Hume Council to roll out history lesson on street signs in Sunbury, Westmeadows and Craigieburn

Sunbury’s sporting and political history will be recognised under a new project to tell the stories behind Hume’s streets. But the changes will come with a price tag. See which streets could be first in line.

O'Shanassy St in Sunbury could be one of the first in line for a street sign upgrade. Picture: Adam Elwood

The stories behind many of Hume’s road names will be told through a $10,000 plan to add historical references to street signs.

The Historical Street Sign Name Project aims to tell the story of streets and how their names came to be.

Under the plan, street signs named after prominent people or places will be replaced with new signs that provide a 15 to 20 word description of who that person was and what they are known for.

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The council has allocated $10,000 in its 2019-20 budget for the initiative, which would allow for about 60 signs to be replaced.

Sunbury has a long cricket history and there are a number of street names with a cricket connection. Picture: Sarah Matray

Roads that could be among the first to be included in the project include Sunbury’s O’Shanassy, Evans, Horne and Barkly streets.

John O’Shanassy was Victoria’s second Premier, serving for 1238 days between 1857-63, while George Samuel Evans was Victoria’s Postmaster General under the O’Shanassy Government of 1858-59 and 1861-63.

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George Samuel Wegg Horne was a Minister in the O’Shanassy Government in 1857 and Sir Henry Barkly was Victorian Governor and presided over the opening of the Sunbury railway.

The “birthplace of the Ashes” also boasts street names such as Bradman and Cover Drive.

Sunbury and District Heritage Association secretary Trevor Dunn said their group had been working on a Streets with Stories project for the past three years.

The proposed design of the Hume Council Historical Street Sign Name Project.

“The origins of the street names … would allow people to observe and gain an understanding of Sunbury’s heritage … as well as aiding tourism in the district,” Mr Dunn said.

Mr Dunn said he had about 30 historical streets in mind and hoped the first new sign would be installed next year.

The council has invited public nominations on what historical street signs should be installed.

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The information on each sign would be installed at both ends of the street.

The council’s website would also list streets where historical street signs had been installed, along with the wording of each sign.

Councillor Ann Potter said the project would be relevant to the entire municipality, especially Westmeadows, Sunbury and parts of Craigieburn.

“It will be great for our community to actually see these signs up there, understanding why Evans St is called Evans St,” she said.

“There’s so many historical street names in Sunbury that it would be great for the community to understand the reason why they are named that (and) the forebears they come from.”

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