Call to scrap Conway name change debate

By Sarah Schwager
DEBATE over two streets with the same name has spiralled out of control, says one of the streets’ residents.
Conway Court in Cranbourne and Conway Street in Cranbourne North have been the subject of recent discussion about changing one of the street’s names.
But Conway Court residents say the debate should be put to rest after the issue was again brought before Casey Council last month by Councillor Steve Beardon.
Cr Beardon, who lives in Conway Street, asked that Conway Court change its name because of wrong mail deliveries and confusion with emergency service responses and because it was the smaller street. Conway Court has 17 houses, four fewer than Conway Street.
Cr Beardon said while the issue did not affect him, as he has a post office box, the street’s residents were continually lobbying him for change. Over the past year Conway Street residents have put forward petitions to change the Cranbourne North postcode and to change street numbers, both of which were rejected by the council.
But Conway Court resident Lee Murphy said he had lived on the street for 20 years and had never had any problems.
Mr Murphy said the issue of safety concerns with ambulances, which was brought up at council, was ridiculous as the first thing emergency services crews asked was what was the nearest intersection.
“This is a waste of everyone’s time and a waste of council’s money,” he said.
Another Conway Court resident, Les Dunn, agreed, saying he had not had any issue with mail mix-ups, apart from when Conway Street mail occasionally came to them. But Conway Street resident Nicole, who did not want her surname to be published, said she currently had two letters for Conway Court residents sitting at her house.
Nicole said she had had many deliveries go missing, and had to be careful when ordering takeaway to ensure it did not go to Conway Court. She said while the cost of changing the street name could be high for homeowners, she would be willing to take on the cost if it was not too high, or perhaps pay half with the council. But Cr Beardon said it should be the council’s responsibility to pay. The issue has prompted other duplicated streets in Casey coming before council requesting a change.
Cr Beardon said there were about 30 street duplications in the 3977 postcode, which encompassed Cranbourne, Cranbourne North and Skye. An Australia Post spokesperson said although there had been some confusion caused with the similar street names in the area, the organisation had monitoring in place to address the issue.
“The mail for Cranbourne and Cranbourne North would be sorted to the same delivery centre anyway,” she said.
“Any mail mis-sorted to the wrong postie’s delivery round should get picked up when the postie does his final sort prior to delivery.”