A push to rename Wyndham Vale train station to Manor Lakes has re-surfaced.
The debate is back on the rails following the state government’s plans to change the name of the existing North Melbourne train station to West Melbourne to better reflect its location.
Three years on from Manor Lakes becoming a suburb in its own right, many believe the station should likewise be re-named.
“It should have been Manor Lakes station in the first place,” Marilyn posted on the Manor Lakes Community Facebook page last week.
Manor Lakes resident Tess Mijares believes it’s important for community identity that the station, which opened in 2015 as part of the Regional Rail Link, be re-branded Manor Lakes.
In August last year, Wyndham council resolved to write to Werribee MP Tim Pallas and state Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan requesting the name change.
Mayor Peter Maynard said the council was told the move would be too expensive.
“What do they have to change, really?” he asked. “Everything’s electronic and they don’t have to re-print timetables until they need a new print. All they have to change is the sign on the station.
“Their own naming policy dictates that it should be named after where it is.”
A government spokeswoman said there were no plans to change the name, citing significant changes to “signage, printed materials and back-end systems”.
Mr Pallas said a formal process, informed by naming guidelines, was undertaken when naming Wyndham Vale station.
But in 2014, Mr Pallas called on the then-planning minister to meet Wyndham council and the Manor Lakes Residents Association and “through that process ensure that the suburb and the new station are consistently named in accordance with the community’s wishes”.
“Given the prominence and the prevalence of Manor Lakes in describing the local area … it could well be argued that calling the new train station Wyndham Vale station would cause public confusion,” Mr Pallas said in Parliament at the time.
