ABORIGINAL elders are leading a push for a touted merger between Armidale, Guyra and Uralla councils to be named Anaiwan Regional Council.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Their plan has the support of MLC Scot MacDonald.
He said the initiative was a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to rebrand the high country “and show some respect to the Aboriginal community”.
“The name doesn't favour any one city or village and gives our council a modern, unique title,” Mr MacDonald said.
The issue arose at a chance meeting at Armidale Regional Airport between Mr MacDonald and Anaiwan elder Steve Widders.
They discussed the possibility of Uralla, Guyra and Armidale Dumaresq councils merging into a regional council under the state government’s Fit for the Future reforms. A decision on any merger is due before the end of the month.
New England Regional Council has been the touted name should a forced amalgamation happen.
But the pair proposed Anaiwan Regional Council, a name later endorsed at a meeting of other Aboriginal elders, including Aunty Patsy Cohen, Bob Cutmore and Raelene and Elaine Widders.
Mr Widders said Anaiwan meant ‘snow country’ and “truly reflects Uralla, Guyra, Walcha and Armidale”.
“We want to reclaim our territory and give it a traditional name,” he said.
“No one asked permission to change the name in the first place, now we want to return to 'Anaiwan'.”
Yesterday, surrounding mayors weighed in on the debate.
Guyra mayor Hans Hietbrink remained ambivalent about the idea.
“New England and Northern Tablelands are identifiers; people in other areas in NSW wouldn’t know the meaning of ‘Anaiwan’,” Cr Hietbrink said yesterday.
“The Anaiwans are just one group of Aboriginal peoples inhabiting this area.”
Armidale Dumaresq Mayor Herman Beyersdorf said it was premature to discuss any name change, however, he welcomed suggestions.
“When Armidale and Dumaresq amalgamated 15 years ago, we had all kinds of suggestions for a new name, so we ran a competition,” Cr Beyersdorf said.
Uralla Mayor Michael Pearce said he had no comment on the matter