Perth Voice Interactive

A MAYLANDS resident who has gone through a year of administrative hell is facing another three month delay before a laneway can be named to help ambulances find her home.

Back in October 2022 resident Peta Illich beseeched Bayswater council to name the right of way her house sits on, which is between Crawford Road, Stuart Street, York Street and Alma Street. She wrote that “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 picked two potential names in January 2023, Kuser and Ginger, both named after World War 1 soldiers. But after advertising the options with the public they found too many people didn’t like the idea of naming yet more streets after males, given the gents are already pretty widely recognised in local street and park names (‘Street names too blokey’, Voice, June 3, 2023).

So to prevent such lengthy waits Bayswater council set out to put together a list of acceptable names to have on hand to quickly dole out whenever a street or park needs a moniker.

Years passsed

The public submitted a total of 51 names, and Bayswater council staff have deemed 44 of those fit with the requirements of the Geographic Names Committee that advises Landgate. 

The GNC requires that when a person’s name is used, they must be dead and must have a “demonstrated record of achievement” and a long-term association with the area. Noongar words are also allowed as long as it’s connected to the area and approved by local elders. 

Councillors will vote on whether to endorse the list at the January 30 meeting, though they’ll still have to go to the GNC for final approval whenever the time comes to actually name a place.

The GNC stopped approving ready-made lists in September 2023, on the grounds that sometimes many years passed between the lists and the naming and community sentiments changed (that grounds proved correct in the case of Kuser and Ginger, at least).

The council will also vote on whether to finally give the Maylands lanes a name, picking one of the three on the new list of approved names.

That’s pegged to take another few months, including 30 days of public advertising, and is due back to council at the April 24 meeting.

A staff report to councillors says “since the deferral of the matter at the May 2023 ordinary council meeting, the resident contacted the City a number of times requesting progress updates on the naming of the laneway”.

by DAVID BELL

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Here’s some of the notable new names that’ve been deemed acceptable to name streets and places after, subject to council approval and a final sign-off by GNC:

Liebe: After Freiderich Wilhelm Gustave Liebe (1862-1950), the Prussia-born farmer and builder. The Peninsula Hotel (built 1906) is considered his finest work. 

Chong: To commemorate Hu Che-Em, born in 1873 and arrived in Australia in the 1890s. Hu Che-Em was a market gardener trading as Hop ‘Hoppy’ Chong.

Cumper: To commemorate Fay Cumper who worked at the Blind Institute in Maylands until retiring in 1991. 

Moon: For Albert Moon, who attended the Royal Institute for the Blind and went on to work in the institute’s looming factory.

Djidi Djidi: The Noongar name of the Willie Wagtails common throughout Bayswater, derived from the sound of the quarrelsome bird’s song.

Rejected

Karrak: The Noongar name for the red-tailed black cockatoo sometimes seen in the trees along Bayswater’s wetlands. 

Yellardonga: The name of a Whadjuk Noongar leader on the north side of the river.

Some of the names that have been rejected:

Bean: Suggested “to commemorate a loving and selfless dog who is wildly regarded by the Bayswater area as a ray of sunshine and someone who brings joy and happiness to all that meet her”. However Landgate rules don’t support naming streets after pets. 

Fairbeard: After private Charles Henry Fairbeard, an Indian-born Anzac who came to Australia in 1912 and was among the first to join the Australian Imperial Force at the outbreak of WW1, and died at Gallipoli. While WW1 veterans were once frequently selected to have streets named after them, Fairbeard is on the “no” list due to not having enough of an association with the area. Baysie: The diminutive term for Bayswater won’t be allowed because it is “not in standard English”.