JUST weeks after Cockburn council opened an indigenous tourist trail in the city, no Aboriginal-derived names have made the short list for its new flagship aquatic and recreation facility at Central West, part of the new Fremantle Dockers HQ.

The council consulted with just 33 residents on 200 potential names, then whittled the list down to AVIVA Cockburn, Requa Cockburn, Stadium Central and Cockburn ARC.

Council PR chief Samantha Seymour-Eyles says mayor Logan Howlett would have liked to see an indigenous name make the short-list and concedes consultation should have been wider: “Yes, the mayor thought there could have been an opportunity to include an Aboriginal name, however history will show that this was not the case,” she says.

“Once we got down to 74 possible names, 23 of those were Aboriginal-derived names.

“The mayor believes that in hindsight the ‘naming’ could have been opened to the wider community.”

• Artists impression of new recreational and aquatic centre in Cockburn.

The short-listed names did not go down well on a local community Facebook group, with many complaining they were wishy-washy or downright confusing:

• “I wasn’t going to comment, and maybe I shouldn’t, but all 4 of these names are so bad, if I had the chance to put a vote forward I wouldn’t.” Christopher Stowe.

• “We already have Native Arc in Cockburn. Silly choice.” Marnie Doak.

• “Sorry name choice is crap….sorry for the bluntness. I suggest asking for submissions from resident in area.” Audra Chown.

Cr Steve Portelli says the council should have held a naming competition and invited input from local children, rather then pay The Brand Agency $15,829 to stage three small focus groups: “We should have consulted more widely from the onset and let the community have ownership of the whole process,” he says.

To make amends, the council will let residents vote on the final name via a survey.

The $109m stadium will include an arena with several pools, a water playground and six basketball courts and gym.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK