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Author Topic: WECA becomes WEMCA in December 2024 and ongoing political issues (updated title)  (Read 32542 times)
infoman
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« on: July 02, 2021, 07:34:00 »

as he does not like it being called that as well it sounds like the place in Texas.

Dan Norris wants a new name for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about),I thought he had better things to get on with that finding a new name for the outfit

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grahame
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« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2021, 07:48:31 »

as he does not like it being called that as well it sounds like the place in Texas.

Dan Norris wants a new name for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about),I thought he had better things to get on with that finding a new name for the outfit



Cuba?
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Lee
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« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2021, 08:02:48 »

as he does not like it being called that as well it sounds like the place in Texas.

Dan Norris wants a new name for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about),I thought he had better things to get on with that finding a new name for the outfit



Cuba?

Clearly Understating Bristol Always
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grahame
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« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2021, 08:20:16 »

as he does not like it being called that as well it sounds like the place in Texas.

Dan Norris wants a new name for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about),I thought he had better things to get on with that finding a new name for the outfit



Cuba?

Clearly Understating Bristol Always

If I capitalise it - CUBA (Counties that Used to Be Avon) - the abbreviations page should sort it out for you (VickiS - I have updated the live and developement copies)
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Lee
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« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2021, 08:45:28 »

as he does not like it being called that as well it sounds like the place in Texas.

Dan Norris wants a new name for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about),I thought he had better things to get on with that finding a new name for the outfit



Cuba?

Clearly Understating Bristol Always

If I capitalise it - CUBA (Counties that Used to Be Avon) - the abbreviations page should sort it out for you (VickiS - I have updated the live and developement copies)

Oooh...I didn't realise I was on Newsnight... Grin
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Red Squirrel
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« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2021, 10:13:45 »

Here's the tweet:

Quote
What's in a name? I want to put the West of England on the map, the awful acronym WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about) doesn't actually let anybody know where we are, let alone describe what a wonderful place it is.

[Image from here is not available to guests]

He's right; WECA is a rotten name. Few people who live inside the area have heard of it, and vanishingly few outside. But his hopes of getting people to call it something else are about as likely to succeed as those of the poor folk who are saddled with the name 'BANES (Bath And North East Somerset - local authority area)'.

Unfortunately, 'West of England' isn't much better. For most people that conjures thoughts of cream teas, cows, and donkey rides on the beach, rather than the centre for technology, media and industry it actually encompasses.

The best suggestion I've heard recently is that it should be renamed 'Bristol and Bath City Region'. People in North Somerset won't like it, and people who live in that part of Bristol known as South Gloucestershire might not like it either, but at least everyone would know where it was!
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eightf48544
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« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2021, 11:36:31 »

WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about)?
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Red Squirrel
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« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2021, 13:30:11 »


My case rests, m'lud.
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eXPassenger
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« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2021, 17:59:33 »

CUBA (Counties that Used to Be Avon) is used within local government to mean Counties that Used To Be Avon so it cannot be used for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about) unless North Somerset joins.
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rogerw
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« Reply #9 on: July 02, 2021, 18:32:19 »

I know. Let's call it Avon  Grin
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« Reply #10 on: July 02, 2021, 19:04:44 »

CUBA (Counties that Used to Be Avon) is used within local government to mean Counties that Used To Be Avon so it cannot be used for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about) unless North Somerset joins.

Wikipedia confirms

Quote
West of England Combined Authority

The West of England Combined Authority was created on 9 February 2017. Covering Bristol and the rest of the old Avon county with the exception of North Somerset, the new combined authority has responsibility for regional planning, roads, and local transport, and to a lesser extent, education and business investment. The authority's first mayor, Tim Bowles, was elected in May 2017. One of the first actions of the new authority was the announcement of a new train station to be built at Portway.
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stuving
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« Reply #11 on: July 02, 2021, 19:17:49 »

Why do I keep thinking that "Big Bristol" would be good - snappy, rather than wordy or worthy. If you favour grammatical logic over memorability, I guess it would have to be "Bigger Bristol".

But then ... is regional political correctness a thing? I suspect so.
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Lee
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« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2021, 19:59:43 »

Why do I keep thinking that "Big Bristol" would be good - snappy, rather than wordy or worthy. If you favour grammatical logic over memorability, I guess it would have to be "Bigger Bristol".

But then ... is regional political correctness a thing? I suspect so.

It certainly is in that part of the world. I worked on one of the last rail projects with a similar name - Greater Bristol Metro - back in 2007, and you certainly couldnt get away with calling it that now!

CUBA (Counties that Used to Be Avon) is used within local government to mean Counties that Used To Be Avon so it cannot be used for WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about) unless North Somerset joins.

Wikipedia confirms

Quote
West of England Combined Authority

The West of England Combined Authority was created on 9 February 2017. Covering Bristol and the rest of the old Avon county with the exception of North Somerset, the new combined authority has responsibility for regional planning, roads, and local transport, and to a lesser extent, education and business investment. The authority's first mayor, Tim Bowles, was elected in May 2017. One of the first actions of the new authority was the announcement of a new train station to be built at Portway.

Worth noting that the current Pontivy Reopening Project was first conceived in 2017, the train circulation agreement was signed in October 2020, the crucial station renovation phase took place in 2020-2021 in the midst of a pandemic, and the station opened on schedule a few days ago.
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #13 on: July 14, 2021, 12:33:54 »

I've never associated WECA» (West of England Mayoral Combined Authority - about) with Waco. Isn't the Texan place pronounced "way-co"? But it is a pretty bad name. Unfortunately so are all the others. West of England would have protests from Devon and Cornwall, and even Avon is probably politically impossible now (besides, what about all the other Avons?).

Hmm, here's an idea: Just as the Cuban (or Kuban) region of southern Russia is nothing to do with Cuba, we could take the Counties that Used to Be Avon and localize it somewhat – Cubal!
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Bmblbzzz
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« Reply #14 on: July 14, 2021, 12:35:18 »

And while I'm here, the other problem with West of England was illustrated when the former Bristol Polytechnic became a university – the University of WoE!
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