Mornington Peninsula council rejects plan to rename ‘significant sites’ within two years
A bold plan to have every cultural heritage site on the Mornington Peninsula given an historic cultural name has been rejected after fierce backlash.
South East
Don't miss out on the headlines from South East . Followed categories will be added to My News.
A bold plan to fast track indigenous names for some of the Mornington Peninsula’s best known places has been rejected after a fierce community backlash.
The proposal to have every cultural heritage site given an historic cultural name within two years, was rejected by the local council at a meeting on Tuesday night.
Even the removal of the timeline did not win over councillors who were worried that giving the process a deadline had “created a wedge” in the community.
Cr Antonella Celi said the proposal had “inflamed the community” and should have been handled differently
Cr Steve Holland agreed and said ‘the community thinks we’re out there plucking names out of the air and renaming important places on the peninsula willy nilly”.
Mayor Despi O’Connor said a proposal to investigate Bunurong and Boon Wurrung language names, for shire buildings, townships, wards, waterways, localities and significant cultural places was already included within the council’s Reconciliation Action Plan.
The RAP has a June deadline for that part of the 37 point plan.
Cr O’Connor said it was not appropriate to “put a European watch” on the process.
“It’s not up to us to determine how long it takes,” Cr O’Connor said.
She also said the coronavirus pandemic had slowed consultation with First People about appropriate names for peninsula places.
However, Cr David Gill – who initially proposed the two year deadline on name changes – said he didn’t accept COVID-19 as an acceptable excuse for the delay.
He urged his fellow councillors to support his proposal which would ensure the RAP, which was adopted in 2019, was enacted.
“This puts it front and centre for people to know that we are taking action,” Cr Gill said.
“These are important social matters.”
Cr Gill’s proposal lit up social media and talk back radio in the lead up to the council meeting.
“We’ve got this really woke council in Morn Pen and let me tell you, if they change the name of Sorrento, a group of us are going to go and tear the council building down,” 3AW caller Dennis told Neil Mitchell.
Cheryl Hilton posted to the Mornington Peninsula Leader Facebook page that places were given a name for a reason.
“Do not disrespect the past in favour of being woke,” she posted.
Beanz Zee was worried about the cost to small business name changes involved and Scott Franis wanted the council to focus on “rubbish, roads and keeping our beaches clean”.
Not everyone was against the idea.
Leisa Smith posted that it was “about time First People” were recognised.
“It’s just a gesture, more needs to be done but it’s a tiny step in the right direction,” she posted.
The council recently approved a proposal to rename Blacks Camp Reserve and preschool after complaints that the original names were offensive.
Official requests to rename them Tillerkite Pre-School and Beek Beek Reserve have been lodged with the Registrar of Geographic Names for consideration and Gazettal
It is understood the council has also received complaints about Chinamans Creek in Capel Sound and Chinamans Hut — a unique structure in the South Channel of Port Phillip that serves as a haul out site for Australian fur seals.
However, the council’s senior governance officer Pamela Vercoe said there were no plans to rename either.
“The council would need to receive sufficient evidence of community support for a name change in order to consider starting a formal process,” Ms Vercoe said.
In June 2020 the council came under fire for going back to the drawing board to find a name for its public pool in Rosebud, despite spending six months and $50,000 searching for the perfect title.
After another round of community consultation it eventually settled on Yawa Aquatic Centre – using the indigenous word meaning ‘to swim’.
