Plan To Expand Mambourin Suburb

Wyndham City Council will submit a proposal to the Office of Geographic Names to align the suburb boundary between Mambourin, Wyndham Vale and Werribee, allowing the entire Mambourin Estate to be contained within the suburb of Mambourin instead of a boundary dividing the development.

At Tuesday’s (3rd September) Ordinary Council meeting, it was agreed that Council would support the proposal to extend the current Mambourin suburb boundary east to the Regional Rail Link. The boundary will begin at Greens Road and extend south to Bulban Road. The matter will now be referred to the State Government’s Office of Geographic Names for final decision.

Wyndham City Mayor, Cr Mia Shaw said the request to review the suburb boundaries in the area came from a developer who identified the potential confusion that could be created.

“It is problematic to have the name of the estate the same as an adjoining suburb – and unfortunately, this is not something Council has control over,” she said.

“At the beginning of this process, the Office of Geographic Names suggested that two boundary options be put forward for consultation with stakeholders and residents and while the majority of residents supported the first proposal, emergency services supported the second, citing concerns around potential confusion for people when dialling 000.”

“It was noted that because of the use of Mambourin as both a suburb name and estate name, a 000 caller may not know exactly which suburb they are in and this verifying process could delay the dispatchment of an ambulance or other emergency service.”

“As Councillors we have a duty to make decisions in the interests of public safety, so this was the main factor in adopting the option recommended by the emergency services.”

“We understand that this boundary realignment has resulted in approximately 400 residents in the Cornerstone Estate potentially being in a different suburb to which they originally bought in. However, we cannot ignore the feedback from emergency services.”

“This has been a very difficult decision for Council and we sympathise with affected residents.”

“In light of this issue that has been created, Council resolved to write to the Minister for Consumer Affairs and the Registrar of Geographic Names seeking regulation of estate names to avoid this happening in the future.”

“The reality is that estates are named by developers without input or oversight from State or Local Government and then we are having to deal with issues such as this retrospectively and it is our residents who are inconvenienced.”

“Ultimately we need to make decisions based on the best outcome for all residents and in accordance with State regulation and Council policy. The public safety aspect is paramount and formed the basis of Council’s decision.”

Residents who will be in a different postcode following the realignment will be sent a letter about the decision and options for their next steps, in the coming weeks.