Waterways across Hume could be renamed, under a proposal put forward by council.
During Hume council’s July 28 meeting. councillors agreed to contact relevant authorities including Geographic Names Victoria and Melbourne Water to seek approval to change the name of seven drains to creeks.
It also seeks to gain written support from the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung to be included in the letter.
The waterways include Otway Crescent Drain and Warantina Drain in Broadmeadows; Broad Street Drain in Attwood; Somerset Road Drain in Campbellfield; Heyson Drive Drain in Sunbury; Greenvale Drain in Greenvale; and Shanklands Drain in Roxburgh Park.
Cr Karen Sherry put forward the proposal, referencing David Widdowson’s Down the Drain – Lost Tributaries of the Moonee Ponds Creek and the way in which waterways have been reduced down to underground drains due to development.
“Mainly, Widdowson contends that it’s really the 19th and the 20th century urban planning attitude that you had to tidy up urban areas,” she said.
“After the suburbs were cleared, creeks were left as more or less like dirt line drains and at risk of major erosion after heavy rain.”
She said the name change can help reinforce its historical and cultural significance.
“There certainly wasn’t the attraction we now feel to waterways,” Cr Sherry said.
“We’d be aghast if we concreted a creek now, but that wasn’t the case in the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Calling them a drain is a mistake of the past and does not reflect the true value of these places.”
