The bureaucratic barrier has not stopped many Sydneysiders and locals referring to the cluster of Indian restaurants, sari and jewellery shops, and grocers as Little India, but many believe making it official would boost the area’s appeal to tourists
Businesses in Harris Park in Western Sydney are making a renewed bid to officially declare their area Little India ahead of an expected visit from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reported abc.net.au.
The push to formally declare the suburb as Little India has stalled since the Geographic Names Board told Parramatta Council to stop using the term in marketing material because it “creates confusion”.
The bureaucratic barrier has not stopped many Sydneysiders and locals referring to the cluster of Indian restaurants, sari and jewellery shops, and grocers as Little India, but many believe making it official would boost the area’s appeal to tourists.
Parramatta Council recently voted to support a scaled-back proposal to apply the name to part of the suburb covering the busy Wigram, Marion, and Station streets.
The federal member for Parramatta, Andrew Charlton, said the planned upgrades would help turn the area into “a beacon of South Asian culture around the world”, regardless of the bureaucratic naming process.
“It puts us on the map,” said Parramatta councillor Paul Noack, who moved the motion. We want to make it an international destination on the same lines as Little India in Singapore and other places around the world.” Cr Noack said the impending arrival of Modi in Australia has added urgency to the matter, as well as the federal government’s commitment to spend $3.5 million on upgrading the area.
The funding allocated in the October budget has been earmarked for a Little India gate, as well as new street furniture, lighting and car parking improvements. Little India Harris Park Business Association president Sanjay Deshwal said they had first proposed officially naming the area Little India in 2015.
He said since then, the number of Indian businesses had doubled from about 30 to about 60. Harris Park, named after the surgeon Dr John Harris, is a small suburb next to Parramatta which has seen waves of migration from Lebanon, Italy, Greece, and China.
In the last 10 to 15 years it has become the go-to spot for Indian migrants. The 2021 census shows 45 per cent of the 5,043 Harris Park residents were born in India.
Parramatta Council has formally extended an invitation to Mr Modi to visit Harris Park this time. “This will be one of the biggest events in Harris Park, the biggest event in Parramatta, probably the biggest in Western Sydney,” Cr Noack said.
The federal member for Parramatta, Andrew Charlton, said the planned upgrades would help turn the area into “a beacon of South Asian culture around the world”, regardless of the bureaucratic naming process.
“Prime Minister Modi’s visits get watched by millions of people back in India and around the world, that would certainly be a huge boost,” Charlton said.
***********************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com