Elsie Lange
Sunbury’s streets will soon be adorned with new signs, adding historical context to the names attached to them.
At a meeting on Tuesday, June 14, council voted to approve the installation of the signs on 28 streets, following years of work by the Sunbury Family History and Heritage Society (SFHHS), formerly the Sunbury and District Heritage Association.
SFHHS secretary Rosa McCall helped in researching the project, and said the group was delighted the council had voted to go ahead with it.
“We’re thrilled that it’s now come to fruition, because it’s probably been about five years in the making, from the time we first started and submitted it to council,” Ms McCall said.
The new green signs will replace the recognisable white signs, adding a short line of text below each street name, with the $5650 cost funded in council’s 2021-22 budget.
Jacksons Creek Ward councillor Jarrod Bell acknowledged the efforts of the historical society in putting the “fantastic piece of work” together.
“To now have read this report and to have understood with greater meaning and with greater depth the stories of those names… it was almost like a journey through time,” Cr Bell said.
He said every dollar spent on the renewed celebration of Sunbury’s history was “money well worth spent”.
Cr Chris Hollow said he would like to see the initiative spread across the municipality after the trial in Sunbury.
“If we look closely at our city, this city is full of history, especially in the Meadow Valley Ward,”
“Using Sunbury as a pilot, it would be great to see if we could review the city as a whole and acknowledge its rich history when recommending actions like the one we’ve brought before us tonight in all areas of our municipality.”
Cr Jim Overend and Cr Jodi Jackson also spoke in favour of spreading the project further.
“Council should take it upon themselves to do some homework… It’s a wonderful thing for people to see,” Cr Overend said.
“Young children growing up will get to know more about the suburbs they live in, I think it’s a wonderful thing.”
