Newport Beach, Australia? Seaside town not interested in name change

A proposal to rename an Australian town “Newport Beach” in an effort to give it more cachet and reverse its stagnant economy is failing to attract support in the seaside fishing community.

The proposal to change the town’s name from Hervey Bay to Newport Beach was proposed by Chris Couper, who lost a 2012 run for mayor of the Fraser Coast region and plans to campaign for a Regional Council seat in 2016.

“Hervey Bay is a pretty plain name. If we called ourselves Newport Beach, it would make a big difference,” said Cooper, a real estate agent.

Hervey (pronounced “HAR-vee”) Bay is a city of about 63,000 residents on the east coast of Australia in the state of Queensland. It is made up of five fishing villages and is best known as a destination to watch humpback whales during their summer migration.

Changing the name could raise the city’s profile, lure tourists and raise real estate prices in an area plagued by staggering unemployment, high mortgage rates and a dwindling number of international visitors, Couper said, while acknowledging there were few similarities to the Orange County enclave.

“I wasn’t trying to compare Hervey Bay with Newport Beach, that people sit around eating crayfish and driving Mercedeses, but I want to see a name change make a difference,” Couper told the Daily Pilot.

The local reaction, though, has been slightly less than positive.

In an online poll by the Fraser Coast Chronicle, which first reported Couper’s suggestion, about 84% of 430 respondents said the city’s name should not be changed to Newport Beach.

“No one was in favor of the idea,” Fraser Coast Mayor Gerard O’Connell said in an email.

Most people who saw the poll laughed it off, said Kevin Corcoran, a spokesman for the Fraser Coast Regional Council, which governs the town. He said he has never seen a story about Hervey Bay receive a stronger reaction.

Despite the attention that the name change idea gained, members of the council have had no serious talks about making it a reality.

In Newport Beach — the one in California — a business leader found the idea humorous, though flattering.

“I can’t say I blame them, but there’s a lot more that goes into having a great city than having a great name,” said Steven Rosansky, president of the city’s chamber of comerce. “Maybe we can have a sister city relationship with them, though it might get a little confusing.”

Hervey Bay was founded in 1770 by Capt. James Cook, who named it in honor of his admiral, Augustus John Hervey. That history, O’Connell said, is part of the town’s heritage and cannot be ignored.

“We’ve worked long and hard to establish the Hervey Bay identity as a destination nationally and internationally,” O’Connell said.

But he allowed that local effort to promote the village could be improved.

Harold Pierce writes for Times Community News.