Once upon a DA... it was called Wallum.
This is Wallum. And it needs saving, not renaming.
Once upon a DA... it was called Wallum. That’s right — the original name of this proposed 124-lot development was literally the name of the rare coastal ecosystem it intends to destroy. You couldn’t script this level of irony.
Wallum isn’t a brand. It’s a living, breathing landscape — a unique combination of ancient Scribbly Gum woodlands, wildflowers and orchids perched wetlands, and sandy heath swamps. It’s also home to a symphony of vulnerable and endangered species, including Koalas and the stunning South-Eastern Glossy Black Cockatoo.
But somewhere between the ecological reports and the marketing meetings, the developers realised something.
Destroying Wallum while calling your project “Wallum” doesn’t quite hit the sweet spot of spin.
So, they rebranded. Enter: Bayside Brunswick Heads™ — a name with no ecological ties, just the smooth suggestion of “lifestyle,” “ocean breezes,” and zero accountability.
Yet the green spin didn’t stop there.
The new website features birds soaring, gums swaying, and vague mentions of ‘respecting the natural environment.’ One could be forgiven for thinking they were selling a nature reserve, not a housing estate carved into critical habitat and an endangered ecological community.
And here’s the kicker: some of the very species they feature — like the South-Eastern Glossy Black Cockatoo — are the same ones official conservation advice tells us to protect from exactly this kind of development. These cockatoos are declining due to habitat loss, especially of their critical food source: mature she-oaks that will be cleared from the site; there are less than a dozen of these rare iconic birds left in Brunswick Heads.
So while the branding shows trees, the plans show stumps. While the promo reels show koalas, the bulldozers are at the ready to clear the koala corridor. It’s marketing meets magical thinking: if you say “green” enough times, people might forget you’re turning ecosystems into driveways.
But we’re not forgetting. And we’re not letting them rebrand their way out of responsibility.
This is Wallum. And it needs saving, not renaming.