Sanctuary Lakes residents have lost their bid to have their estate recognised as a suburb.
In June, Sanctuary Lakes Resort Services wrote to Wyndham council asking it to write to the Office of Geographic Names (OGN) to recommend Sanctuary Lakes be granted suburban status.
The letter, from resort chairman Ian Brown, followed a council decision on June 23 to write to the OGN on behalf of the Manor Lakes Residents Association, asking that the Manor Lakes estate become a suburb.
Mr Brown said Sanctuary Lakes, which commenced development in 1996, had reached a state of “maturity” and, as such, should be recognised as a suburb in its own right rather than being a part of Point Cook.
He proposed that the new suburb include the estate, Sanctuary Lakes shopping centre and Sanctuary Lakes hotel, representing a community of about 9000.
But on Monday night, the council voted to reject the request because the name did not comply with state government naming guidelines, which stipulate suburbs cannot be named after an estate, business or trading name.
The council said while it had supported Manor Lakes’ bid to be recognised as a suburb in June, the OGN had since made it clear it would not grant estates an exemption to the guidelines.
A report to council raised concerns that recognising Sanctuary Lakes as a suburb would impact on the Point Cook community. “The request may lead to segregation within the Point Cook community and set a precedent for other estates and subdivisions within the municipality,” the report said.
Cr Glenn Goodfellow said while the council had knocked back Sanctuary Lakes’ request, the estate may one day become a suburb.
He asked the council to consider compiling a list of possible future suburb names to send to the OGN, as well as setting up a community advisory group to help guide council in its suburb name decisions.
