said of feedback he’d received about the proposed name change.
“It shouldn’t belong to anyone … [others said it would be] harder for satnavs to find and seems like a publicity stunt.”
He also said there were other ways Ms Starrs could be commemorated, referring to his foreshadowed motion that a room at the centre would be named after her instead.
“I’m quite torn, in that the name – the person – does deserve some sort of recognition, but I’m also understanding of some of the complaints or the comments I have received about that [proposal].”
Councillor Mareeta Grundy also said “defending” the appearance that the centre was open to everyone was important.
“[That only six submissions were made] was quite disappointing for what is quite a substantial change to a facility that has been there as the Bungendore Community Centre for decades … Will there be confusion, division within the community [if the name goes ahead]?”
Councillor Katrina Willis told the meeting that if the name wasn’t adopted, there needed to be further consultation.
She also said not progressing with the name change would risk “overturning it [a council decision] without any notice” or consideration of any alternative suggestions.
“It’s a bit of an integrity issue, frankly,” she said.
“We’ve run a public consultation process. We’ve asked for comment. … To turn around and say, ‘Sorry Norah, you can have a meeting room’ without going back to the community [is something] I’m not comfortable with.”
The centre is expected to fully reopen later this year, according to the council’s webpage for the project.
Councillors Schweikert and Grundy were the only councillors who voted against the successful proposal.
