A northern suburbs MP has called on the state government to stop Marymede train station being renamed until there is community consultation.
Northern Metropolitan Liberal MP Craig Ondarchie wants Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan to undertake “significant” community consultation before proceeding with plans to rename the station Middle Gorge.
Mr Ondarchie said the community should be allowed to chose a name that better reflected the area.
“The choice of the name Middle Gorge has caused major protest amongst a great majority of residents,” he said in Parliament on May 1.
“Many residents have found the name comical rather than something to be proud of. Many suggest the name sounds like a locality in Middle Earth from Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
“The action I seek is for the minister to commence a process to halt the renaming, undertake significant consultation with the local community and allow the locals to choose a station name that better benefits the local area.”
Community representatives have written to the state government urging it to choose another name.
The letter, written by South Morang and Mernda Rail Alliance spokesman Darren Peters, Friends of South Morang secretary Trevor Carroll, Lost Mernda historical group administrator Neil Johnson, Public Transport Users Association secretary Daniel Bowen and University of Melbourne urban planning lecturer Crystal Legacy, states most residents objected to the use of Middle Gorge because Middle Gorge Park was several kilometres from the station.
South Morang and Mernda Rail Alliance spokesman Darren Peters said he was pleased Mr Ondarchie has called for community consultation on the issue.
“The popular suggestions are renaming South Morang station to Plenty Valley and Marymede to South Morang, or South Morang to Mill Park and moving the postcode boundaries back to what they were in the past,” he said.
“We hope the state government is listening to the community feedback … it is clear people are not happy with the name Middle Gorge.”
Mill Park MP Lily D’Ambrosio has previously said she was confident the community would understand and accept why the station is being renamed.
