Hi Supporters of Yarras Edge, 

Quick update:

I have a clear understanding now of the steps required to get approval:

Step 1: Petition

Step 2: Melbourne Lord Mayor has to approve name change

Step 3: The Office of Geographic Names (OGN) have to approve name change

Step 4: AusPost have to approve postcode change

Step 5: IF approved, communicate to community, change actioned, everyone is happy

As i hadn't heard back, I emailed the Lord Mayor today to further address some of the concerns raised.

Below is the email I sent. Thanks to fellow resident Tim for his input.

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Hi Dani and Lord Mayor Reece.

Hope you are well.

As I hadn’t heard back from either of you, I thought to follow up and provide further input to my previous email. Referencing the objection to the suggested name of “Yarras Edge”, I had a conversation with a representative at the Office of Geographic Names (OGN), and I now have a clearer understanding of the basis for concerns based on the naming convention guidelines as listed The naming rules. In the rules document it is said that within the current guidelines, a suburb cannot share a name already being used, for fear of confusion. Apparently, this guideline does not apply retrospectively, otherwise all the suburbs that share names would not comply [per attached].

In my initial outreach, the Lord Mayor claimed that Yarra’s Edge would not adhere to the naming guidelines per the below 3 concerns, I would like to further address some of these concerns:

1.       Avoiding Commercial Names: We're encouraged to avoid naming places after commercial or estate names, and Yarra’s Edge is a Mirvac precinct name.

My Response:

There is no commercial aspect about the name Yarra's Edge as there is no such service or product or reference to Mirvac
There have been no known recorded adverse issues associated with the use of this name over that time.
The Naming rules for places in Victoria document does not prohibit estate names to be also used for locality names. Moreover, there are multiple examples of other suburbs in Victoria that are named after the housing estate that they first began as (e.g. Caroline Springs, Point Cook, Sandhurst – and many other examples could be provided). The name “Yarras Edge”, is in fact, more compliant than any of these other estate names because the name has a link to its place (i.e. the Yarra River), and the word “Yarra” uses Traditional Owner language (which none of the other estate names have done).
Yarras Edge is an existing housing estate name that has been used for over 25 years. This is not a proposal to create an entirely new name. Many of the concepts in the Naming rules for places in Victoria document are guidelines for creating entirely new names in Victoria (which we're not doing).
Housing estate names are also subject to the guidelines of the Naming rules for places in Victoria document. So, if there were concerns about whether or not the name “Yarra’s Edge” complied with the Naming rules for places in Victoria document for naming an estate, then these concerns should have been raised over 25 years ago before proceeding to name the estate as "Yarra's Edge".
 

2.       Avoiding Name Duplication: There are already areas with similar names, like South Yarra, Yarraville, and Yarrambat.

My Response:

There is no possible way that the name would be disallowed because simply it contains the word or letters “Yarra", there is no confusion with other suburbs because it is clearly a suburb on the Yarra
The area has been known by thousands of residents, and millions of other Australians as “Yarra’s Edge” for over 25 years. So, it is already an established locality name, and its use is fully supported and accustomed by huge numbers of people - evidenced by the 1,435+ residents that have signed the petition.
The Naming rules for places in Victoria document provides guidelines for ensuring that names are not duplicated in relatively close proximity. Locality names that have been raised in reference to this, where the localities are anywhere near Yarras Edge are only South Yarra and Yarraville. However:
“Yarras Edge” does not actually duplicate or closely resemble these existing locality names  (i.e. they are not exactly the same name, or a slightly different spelling of exactly the same name).
“Yarra’s Edge” is structurally different from both (i.e. South Yarra begins with a different word (i.e. South); and Yarraville is a single word, whereas Yarras Edge is two words).
Neither South Yarra or Yarraville are directly adjacent to Yarras Edge. South Yarra and Yarraville are quite a distance away from Yarras Edge
The shared element “Yarra” should not disqualify the area from using the name (as the river itself underpins many place names).
Again, the area has been known as “Yarras Edge” for over 25 years by countless people (i.e. we are not proposing to create a new name); and we don’t believe the area has ever been confused with South Yarra or Yarraville in over those 25 years. However, there has been significant confusion regarding the location of the area when being called “Docklands” given that, what most people consider to be Docklands (on the North side of the Yarra River) is quite distant from the location of Yarra’s Edge. A vehicle driver will not drive to Yarra’s Edge if you just instruct them to drive to Docklands.
Yarra’s Edge has a Marina, and its official name is “Yarra’s Edge Marina” (i.e. this is not an informal name, and it appears on official maps, directories, council websites and marina industry records). So, if there were concerns about whether or not the name “Yarra’s Edge Marina” complied with the Naming rules for places in Victoria document for naming a marina, it should have been raised before officially naming the marina with this name decades ago.

3.       Correct Naming Conventions: The apostrophe in "Yarra's Edge" doesn't follow the rule against using possessive apostrophes in place names.

My Response:

We can simply remove the apostrophe or remove the “s”
The Naming rules for places in Victoria document simply states that “an apostrophe must be deleted from geographic names” so we propose to fully comply with that by not using an apostrophe.
It should be noted that there are many other suburb names in Melbourne that use phrases implying a missing possessive apostrophe (e.g. Diggers Rest, Williams Landing, Wilsons Promontory) – but this has not caused an issue in any of these cases.

As stated in my proposal document and above, the area in which I reside, Yarra’s Edge, is located by the Yarra river, the suggested name of “Yarras Edge”, which has been used unofficially by residents in the area for over 25 years, currently forms part of the broader “Docklands” suburb. The use of “Yarra” in the name is required to uniquely identify its geographic location. To suggest using any other name makes no sense and risks losing the value that has been built over this period. There is value in a name, a name Yarras Edge which a majority of residents [Petition for residents of Yarras Edge to change name postcode] are supportive of and proud to call home.

The precedence has already been set with other suburbs across Melbourne that share similar names [per attached], and it therefore should be a simple and logical step in choosing Yarras Edge as the most appropriate name for this area by the Yarra river and making an exception.

We kindly request your support in making this change. From there I will then be able to request the change and exception by the Office of Geographic Names (OGN).

Thank you in advance.

Cheers.

Regards,

Sam Aftasi