By Tate Papworth
A Sunshine North street will be renamed, paying homage to the area’s large Vietnamese population.
Brimbank council is set to lodge papers with the Registrar of Geographic Names to rename McGrath Place to Ben Thanh Place.
The council says the current name is non-compliant with a council rule which states that in metropolitan urban areas, names must not duplicate another within five kilometres.
McGrath Street, Sunshine and McGrath Close, Kealba both fall within a five kilometre distance of McGrath Place.
It is deemed that the close proximity of the similarly named streets could put emergency service responses at risk and create confusion for mail services.
The council first proposed the name change in March and put plans out for public consultation.
Five submissions were received, four opposed to the renaming and one in favour. Objectors to the proposal said the name should be unique to Brimbank and reflect the municipality’s history.
However the council said the contribution of the Vietnamese community to Brimbank was important to the history of the area.
There is currently one property at McGrath Place, but 13 units are currently being developed on the site.
The name Ben Thanh Place was proposed by the developer of the property and comes from a notable market located in Ho Chi Minh City. Ben Thanh roughly translates to Wharf Citadel.
