Cardinia Council has added the suffix of Fields to Cardinia’s newest suburb name Honora Fields to comply with Geographic Names Victoria (GNV) requirements and finalise the naming process.
Honora Fields pays homage to Honora Carney, a Cardinia Shire local whose family has significant ties to land between Pakenham and Nar Nar Goon, dating back to 1869.
It is also the land where Honora, together with her husband Michael and their seven children, operated their farming business for many years, with members of the Carney family still living within the suburb area.
Honora Ryan was born in County Tipperary, Ireland in December 1836.
On the ship to Australia, Honora Ryan met a young Irish man named Michael Carney.
Living in the late 19th century and through to the turn of the 20th, Honora laid down the roots with her children which would see the Carney family own and farm a significant part of the land which Pakenham East is designated to be today.
Honora Carney and her husband Michael leased a large parcel of land between Pakenham and Nar Nar Goon on the south side of Princes Highway from 1869.
They had seven children and ran a farming business together before Michael passed away in 1880.
Honora purchased the land south of the highway in 1887 and the land north of the highway in 1902.
She continued to run the family farming business with her children until her death in 1912.
Cardinia Council mayor Jack Kowarzik said the council adopted the name Honora at the 15 July council meeting following a five-week consultation period during which the name received the highest number of votes from the community.
“Following its adoption, the name was sent to the Registrar of Geographic Names for approval and registration, with council receiving feedback that the name requires a suffix to be approved,” he said.
“We’ve been in consultation with the Carney family who have proposed Fields as the suffix for the name as it references the land which Honora purchased in the area.
“The name Honora Fields will be now submitted as the suburb name to meet the naming rules requirements of GNV. ”
Over a five week period, the council received a total of 1840 valid surveys, with the majority of each category of voter voting for a different preferred name, with those living or owning land within the suburb area preferring Alice Park, residents living in Pakenham, Nar Nar Goon or elsewhere in Cardinia preferring Honora and those who live outside of Cardinia but have friends or within Cardinia preferring Debra.
However, the council officers decided to use Honora due to Honora receiving the most first preferred votes at 636, compared with Alice Park and Debra both at 399.
Honora was the second most preferred name of those responding who own property within the suburb, and Honora has the stronger link than Alice Park with the family name appearing on parish plans and the family still owning land and living within the suburb area.
Honora Fields includes sections of land between Pakenham, Nar Nar Goon and Nar Nar Goon North and is expected to accommodate 7,000 new homes.
The naming process for the suburb has now entered a 30-day notice period, with homeowners within the suburb boundaries contacted should they like to make a submission in support or objection of the use of the Fields suffix within the name.
Submissions must be received by Thursday 12 September via email to mail@cardinia.vic.gov.au
