By SCOTT KARA
Asbestos City is one of the cheeky suggestions for the name of a new town centre at Flat Bush in Manukau.
In recent years Flat Bush became known by many as an area riddled with asbestos.
The asbestos legacy lives on in many peoples' minds but in December the area was given a clean bill of health in a report done by international asbestos expert Alan Rogers.
Of course Asbestos City was unlikely to be used since residents and the Manukau City Council was keen to be rid of the asbestos tag once and for all.
But was a new name going to clear the air even further?
Bruce Harland, senior environmental policy planner at the council, said asbestos and the new town centre at Flat Bush were not connected.
"We're creating a new community in an area that is farm land at the moment. I guess that Flat Bush tag gets thrown about pretty loosely."
But some residents had suggested Flat Bush be retained.
In the future, the new town centre, located on the eastern side of Sir Barry Curtis Park, would be the focal point for more than 50,000 residents.
The council was asking for more suggestions from the public about possible names. The first lot of suggested names, including Asbestos City, had been received during February through submissions about the development framework for the new town centre.
Mighty 2000 and Graffitiville were two of the more odd suggestions and some serious submitters opted for more traditional names like Parklands, Manukau East Centre or Ormiston.
But choosing a name was a long process.
Mr Harland said the name was important because it was a "significant new community" similar to the way Pakuranga was created 30 or 40 years ago.
The New Zealand Geographic Board, rather than the council, are the ones who make the final decision. But Mr Harland said the council had to recommend the names.
The geographic board encouraged names with local, geographic or historic significance, particularly original Maori place names. The surnames of notable people such as explorers, discoverers and settlers were accepted only if the person was dead.
Flat Bush was also famous for having a set of streets named after All Blacks such as Michael Jones, Eric Rush and Robin Brooke.
Residents have until April 3 to make their suggestions to Lindsey Britton at Manukau City Council, e-mail: lindseyb@manukau.govt.nz.
"Asbestos City" fails to tempt council
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