VINCENT council has approved names for anonymous laneways around Beaufort Street.
There was some concern about the process, with Cr Ros Harley noted the criteria was inconsistent. Some Nyoongar words were approved while similar ones were deemed too generic and rejected.
“We need to play a little bit more hardball when a government department says ‘computer says no’,” Cr Harley said.
Words like “bono” (wood) were rejected as “not local to the area”, but Boodja, meaning “ground, land or country,” was recommended for the laneway near Grosvenor Street.
The names were shortlisted by Landgate, with input from the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and the Whadjuk Working Group. Vincent councillors approved the final names this week, and it will go back to Landgate for rubber stamping.
Cr Harley said it became tricky when laneways were named after people: “I don’t understand why one war veteran gets a laneway and another war veteran doesn’t.