Perth Voice Interactive

TOO many Bayswater streets are named after ‘white European males’ according to some locals who’d like to see female and Indigenous names get a look-in.

Bayswater council has a pre-approved list of names it doles out whenever a new street or laneway needs a new name, and there are zero Aboriginal names on the list. 

An unlabelled laneway off Crawford Maylands is now in urgent need of naming because ambulances can’t find it.

Resident Peta Illich recently wrote to council saying: “I have had to call an ambulance on several occasions; issues have arisen when our right-of-way was difficult to find and resulted in me having to wait at the entrance on York Street and direct them up the hill to the house, or at night I have to flash a torch down the laneway to attract attention. 

“My son is unwell and I am a pensioner and at times our home needs to be found.”

The council consulted the public on two possible names, Ginger Lane or Kuser Lane, the last two unused names on the pre-approved list. Herbert George Reginald Ginger and William Frederick Kuser were both WWI veterans.

Out of 33 public submissions, 11 supported Ginger, two liked Kuser, and 18 people objected to both names.

One objector said the options were “ridiculous” and said there should be options for Aboriginal names as an opportunity for reconciliation.

Another said “new road/street names should be named after First Nations people or women as there are enough white European male road/street names”.

The call for Aboriginal names was a recurring theme among the objections, but a report by council staff says “the City does not have a list of Aboriginal names that are able to be considered and used for naming”.

To get an Aboriginal name approved requires jumping through an extra hoop by having it align with Landgate’s Aboriginal Naming Guidelines, requiring that it be sourced directly from local traditional owners and be used with their consent.

At the council’s May meeting deputy mayor Catherine Ehrhardt moved that they heed the majority’s wishes and hold off on naming the Maylands laneway until they could invite the public to submit new names, and also get new options to send to Landgate for the list. 

“The two names that were proposed for this particular laneway are the last two names on our list,” Cr Ehrhardt said, adding there were likely lots of other untitled laneways in need of a name in the future.

“I think it’s prudent to not only respond to the community feedback, but to also be proactive with updating that list in general, in consultation with the community.”

All but one councillor, Michelle Sutherland, voted for Cr Ehrhardt’s plan.

“I like the name Ginger Lane, real Australian,” Cr Sutherland said.

“I believe it’s a war veteran’s name. There’s nobody in my mind more deserving than those people.”

Once the public have submitted their name ideas they’ll have to get sent to Landgate for approval, and probably make it back to council for a vote by late 2023. 

by DAVID BELL