West Kelowna

It's finally official.

The District of Westside is now officially the District of West Kelowna.

The provincial Cabinet recently approved the municipality's request for the name change.

West Kelowna Mayor, Doug Findlater, says he received the good news from MLA Rick Thorpe Friday morning.

"It's the final hurdle we had to leap and now the name of the community is confirmed," says West Kelowna Mayor, Doug Findlater.

"It was a long time coming and I think this final approval will put to rest any question as to the name of the community, enabling us to move forward with the many important decisions ahead."

While the name is changing, mailing addresses will not -- at least not right away.

Findlater says all mailing addresses, whether they are Kelowna or Westbank will remain the same.

He says Canada Post will deliver mail regardless of the community name used as long as the postal code is correct.

The municipality will have to apply to Canada Post for an official designation change, something Findlater says he is reluctant to do right away.

"Some Councillors have mused that we should do it. Others, including myself, think it's time to take a breather from this identity politics. We have some other real pressing needs that we have to address in terms of infrastructure, finance and so on."

As for other changes, Findlater says now that the name has been officially changed, the municipality can begin the work of coming up with a logo and branding itself.