There may well be no suburb in Melbourne as controversial as Docklands, a former swamp, slum and tip where the promise of renewal as a vibrant community hub has fallen short of its grandiose ambitions.

Now some residents have decided they want out altogether – but they’re not moving.

Sam Aftasi has started a petition for the southern part of the suburb, the area on the south side of the Yarra River and running along Lorimer Street, to separate from the rest of Docklands.

“The association with Docklands no longer serves the best interests of the area in which we live,” Aftasi said. “A re-definition of the naming will more accurately represent the community who lives along the Yarra and provide it with many benefits, including financial, as well as increased liveability standards and pride in the area.”

Aftasi said he had nothing against Docklands, which has been derided as a “lifeless concrete jungle”, but his neighbourhood had a different identity to the rest of the suburb.

“Our area has a lot more owner-occupiers as a proportion of residents, as opposed to the other parts of Docklands, which is more renters,” the IT sales manager said. “The quality of build on this side is at a higher standard than the other side.”

Aftasi said when there had been an earthquake in Melbourne, it was felt in Docklands but not in the southern part.

“I didn’t feel it because I was on this side of the river,” he said. “We are completely disconnected from what is considered Docklands, we’re on a different part of the river.”

Yarra’s Edge was the name given to the precinct by developer Mirvac, and Aftasi wants to make the name official.

He said 3007, which is an unallocated postcode, would be the logical choice for the area, which sits between Docklands (3008) and South Wharf/Southbank (3006).

There is precedent for changing suburb names. Rosebud West on the Mornington Peninsula was renamed Capel Sound a decade ago, Malvern East emerged in the 1990s, and West Footscray became Kingsville. In NSW, part of Bondi Junction was renamed Queens Park.

Aftasi points to increases in property value in those areas after name changes, and he said he believed leaving Docklands would improve property prices in his neighbourhood.

Real Estate Institute of Victoria data records the median value of units in Docklands as $615,050, while the median value for units in the Yarra’s Edge area is $1,209,986.

If Yarra’s Edge became a suburb, the median value would rank it in 52nd place in Victoria for median sale prices, just below neighbouring Southbank.

In comparison, Docklands ranks 110th out of 130 in Victoria for median sale price.

“The revised ranking for Yarra’s Edge would more accurately reflect the true value of this
highly sought-after suburb along the river,” Aftasi said.

A name change would require the approval of the City of Melbourne, but Aftasi met with some pushback when he contacted Lord Mayor Nick Reece.

Reece raised concerns that Yarra’s Edge was a commercial or real estate name because it was created by developer Mirvac. It could cause confusion because there were already areas with similar names, such as South Yarra, Yarraville and Yarrambat. Also, possessive apostrophes were not generally used in place names.

“On paper, there is some logic to creating a new suburb, 3007, separated by the Yarra River from the harbour-side Docklands area,” Reece said. “But equally, I think Docklands is a suburb that is really on the rise at the moment and will be a highly coveted suburb in the years to come.”

If Yarra’s Edge were to become a suburb, it would be the smallest in Victoria, geographically, and take the mantle from Gardenvale.

But there are close to 3000 properties in the precinct, so Reece said it certainly wouldn’t be the smallest Melbourne suburb by population size or property numbers.

The first push for Yarra’s Edge to break away from Docklands was mooted in 2020 by a group of residents led by former aerobics champion Sue Stanley, who ran on Reece’s ticket in last year’s council election.

“I would always be respectful of a community’s wishes on something like this,” Reece said. “If there was clear and unambiguous desire to see the suburb change its name, then I wouldn’t stand in the way of that.”

Aftasi’s petition to change the name has just over 200 signatures, but he is confident it will get more support once it is circulated more widely.

“We’d be looking for a lot more than that before we would seriously entertain a changing the area’s name,” Reece said.

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