By BRIDGET COOK
RESIDENTS living in Cranbourne East and part of Clyde North will get to cast their vote for a new name for the suburb.
The City of Casey is set to survey all landowners in the area to see their preference on three different suburb name options – Casey Fields, Cameron and Ridgway.
Cameron and Ridgway are the names of historic figures and early settlers in the Cranbourne area.
Land, off Cameron Street, was taken up by Alexander Cameron in the 1850s.
Mr Cameron has been called the ’father of modern Cranbourne’ and was on the Cranbourne Road board from 1863 to 1867.
The Ridgway family lived next door and was also a well-known landowner.
The council conducted a similar survey in 2011, but was doing it again as more people have now moved into the area and there were a high number of non-responses last time.
Casey Fields was the preferred named in 2011, with 864 votes.
Cranbourne East and Clyde North came in second and third.
However in a report that came back to the council this month, the Registrar of Geographic Names said to the council that suburban names involving directional variants continued to cause problems for emergency services and that other naming options for Cranbourne East and Clyde North would assist to alleviate this issue.
The boundary for the new suburb will also be moved to include all of Cranbourne East and parts of Clyde North.
City of Casey councillor Gary Rowe said he believed Casey Fields was a well-known destination of the area and was not as suited as a suburb name.
He said his preferred options were Cameron and Ridgway as the names were both synonymous with Cranbourne since 1800s.
On the News’ Facebook page, a few residents said Ridgway was their favourite.
“I quite like Ridgway too,” said Angela Carter. “I would prefer it with an e though, as in Ridgeway.”
“I like Ridgway, lets just start from scratch,” said Lynette White.
Steven Oviss said the council should have asked residents for suggestions before giving those three choices.
“Most people in the estate have suggested Linsell, but why should the people who live here get a say?”
The survey results and a further report on the matter will come back to a council meeting at a later date.
