Friction over road name

By Rebecca Fraser
HE says ‘von-ka’, they say ‘wan-kee’.
Descendants of the late Ernst Wanke have hit back at claims the road named after their pioneering family member should be pronounced ‘Vonka’ not ‘Wanke’.
Their angry comments follow former Casey councillor Ben Clissold’s remarks (News, 1 December) that he was being driven crazy by a swathe of radio traffic reporters who he said were mispronouncing Ernst Wanke Road.
Mr Clissold sent an email to Melbourne’s metropolitan radio stations urging them to start pronouncing the road Ernst ‘Vonka’ after claiming the name came from Lutheran descent, and the W in Wanke should be pronounced a V.
“If it was spelt as it sounds it would be ‘Ernst Vonka Road’, not Ernest but Ernst, not Wanky but Vonka,” Mr Clissold said.
But Ernst Wanke’s great granddaughter and Harkaway resident Beryl Exell said she thought Mr Clissold’s comments were ridiculous and he had no right to try and change the centuries-old pronunciation.
“Who in heaven’s name thinks it sounds like Vonka?” she said.
“It has always been Wanke.
“It was a bit over the top and I was annoyed about him going to the radio stations first before contacting the family.
“Wanke is hard enough to pronounce without complicating things and a lot of people say ‘wonk’ or ‘wank’.
“I did not mind him bringing up the history, but there it should have stayed,” Ms Excell said.
Mr Wanke’s great, great granddaughter and Berwick resident Wilmai Gill also expressed anger over Mr Clissold’s comments.
“When I saw it I thought. ‘well, that is wrong and that has never been the case’,” he said.
“Even if that is how it should be pronounced the fact is the family has never pronounced it that way.
“I have tried to be a bit benevolent about the whole thing and what he (Mr Clissold) was trying to do, but it seems to me that he has gone off half-cocked with this and has not talked to the family first,” Mr Gill said.
Berwick resident Tom Scanlan also contacted the News about the pronunciation, and said the former Springfield Ward councillor should have done his research.
“No wonder Ben Clissold is a former councillor,” he said.
“It would have been good if he had done some research and contacted the Wanke family before trying to make a big name for himself.
“Having lived in Berwick for over 70 years and personally knowing three generations of the Wanke family, they have all pronounced it ‘wan-kee’ and they are not impressed by Ben Clissold’s remarks,” Mr Scanlan said.