A newly created suburb in Ballarat has been left without a title when residents rejected naming the area after a respected Indigenous leader, claiming it wasn't in line with the suburb's surroundings and that it needed to be 'anglicised'. More than 100 complaints were lodged with Ballarat City Council when the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation made a submission for the suburb, in Ballarat's West, to be named 'Mullawallah', after one of the last known leaders of the Burrumbeet Balug clan. Sean Fagan, a traditional owner of the land and cultural heritage projects officer for the Corporation, said that he had expected the process to be straightforward, but that many in the Indigenous community had been very hurt by the public's reaction. Sean Fagan (left) with his father Albert Fagan, is a traditional owner of the land and cultural heritage projects officer for the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation, worked closely with the naming officer to submit 'Mullawallah' as the new title for the suburb . On Wednesday night councillors from the Victorian suburb, 105 kilometers from Melbourne, abandoned the name, amid claims from the public that it was too hard to pronounce or spell, and that it could be confused with other suburbs in Australia. A campaign was launched on Facebook to encourage residents to propose new names, and to register to speak out at the meeting against the name. Residents suggested to 'anglicise' the proposed name, and expressed simply 'not liking' the name. 'The majority of objections to the name were around pronunciation and spelling, or that it was too similar to another area where people were saying was potentially an issue for emergencies,' said  Greens councillor Belinda Coates. 'However the name had been given geographical approval, and there is a clause in the guidelines for indigenous names that might hard to pronounce,' she said. 'There's been many different versions for why people don't want the name, people have changed their reasoning, and many have tried to find loopholes when the name already had approval,' Mr Fagan said. 'When the name went out for exhibition there was some misinformation that was leaked to the public, which caused a stir and ended up in a social media frenzy,' he said. On Wednesday night councillors from Ballarat abandoned the name, with claims that it was too hard to pronounce or spell, and that it could be confused with other suburbs in Australia . Residents suggested to 'anglicise' the suggestion of Mullawallah, or expressed simply 'not liking' the name . 'There were suggestions for different names, and a lot of them were jokes, such as 'Beardington', which was very hurtful for the community to see.' Earlier in the week, local Aboriginal elder Ted Lovett claimed that the opposition to the name had been driven by racism, labelling the objections as 'excuses'. Mark Smith, a local resident, said that the claims of racism were enraging. 'This is democracy at its best, the overwhelming response was to reject the name Mullawallah for more than one reason,' Mr Smith told news.com.au. 'The name of a suburb should be in harmony with its surroundings, I don’t believe Mullawallah is in harmony with the surrounds.' Mr Fagan said that Mr Lovett was not a member of the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation, and that the community had stayed away from mentioning racism. He said that he had, however, been confronted by the opposition expressed at Wednesday night's meeting, and had been very uncomfortable 'sitting in a room with 100 people and being the only traditional owner of the land.' 'When the decision was announced people cheered and jeered and heckled, and while we've stayed quiet, that behaviour isn't something I'll be able to forget,' Mr Fagan said. 'The name went out to popular vote, and Aboriginals only make up a small proportion of the population. Sitting in that room last night with 100 people showed me how much Aboriginal people are still at a disadvantage.' 'Not much has changed, we haven't moved very far. Ballarat prides itself on being the birthplace of democracy, but it doesn't work for the Aboriginal people,' he said. 'In the 1800's localities down our way were named after head chiefs and leaders of tribes but it hasn't happened since then.' Mark Smith, a local resident, said that the claims of racism were enraging . A campaign was launched on Facebook to encourage residents to propose new names, and to register to speak out at the meeting against the name . 'The idea of us paying respect through the name of the suburb and to show we've moved on from history was a way for us to educate the community about the history of Ballarat.' Members of the Facebook group suggested paying respects by naming the new ring road in the suburb after Mullawallah instead, or using the leaders' anglicised name of 'Wilson'. 'Australia names places after settlers and historical people all the time, and there are never problems, but as soon as an Aboriginal name comes up people have issues,' said Mr Fagan. One member posted that residents were 'getting labeled rednecks and racists for not caving in...', while another said that locals were happy to have an indigenous name, but wanted one which conformed to Victoria's naming guidelines. 'The council sent all residents the proposal for renaming the area and asked for suggestions for names by a specific date to which the majority went to being named after 'Winter Creek' which runs through the area,' posted a resident. 