In response to the opinion piece “Forget Guru Nanak Lake – let’s name a suburb Nanakville instead” (Jamel Kaur Singh and Dya Singh, Star News, 23 October), I write to correct the suggestion that community concerns about the renaming of Berwick Springs Lake are racially motivated.
That interpretation could not be further from the truth and any suggestion of a racially motivated agenda is honestly offensive to our multicultural, multi faith community.
As someone who lives here and values our increasingly diverse community, I wish to make clear: we fully recognise and respect the contributions of the Sikh community and the legacy of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
Our concern has never been with faith or culture — it is with process, fairness, and inclusion.
The Sikh community’s long record of seva — selfless service — through food drives, blood donation campaigns, and charitable support for those in need, has earned deep respect from residents across Casey.
Their generosity and community care embody the best of what makes our city strong.
Our concern lies in how the Victorian Government made the decision to rename a long-recognised local landmark — widely known for decades as “Berwick Springs Lake” — without any community consultation with local residents.
Many only discovered the change when signage first appeared.
Under the Official Naming Rules for Places in Victoria, section 7, Consultation, the immediate community must be contacted or notified and Naming Authorities must comply with the minimum requirements, yet that essential engagement simply did not occur.
Further, under Principle C, Linking the Name to a Place, the legislation clearly states “with preference given to unofficial names by the immediate community”.
For generations, “The Springs” has been central to the identity and heritage of this suburb, tracing back to the mid-1800s homesteads that gave the area its name, Berwick Springs.
A petition tabled in Parliament, now with over 4,300 signatures from residents ( not including our online petitions nearly 15,000) of many cultural backgrounds (including members of the Sikh community), calls for transparency, the consultation that was simply ignored and a full review of the naming process.
We are not opposed to honouring Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
We simply believe naming public places should be a shared process — done with community consultation and participation, not to it.
Good governance, respect for heritage, and inclusive engagement go hand-in-hand with multicultural recognition.
Michael Ball
President of The Berwick Springs Community Association.
