AN UNUSUAL debate erupted at Hawkesbury Council surrounding a motion to formally rename the Old Hawkesbury Hospital at the May 29 Council meeting.
Councillor Emma-Jane Garrow told Council that clients of businesses located in the Old Hawkesbury Hospital building were having trouble finding the entrance.
The entrance is actually off George Street, Windsor, and many clients were getting confused, and turning off Macquarie Street to Hawkesbury Hospital.
Previous tenants had been calling the building ‘Hawkesbury House’, and the proposal at Council was to rename it ‘Deerubbin House’ because it is next to the Deerubbin Centre – with the entrance also in the centre.
However, the proposal, was not taken kindly.
Cr Nathan Zamprogno was blunt in his opinion, saying it was ‘stupid’ and he wanted it ‘to die’.
He said to rename the building as anything else other than the Old Hawkesbury Hospital was offensive, and was akin to Uluru being renamed Ayers Rock.
“It is and should always be the Old Hospital,” he declared.
Cr Zamprogno’s views were certainly expressed in the strongest way, however, it was clear the proposal was not well received.
Deputy Mayor Barry Calvert said he thought ‘Deerubbin House’ was not any less confusing than the Old Hawkesbury Hospital.
Cr Danielle Wheeler said it would be hard to get the community to accept the change. She said she had lived in her current home for 20 years, but despite this many people still referred to it by its previous owner.
A number of different suggestions were mooted, but the one councillors agreed to was proposed by Cr Conolly.
His motion was for Council to not formally recognise the name change of the building, however, to not stop a business from referring to the building by another name if they chose to do so.
Cr Garrow declared a less-than-significant conflict of interest, because she is employed by a lessee of the building in question.
