A Sydney council has dumped a contentious proposal to rename most of Homebush to Strathfield, after the deputy mayor removed himself from voting on the idea after a perceived conflict of interest was revealed.
Strathfield Council were exploring the idea of renaming Homebush and Homebush West south of the railway, which includes hundreds of properties.
At the May 26 council meeting, Deputy Mayor John-Paul Baladi said he would exclude himself from voting on the proposal after discovering his sister owned property in the affected area.
Before that meeting, Cr Baladi was a vocal proponent of the idea, telling 702 ABC Radio Sydney in April there was too much confusion between the suburb and the nearby Sydney Olympic Park, which is informally referred to as Homebush owing to its pre-games history.
Homes south of the railway in Homebush and Homebush West would be renamed under the plan. (Supplied: Strathfield Council)
At the time, Cr Baladi described the proposal as “resident-driven” and had interest because Strathfield had higher real estate values.
Cr Baladi told 702 ABC Sydney he became aware of the potential conflict on May 12 and immediately chose to remove himself from the decision-making process.
“I followed all appropriate steps from the moment the perceived conflict arose,” Cr Baladi, a Liberal councillor
said.
“I made a public declaration of that conflict and left the council chambers when debate and a vote occurred.”
Cr Baladi had been asked at a council committee meeting on May 12 by Labor councillor Karen Pensabene about a relative owning property in the area, which he at the time said would not be a conflict of interest.
The shopping strip and primary school were not included in the now-dumped renaming proposal. (ABC News: Declan Bowring)
Councillors unanimously voted not to proceed with the proposal, with Cr Baladi not voting.
Labor councillor Rory Nosworthy said the late discovery of a potential conflict was a “damning oversight”.
“He either doesn’t know or doesn’t care about managing conflicts of interest,”
Cr Nosworthy said.
“[It] brings into question his judgement and transparency.”
Rory Nosworthy was critical about how John-Paul Baladi managed the potential conflict. (Supplied: Rory Nosworthy)
State MP says idea not sensible
NSW Member for Strathfield Jason Yat-Sen Li was critical of the idea, noting it was put forward by councillor Matthew Blackmore, who is a real estate agent.
“The suggestion was that it was done to increase property prices in the Homebush area that would be renamed,” Mr Yat-Sen Li said.
“I think people looked at the proposal, realised it wasn’t particularly sensible and now they’ve dropped it.”
Cr Baladi shot back at Cr Nosworthy saying conflicts could arise as he had deep connections in the Strathfield area.
“Unlike councillor Nosworthy and our state MP, I grew up in Strathfield and have significant community ties in every corner of Strathfield, Homebush, and Flemington, including four generations of my family,” he said.
Before the 2000 Olympic Games, the nearby Sydney Olympic Park was known as Homebush Bay. Olympic Park is still casually referred to as Homebush confusion, which Cr Baladi said the proposal would address.
However, Mr Yat-Sen Li said there was no confusion among residents.
“Homebush itself has a very long and rich history in Sydney and the proposal would have eradicated a very, very large and historic portion,” Mr Yat-Sen Li said.
“I just don’t buy the confusion argument.“
If the idea had been advanced, it would have needed approval by the NSW Geographical Names Board after their own assessment.
