Place Names News
October 2005
At its 24 October 2005 meeting, the Place Names Committee changed its Guidelines on duplication of road names.
As most development within the Northern Territory is presently occurring within the Greater Darwin Area, and with the increasing requests the Committee is receiving to commemorate several different people with the same surname, it was finding it increasingly difficult to strictly follow its policy of not duplicating road names within this Area.
The Committee has therefore amended its policy on duplication of road names to permit more flexibility in this regard.
The Committee when deciding on a road name will now consider the following:.
- Subject to paragraph 3 below, the Committee will support the duplication of names provided that the duplication is not within the same Municipality or Local Government Area.
- Wherever possible a different qualifier, such as road/street/close/drive, will be used to differentiate between duplicated names. This will reduce confusion for emergency services and service vehicles
- Duplicate names will not be supported if they are proposed in an area close to an adjoining Municipality in which the same name is in use, for example Berrimah/Pinelands and Gunn/Virginia. This policy is intended to prevent confusion for emergency services.
- Duplication of names within the Greater Darwin Area will only be permitted in order to commemorate a person from a different family to that previously commemorated.
September 2005
On 7 September 2005, the Place Names Amendment Act 2004 commenced. The Amendment Act changes the definition of what a place is, defines the establishment of a publicly accessible register and allows the Minister for Planning and Lands to delegate the naming of some places. The Amendment Act makes the gazettal of place names optional. Amendments have been incorporated into the Place Names Act which can be viewed online.
Although the Amendment Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly in 2004, the commencement of the Act was held back until an internet searchable version of the Register had been established.
June 2005
On 27 June 2005, the Minister for Planning and Lands (Dr Chris Burns) approved the appointment of a new Place Names Committee for the next three years.