HUON Hill is now, officially, Huon Hill.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the name known across the region may still be rejected and a new moniker may need to be found.
Last week Wodonga councillors gave the green light to pinch land from east Wodonga and more from Bandiana to create the city’s newest address.
At slightly more than 1100 hectares it will include and circumnavigate the base of the hill that has been colloquially known as Huons and Huon Hill since early last century.
Only development of the Riverside Estate is expected to add to the 21 properties within the new boundary.
But the decision follows almost four months of consultation and still needs to be approved at a state level.
Ambulance Victoria has already expressed its reservations with concerns there would be confusion with Huon and Huon Creek — one about 20 kilometres to the east, the other nine kilometres to the west.
Wodonga councillor Rod Wangman admitted the decision seemed glaringly obvious.
“Because we have changed the area known as Huon Hill we have had to follow a process,” he told last week’s council meeting.
“And that process found one objection and that was that Huon Hill is too similar and could cause confusion with Huon Creek and Huon and while that seems reasonable and sensible, in my opinion it is not sensible enough to find an alternative name,” he said.
Fellow councillor John Watson is another hoping for the official name change but for very different reasons.
His family ties to the land below the hill have led some long-time locals to refer to it as Watson’s Hill.
“It is now only rightful to give it its proper name,” he said.
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the new suburb, the matter now destined for the Registrar of Geographic Names to make it official.