ERIN – In the face of significant backlash from the community, Erin officials have now paused the implementation of a new town logo.
Council made the decision on Oct. 10, with several councillors expressing a desire to return to the previous shamrock design.
The municipality announced a “brand refresh” project through a press release on Sept. 4.
Residents were invited to provide feedback, but just nine days later town officials unveiled a new logo.
Many residents shared their distaste for the new logo and a petition calling on the town to restore Erin’s “traditional shamrock logo” has garnered over 900 signatures as of Oct. 11.
In response, council decided to hold an open house on Oct. 1 on the matter, but it was postponed.
“We made a mistake in the process but … it was not a malicious mistake, it was not a mistake that was designed to avoid interacting with the public,” councillor John Brennan said at the Oct. 10 meeting.
Council voted to direct staff to assemble variations of the logos previously reviewed, including other options presented during the branding process.
For now, the town will continue to use the new logo in conjunction with the former municipal logo, until a “clear course of action” is established following further consultation with the public and staff.
“I want to make sure people understand, because there is a lot of talk out there about we don’t care – if we didn’t care we wouldn’t be here,” said Brennan.
Councillor Cathy Aylard said she supports “discontinuing the new logo,” but would like to reinstate the previous logo “immediately.”
She added she does not support further exploration of another option.
“However, I don’t support abandoning all the work that went into this branding exercise.” she noted.
“It was so much more than developing a new symbol; it was really about defining who we are as our population doubles in the next 10 years.”
Councillor Jamie Cheyne said, “We made the wrong decision for the right reasons … and the vocal citizens now want their pound of flesh and some involvement.”
While Cheyne is in “full favour” of not pursuing the new logo, he does believe there were other “reasonable choices given with the money paid.”
The public will be advised of opportunities to provide feedback on potential future proposals at erinengaged.erin.ca.
