Manor Lakes estate could be a step closer to being separated from Wyndham Vale, with Wyndham council seeking an exemption from state government guidelines.
The Manor Lakes Residents Association presented a petition with 1050 signatures to the council last September, asking for Manor Lakes to be recognised as a separate suburb.
Because the request went against Office of Geographic Names guidelines and the council’s own geographic naming policy, a report to council on Monday night recommended that the petition be rejected.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? Post a comment below.
The council’s corporate services director, Steven Lambert, said Manor Lakes could not be recognised as a suburb because government guidelines prevented suburbs from being named after businesses or commercial entities.
Manor Lakes is a registered trademark of the Dennis Family Corporation.
Mr Lambert also advised that the council’s policy required requests to rename suburbs to have complete community support.
He said the council had received 12 submissions against the proposal to recognise Manor Lakes as a suburb.
However, councillors voted to write to the Office of Geographic Names, seeking an exemption from the guidelines.
The decision did not have the support of all councillors, with mayor Bob Fairclough, Glenn Goodfellow, Intaj Khan, Gautam Gupta and Adele Hegedich opposed.
But Cr Peter Maynard said the council had a right to ask for an exemption and should do so because most people considered the area to be Manor Lakes, not Wyndham Vale.
“We have numerous VicRoads signs with Manor Lakes on them and buses that say Manor Lakes,” he said.
Cr Goodfellow warned granting of the renaming request would lead to similar moves in other Wyndham estates.
