OUR SAY: Time to get on the road to fame

What's in a name? For our new road, it's time to not be bland and honour someone, not something

Aerial photography Sunshine Coast. Bruce Highway, Caloundra Road, Steve Irwin Way. Roundabout. Highway upgrade. Picture: John McCutcheon

ON MY first trip to Kingaroy a few years ago to visit family, I was astounded at the sign I saw above me, leading me towards the western highways.

The road, clearly labelled just like all the usual motorways, and highways, was called "Darren Lockyer Way”.

"Darren Lockyer? What's he done besides toss a footy around to deserve to get a whole road named after him,” I thought.

Back in the old days, you used to have to open up vast areas of land with little to no supplies or a map. Think of Hume, Sturt, influential explorers of our land. Darren Lockyer's frequent incursions into the New South Wales backfield pale into comparison.

Then I thought about it. They had form. There's the Steve Irwin way, named after a guy who liked harrassing the native wildlife of our land, and served as a semi-circle highway where both directions led to his zoo. Don't even get me started on Hinze dam.

So when news came the public is being asked to help name the newly available piece of bypassed Pacific Highway between Glenugie and Tyndale, I thought, what better opportunity to show Queensland how it's really done, and honour one of our famous citizens.

Sure, there'll be lots of people who'll want to call it "Clarence Valley way” (Clarence Way is taken by a fairly unforgiving piece of western road, or even worse "Jacaranda Way” in a totally obvious and almost redundant piece of pseudo marketing.

But I think we can do better. We have lots of outstanding people who have hailed from here. The problem is, which one?

An obvious choice is Earle Page. Our only prime minister and appropriate to a road which spans both areas of the Clarence. If you were hooked on history and Jacaranda, what about a tribute to Henry Volkers? Let people find a bit of history about our trees as they whiz past.

Still, sport seems to be a popular target, and we already have a few tributes to our sporting heros, alive and dead. With Brent Livermore hockey field, Kane Douglas Field and Terry West Oval there might not be a lot of modern figures left. Maybe Jim Lyle, or Henry Searle, or even Andrew Landenberger whose sporting achievements have stood the test of worldwide renown.

And if Steve Irwin gets a guernsey, surely we can put our entertainers up. Troy Cassar-Daley way would be great given it literally starts just down the road from his childhood home.

Let's not be bland. The Jacaranda Way will not inspire one person or give any potential visitor any insight into our area. Let's name it for one of us.

Originally published as OUR SAY: Time to get on the road to fame