August 18th, 2024Naming Lancefield’s planned kinder proves child’s play
The Macedon Ranges Shire Council has announced a proposed name for Lancefield’s new in-development kindergarten and Maternal and Child Health service, chosen with input from current kinder kids.
The Lancefield Childrens Centre is the name proposed to be submitted to Geographic Names Victoria (GNV) as the relevant authority, following consultation with key stakeholders including the area’s Traditional Owner group (Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation).
Shortlisted options were initially sent to GNV, which recommended a three-word limit for building names. The shortlisted, in-principle approved names by GNV were:
- Lancefield Family Centre OR Lancefield Childrens Centre
- Silver Wattle Family Centre OR Silver Wattle Childrens Centre *
- Bundha Family Centre OR Bundha Childrens Centre (Bundha being a Woi-wurrung word, meaning “unity”)
Following consultation with GNV, an exemption was granted to keep ‘Silver Wattle’ (being four words) due to its local significance. Naming rules also stipulate that: ‘An apostrophe must be deleted from geographic names written with a final ’s and the possessive ’s should not be included.’
The council’s Director Community, Maria Weiss, said 67 children currently enrolled at Lancefield Kindergarten were presented with this list of potential names and had the chance to discuss and learn about the proposed names, and select a preferred name.
“The children discussed that ‘Lancefield’ as a name was important to them, because ‘it was their home, where they lived, where they rode and walked to kindergarten and what the current kindergarten was called’,” she said.
“While we have consulted broadly on these names, it was really fitting to be able to provide the current kinder kids with this opportunity to directly be involved and help set a legacy for future kinder attendees.”
Children at Lancefield Kindergarten were asked to make a decision on the proposed name in support of Council’s Municipal Early Years Plan 2021-25 priority to ‘Involve children and families in consultation to inform services and program planning, and infrastructure and development projects in the shire’.
When naming a building, the council is required to comply with the Naming Rules for Places in Victoria. As the naming authority, the council is required to adhere to these rules when determining building names within the shire.
Feedback on the process behind the proposed name is invited until Friday 30 August 2024 via the council’s Your Say online engagement hub.
Separately, in an update on the project build, the Victorian School Building Authority has advised that a Cultural Heritage Management Plan for the site had been submitted.
The hope is that works can recommence by the end of this year and be completed between April and June 2025.