'We worked closely with the council's naming officer and we ticked all the boxes, and covered all the guidelines,' said Mr Fagan. 'When the submission for the name first went to council there was some misinformation that was spread through the media before the meeting, which caused a stir among the community,' he said. One local posted that residents were 'getting labeled rednecks and racists for not caving in...' Ms Coates requested a deferral at Wednesday's meeting because many from the local Indigenous population had not been able to attend, a move which was denied . 'The name has historical significance not only for the people of Ballarat, but for people all over Australia.' Ms Coates said that in the end it probably came down to a number of residents simply not liking the name. 'Personal taste always going to vary, you're never going to get complete agreement. In this case the new suburb already had a small number of residents, perhaps 400, who may have already had preferences for a name,' she said. Ms Coates requested a deferral at Wednesday's meeting because many from the local Indigenous population had not been able to attend, a move which was denied. 'My motion to defer (based on direct request from Ballarat and district Aboriginal co-op) was in view of the fact that supporters from the affected area, the broader community and indigenous community would not have realised how much weight was given to the views of affected residents,' said Ms Coates. 'The majority of councillors voted against deferral, and voted to abandon the name, which means we are back to the start and there will be a full submission process again,' she said. 'It's so disappointing, it would have been so significant to the Indigenous and Koori community, and a great gesture of respect and support.' 'Faced with such opposition it would be hard to not take the decision personally, as the name is from their traditional language,' she said. Mr Fagan said that the clan would ultimately like to have the suburb named what they had suggested. 'We don’t currently have native title, all our land was taken from us. This has really upset a lot of people on both sides.' 'We should be able to move forward and not be anglicised.'
The name was proposed to pay respect to a local Aboriginal elder .
Opponents campaigned on Facebook, made 100 submissions to council .
Mullawallah was too hard to say and spell, and too similar to other names .
Council rejected the complaints before voting at a public meeting .
But councillors backed down at the meeting heavily attended by opponents .
Aborigines said they are hurt, but they do not want to label their town racist .
The suburb, which already has hundreds of residents, remains nameless .
A newly created suburb in Ballarat has been left without a title when residents rejected naming the area after a respected Indigenous leader, claiming it wasn't in line with the suburb's surroundings and that it needed to be 'anglicised'. More than 100 complaints were lodged with Ballarat City Council when the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation made a submission for the suburb, in Ballarat's West, to be named 'Mullawallah', after one of the last known leaders of the Burrumbeet Balug clan. Sean Fagan, a traditional owner of the land and cultural heritage projects officer for the Corporation, said that he had expected the process to be straightforward, but that many in the Indigenous community had been very hurt by the public's reaction. Sean Fagan (left) with his father Albert Fagan, is a traditional owner of the land and cultural heritage projects officer for the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation, worked closely with the naming officer to submit 'Mullawallah' as the new title for the suburb . On Wednesday night councillors from the Victorian suburb, 105 kilometers from Melbourne, abandoned the name, amid claims from the public that it was too hard to pronounce or spell, and that it could be confused with other suburbs in Australia. A campaign was launched on Facebook to encourage residents to propose new names, and to register to speak out at the meeting against the name. Residents suggested to 'anglicise' the proposed name, and expressed simply 'not liking' the name. 'The majority of objections to the name were around pronunciation and spelling, or that it was too similar to another area where people were saying was potentially an issue for emergencies,' said  Greens councillor Belinda Coates. 'However the name had been given geographical approval, and there is a clause in the guidelines for indigenous names that might hard to pronounce,' she said. 'There's been many different versions for why people don't want the name, people have changed their reasoning, and many have tried to find loopholes when the name already had approval,' Mr Fagan said. 'When the name went out for exhibition there was some misinformation that was leaked to the public, which caused a stir and ended up in a social media frenzy,' he said. On Wednesday night councillors from Ballarat abandoned the name, with claims that it was too hard to pronounce or spell, and that it could be confused with other suburbs in Australia . Residents suggested to 'anglicise' the suggestion of Mullawallah, or expressed simply 'not liking' the name . 'There were suggestions for different names, and a lot of them were jokes, such as 'Beardington', which was very hurtful for the community to see.' Earlier in the week, local Aboriginal elder Ted Lovett claimed that the opposition to the name had been driven by racism, labelling the objections as 'excuses'. Mark Smith, a local resident, said that the claims of racism were enraging. 