One of NSW's central west rivers will be known by two names going forward after the Geographical Names Board endorsed a proposal to formally dual name the river with its traditional name.
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The Macquarie River will now also be known by its Wiradyuri name Wambuul, with ministerial sign-off the last remaining step in the process.
Bathurst Regional Council, in consultation with the Bathurst Local Aboriginal Land Council and Bathurst Wiradyuri Elders, initiated the process in November 2020 and the plan was sent to the GNB for gazettal.
The board sought public submissions on the plan in June this year and reviewed those opinions, along with feedback from council, before making its final determination.
A spokesperson for the Geographical Names Board said the dual naming proposal would now go to Customer Services Minister Victor Dominello for final approval.
Council's initial proposal was to dual name the Macquarie and Fish rivers as Wambuul but the Fish River was removed from the plan as part of the consultation process.
"On 16 June 2021 the Geographical Names Board opened public consultation to dual name the full length of both the Fish River and Macquarie River to Wambuul as part of its commitment to reawakening Aboriginal place names," the spokesperson said.
"The board reviewed all submissions received together with feedback from Bathurst Regional Council.
"The application to dual name the Fish River as Wambuul was withdrawn by Bathurst Regional Council on 31 August 2021 after feedback provided by Lithgow City Council stated Fish River had a separate identity and value to the Macquarie River for the local Aboriginal people.
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"... If approved, the name will be formally gazetted. Wambuul will sit alongside the existing Macquarie River name, with both having equal status and considered official names for the river."
Once approved, the dual names will be able to be used either individually or in combination when referring to the river, meaning Wambuul, Macquarie River, Wambuul/Macquarie River and Macquarie River/Wambuul will all be official names for the river.
The dual naming of the Macquarie follows the dual naming of Mount Panorama/Wahluu in 2015 and is part of a broader policy of dual naming significant places across the nation with their traditional indigenous names.
