WHAT HAS HAPPENED?

What has happened?

Support for Name Change to South Beach

In 2020, a submission to change our suburb name from North Coogee to South Beach in the north [South Beach Estate and Shoreline estate] and Port Coogee in the south was presented to City of Cockburn. The City of Cockburn then supported a submission to Landgate for this change to occur.

The submissions were driven by two community groups, with one from the Port Coogee area and the other from South Beach and Shoreline Estates. The North Coogee community broadly supported the changes as the proposed names were seen to better reflect each area’s identity.

The South Beach name change was rejected by Landgate, while the name Port Coogee received in principal support from Landgate.

Actions of Catherine Point Community Group

The community group from South Beach and Shoreline Estates then took it upon itself to decide on an alternative name for our suburb – Catherine Point. This group then changed its own name to Catherine Point community Group [CPCG] in December 2023, and together with the Port Coogee group resubmitted a name change for our suburb from North Coogee to Catherine Point and Port Coogee.

The Catherine Point Community Group is an incorporated entity with 10 – 15 members. It is not an elected group and only has the authority to represent its current financial members. More than 1,500 people live in the South Beach and Shoreline Estate. CPCG therefore has no authority to speak on behalf of more than 99% of the population in these areas.

CPCG undertook no meaningful community consultation before submitting the proposed Catherine Point name change to the City of Cockburn and Landgate. Community members were only alerted to the prospect of something changing when the community group sign on Rollinson Road was changed to Catherine Point Community Group.

The City of Cockburn has obviously been convinced that it has broad community support for the name change to Catherine Point or it would not have supported the revised submission to Landgate. On the contrary, there is strong community opposition to changing our suburb name to Point Catherine.

Landgate is due to make a recommendation on the suburb name change in June 2024.

Please click here to see what we are doing to pause/stop this submission