'This is democracy at its best, the overwhelming response was to reject the name Mullawallah for more than one reason,' Mr Smith told news.com.au. 'The name of a suburb should be in harmony with its surroundings, I don’t believe Mullawallah is in harmony with the surrounds.' Mr Fagan said that Mr Lovett was not a member of the Wadawurrung Aboriginal Corporation, and that the community had stayed away from mentioning racism. He said that he had, however, been confronted by the opposition expressed at Wednesday night's meeting, and had been very uncomfortable 'sitting in a room with 100 people and being the only traditional owner of the land.' 'When the decision was announced people cheered and jeered and heckled, and while we've stayed quiet, that behaviour isn't something I'll be able to forget,' Mr Fagan said. 'The name went out to popular vote, and Aboriginals only make up a small proportion of the population. Sitting in that room last night with 100 people showed me how much Aboriginal people are still at a disadvantage.' 'Not much has changed, we haven't moved very far. Ballarat prides itself on being the birthplace of democracy, but it doesn't work for the Aboriginal people,' he said. 'In the 1800's localities down our way were named after head chiefs and leaders of tribes but it hasn't happened since then.' Mark Smith, a local resident, said that the claims of racism were enraging . A campaign was launched on Facebook to encourage residents to propose new names, and to register to speak out at the meeting against the name . 'The idea of us paying respect through the name of the suburb and to show we've moved on from history was a way for us to educate the community about the history of Ballarat.' Members of the Facebook group suggested paying respects by naming the new ring road in the suburb after Mullawallah instead, or using the leaders' anglicised name of 'Wilson'. 'Australia names places after settlers and historical people all the time, and there are never problems, but as soon as an Aboriginal name comes up people have issues,' said Mr Fagan. One member posted that residents were 'getting labeled rednecks and racists for not caving in...', while another said that locals were happy to have an indigenous name, but wanted one which conformed to Victoria's naming guidelines. 'The council sent all residents the proposal for renaming the area and asked for suggestions for names by a specific date to which the majority went to being named after 'Winter Creek' which runs through the area,' posted a resident. 'We worked closely with the council's naming officer and we ticked all the boxes, and covered all the guidelines,' said Mr Fagan. 'When the submission for the name first went to council there was some misinformation that was spread through the media before the meeting, which caused a stir among the community,' he said. One local posted that residents were 'getting labeled rednecks and racists for not caving in...' Ms Coates requested a deferral at Wednesday's meeting because many from the local Indigenous population had not been able to attend, a move which was denied . 'The name has historical significance not only for the people of Ballarat, but for people all over Australia.' Ms Coates said that in the end it probably came down to a number of residents simply not liking the name. 'Personal taste always going to vary, you're never going to get complete agreement. In this case the new suburb already had a small number of residents, perhaps 400, who may have already had preferences for a name,' she said. Ms Coates requested a deferral at Wednesday's meeting because many from the local Indigenous population had not been able to attend, a move which was denied. 'My motion to defer (based on direct request from Ballarat and district Aboriginal co-op) was in view of the fact that supporters from the affected area, the broader community and indigenous community would not have realised how much weight was given to the views of affected residents,' said Ms Coates. 'The majority of councillors voted against deferral, and voted to abandon the name, which means we are back to the start and there will be a full submission process again,' she said. 'It's so disappointing, it would have been so significant to the Indigenous and Koori community, and a great gesture of respect and support.' 'Faced with such opposition it would be hard to not take the decision personally, as the name is from their traditional language,' she said. Mr Fagan said that the clan would ultimately like to have the suburb named what they had suggested. 'We don’t currently have native title, all our land was taken from us. This has really upset a lot of people on both sides.' 'We should be able to move forward and not be anglicised.'
'anglicised'. More than 100 complaints were too hard to pronounce or spell, and that it could to speak out at the meeting against the name. too similar to another area where people were of Mullawallah, or expressed simply 'not liking' Aboriginal elder Ted Lovett claimed that the Smith told news.com.au. 'The name of a suburb people are still at a disadvantage.' 'Not much Mark Smith, a local resident, said that the launched on Facebook to encourage residents to names by a specific date to which the majority for the name first went to council there was some probably came down to a number of residents 'The majority of councillors voted against