Hume council voted to reject the Sunbury Residents Association’s proposal to rename Spavin Drive Lake to Lake McKerrow at its council meeting on May 8.
In the meeting on Monday night, council decided to reject the proposal to name the lake after John ‘Jack’ McKerrow for his long standing work in the Bulla shire.
In an officer’s report, council said the lake is located in an area of cultural heritage sensitivity, and a name with Traditional Owner language is more appropriate should a future or dual name be chosen.
Council also said the current name has a high level of existing community awareness, and the proposed name did not have an established strong link to the lake.
Councillor Trevor Dance said he reluctantly supported the recommendation to reject the renaming proposal.
“I hope there might be another time down the road where it might be resubmitted to council to consider again … with all the requirements that are needed,” Cr Dance said.
“The application doesn’t have consent of the family so at this stage I’ll support the officers [recommendation].”
Council noted in its report that the proposal did not state if it was supported by Mr McKerrow’s family, as the naming rules require every effort is made to gain consent from the family.
Sunbury Residents Association president Graham Williams said he was surprised the council gave such a detailed report without referring back to the association to let them know they needed permission from Mr McKerrow’s family.
“I would have expected some feedback beforehand, this is the first bit of paperwork we have received since we submitted the letter,” Mr Williams said.
“It would have been good to hear about that, [as there] may have been an opportunity to remedy the situation.
Mr Williams said he does not know at this stage if the association will re-submit the proposal.
