THE Rural City of Wangaratta will urge Regional Roads Victoria to take down Aboriginal welcome signs.
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The move follows a petition with 263 names being officially received at this week's council meeting.
Rural city chief executive Brendan McGrath noted Chiltern within his council area before recommending entering into discussions with Regional Roads Victoria.
Mayor Dean Rees told The Border Mail on Thursday that the council was writing to the roads body calling for the signs in its area to be removed while the matter was clarified.
He noted different parts of the rural city were subject to Yorta Yorta and Taungurung recognition via the Victorian government's Registered Aboriginal Parties process.
Cr Rees said Bpangerang were seeking that status, were well known in Wangaratta and named in the acknowledgement of country before council meetings.
"We're just concerned at the damage being done to our area and the great community of Bpangerang people we have around here," he said.
"We're asking VicRoads to take them down or have a look at the policy they have around it and cross all the Ts and dot all Is."
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Cr Rees is hopeful the matter can be on the agenda for next month's council meeting if a response is prompt.
He said the council could consider having recognition of Bpangerang on its own signs.
Petition organiser Roxanne Bodsworth is pleased by the council's action but disappointed in the roads authority, noting similar signs were removed in 2017 after a backlash.
"I think it's unbelievable that they've put them up again when we've been through this before," she said.
Regional Roads Victoria declined to tell The Border Mail after what had changed since 2017 when its then regional manager said "they were mistakenly installed outside the boundary for which the Yorta Yorta Nation's Aboriginal Corporation is the appointed Registered Aboriginal Party".
The Yorta Yorta corporation has not responded to requests for an interview.
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