It’s official: Rosebud West loses ‘stigma’ name and becomes Capel Sound
ROSEBUD West will officially disappear into the history books with Office of Geographic Names to make the change to Capel Sound official
South East
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ROSEBUD West is about to disappear into the history books, with the new name of Capel Sound to become official this week.
The Office of Geographic Names has advised Mornington Peninsula Shire that the controversial name change will be gazetted on Thursday.
Mayor Graham Pittock said today he was pleased to know the change had gone through, although he realised some people would not be happy.
“The democratic process has been followed and I’m happy for the winners,” he said.
“I really was on the fence on this one. I just wanted the majority of people to win.”
The name change will take effect after Vicmap and the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority have updated their mapping systems.
Rosebud West residents and home and business owners affected by the name change will receive a copy of the formal gazettal notice.
They will also be sent a list of agencies and statutory authorities that will hear about the name change from the council and the Office of Geographic Names.
Rosebud West will continue to be recognised — but only as a secondary name — by Emergency Services and Australia Post for six months.
As first reported in Leader in July last year, the movement to change the name began last year after Rosebud West was named one of Victoria’s “struggle towns”.
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The council then considered the proposed name change after receiving a report from a group of passionate residents and property owners concerned about the “stigma” of the name.
The council sent surveys to about 5600 Rosebud West ratepayers and residents, and received 1902 responses.
A council meeting heard that 1065 of the 1902 responses (56 per cent) supported the change.
Councillors voted to back the name in April this year and sent the application to the Office of Geographic Names for approval.
However, during debate on the issue at the April meeting, several councillors raised concerns that the survey was flawed and had confused some community members.
The Office of Geographic Names asked the council to confirm its support for the name after the State Government received 40 objections.
The council replied that it still supported the change, and the office then approved the request.
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Campaigner Terry Wright said the name change was about trying to help people feel good about where they lived.
Mr Wright said many people were familiar with the proposed moniker, first used in an 1836 survey chart, through The Capel Sound Shopping Village and The Capel Sound Foreshore.