A request by the Sunbury Residents Association to change the name of Spavin Drive Lake to Lake McKerrow has been declined by Hume City councillors.
The association’s president, Graham Williams, wrote to the council on 1 September last year asking for the name change to recognise the “extensive services to the Shire of Bulla by John McKerrow”. McKerrow was the Bulla Shire engineer and town planner from 1955 until 1995.
The association states that a few of McKerrow’s achievements include the community centres in Goonawarra and on Elizabeth Drive. He also oversaw the approval of the Emu Bottom Wetlands Reserve, says the association.
Council officers recommended the application be declined at the Monday 8 May council meeting saying the association did not establish a strong link between Mr McKerrow and the lake – one of the requirements of the council’s re-naming rules.
Williams says he’s disappointed the change wasn’t supported by the council, and that the idea to change the name had been raised at the association’s meetings.
“I can’t fault the process the council went through to reach its decision,” he says.
Williams says the association wasn’t fully aware of the criteria council uses to assess place name change applications.
“We might revisit the name change at some point, but at the moment we are not going to challenge the council on this. Council officers put up a very detailed report, they did their job.”
Downloads: Hume Council Monday 8 May 2023 Agenda and Minutes.
