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Yellow Rock Road and the suburb of Yellow Rock which exist in Shellharbour and Kiama LGAs (Local Government Area) is duplicated within the Blue Mountains LGA. Duplicated suburbs, road names and addresses can cause issues with emergency services responses, service delivery, navigation, postal services and identity management.
The NSW Geographical Names Board (GNB) has identified 68 Local Government Areas in NSW with 82 suburb names and 80 road names that are duplicates. All Local Government Areas affected have been asked to resolve the duplication.
Council guided by the GNB has been investigating solutions for the duplication in Shellharbour and Kiama Local Government areas.
In April and May 2023 Shellharbour City Council asked 147 residents of Yellow Rock and Yellow Rock Road in our LGA to share their feedback on address duplication issues and which of the 4 options to resolve the address duplication provided by the GNB they prefer. The 4 options provided were:
- Add a prefix or suffix to the existing suburb name.
- Change the duplicated road name in the duplicated suburb.
- Change the duplicated suburb name to a unique name.
- Dissolve the duplicated suburb into adjoining suburb.
What we heard
70% of responses prefer Yellow Rock Ridge!
A second targeted survey was undertaken in July 2023 seeking feedback on the names Yellow Rock Creek and Yellow Rock Ridge from residents.
Thanks for your feedback
Thank you for your feedback!
We received 123 responses, and you told us:
- 68% prefer to add a prefix or suffix (70 responses)
- 25% preferred changing the suburb name
- 5% preferred changing the road name
- 3% preferred merging the suburb with an adjoining suburb
- 27% of responses asked for no change.
Most residents prefer to resolve the duplication by adding a prefix or suffix to the existing suburb name. The options to change the name of Yellow Rock Road, change the suburb name to a unique name, or dissolve the suburb into an adjoining suburb will not be pursued.
In the ‘further feedback’ section of the survey many Yellow Rock residents suggested options that keep historic ties with the existing name. These included Yellow Rock Creek, Yellow Stone, Yellow Rock Ridge, Yellow Rock Mountain, Yellow Rock Heights, Yellow Rock South, Yellowstone Rocks, Yellowstone Sands, Yellow Rock Sands, Yellow Rock Stones, and South Yellow Rock.
This section also recorded support from the wider Shellharbour and Kiama communities for a Dharawal name. As in other locations and Suburbs around the area, Council aims to offer an inclusive approach to naming by displaying both the suburb name and Dharawal suburb name in any updated signage. A dual naming process will be considered with consultation from our Aboriginal Advisory Committee (Councils appointed advisory committee for local decisions relating to Aboriginal peoples) after the Yellow Rock name duplication has been resolved.
Council has consulted the GNB about the results of the survey and will now move to the next stage; deciding on a change.
Previous feedback
FAQ's
The result will be a small change to the bottom line of your property address. For example:
Current
B Citizen
73 Stockyard Mountain Road
Yellow Rock, NSW 2527
Would change to
B Citizen
73 Stockyard Mountain Road
Yellow Rock Creek NSW 2527 or,
Mount Yellow Rock NSW 2527
We will advise the following authorities of the address change on your behalf. No other personal details will be transferred.
- NSW Addressing
- Australia Post Addressing
- Australia Post Local Delivery Centre
- NBNCo
- Sydney Water
- Endeavour Energy
- Telstra
- Australian Electoral Commission (NOTE: this may still require you to confirm by going to https://check.aec.gov.au/ )
This can be dependent on you and what services and authorities you have provided with your address.
Here are some suggestions you may need to update:
- Utilities and service accounts – energy retailer, internet/phone retailer
- Driver, motorcycle, boat and other licences
- Home, contents, vehicle and other insurances
- All memberships and contracts, Centrelink, other personal documents
- If you have tenants at a property in this area you must advise them of the changes
- Your address on the Electoral roll - Council will assist with advising the Australian Electoral Commission
Updating the address details for some will be more important than others.
We will keep you updated when you need to start notifying third parties.
No. The legal description of your property is the Lot Number and DP number, which will not be altered.
We will work closely with Australia Post Local Delivery Centre to ensure they are up to date on any changes.
There will be no change if you use a PO Box.
Council considered the report on the Yellow Rock Suburb Name Duplication at its meeting of 26 September 2023 and recommended:
That Council endorse the proposal to rename the suburb of Yellow Rock to Yellow Rock Ridge and submission of the proposal to NSW Geographical Names Board for consideration.
Council will submit the proposal to the NSW Geographical Names Board (GNB) for consideration with the next scheduled meeting on 14 November 2023. Before final approval, the name endorsed by Council will be advertised for feedback by the GNB. Currently there are no changes to your address and no action for you to take.
Should the GNB accept Councils proposal then we will provide information about how and when to start using the new address. As previously stated, Council will assist with this process by advising certain authorities on your behalf.
If the proposal is refused, we will let you know and your address will remain the same.
Yellow Rock the suburb and Yellow Rock Road also exists in Blue Mountains City Council (BMCC) area.
Duplicated addresses like this can cause issues with emergency services responses, service delivery, navigation, postal services and identity management.
As fewer residents will be impacted by the name change in Shellharbour and Kiama LGAs, the GNB advises we have an obligation to act. We currently have the resources to facilitate a name change in our LGAs and would like to use the opportunity to celebrate the area’s rich history.
The centralisation of emergency services and address databases have identified the duplications.
As digital technology such as online forms become more common, removing the duplication now helps to future proof the integrity of your address.
In addition, identity management and security are increasingly important to the community. In addition, identity management and security are increasingly important to the community.
We would need to accept that the duplication of the suburb will always be a possible cause for misdirection of Emergency Services response.
Due to the growing nature of the area, there is a risk that number of duplicated addresses could increase.
The Suburb name (along with State and type of emergency) is identified at the 000 Triple Zero Communications Centre before being redirected to the appropriate emergency responder (fire/police/ambulance) of the relevant state.
Official Suburb names are used as your address for all utility connection, license, registrations, passports, proof of ID, memberships, insurances, bank accounts, mortgages, pensions, electoral roll, online registrations, enrolments, deliveries and other personal contracts
After community consultation has been completed for this matter, it is likely that any change will take place in the following year. We will advise you throughout the processes and keep you up to date. Follow the Let’s chat page or leave your email in the survey to automatic updates.
It will take time for GNB to advertise the change and update mapping. We will send you a letter when the change applies to you.
To start developing a solution we asked for the communities feedback on the options provided by The GNB. These were:
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The History of Yellow Rock
Yellow Rock has been used as a suburb name, creek name and road name in this area since the first European settlers were here. It was named after the sandstone cliffs of Yellow Rock, that many local heritage-listed buildings are constructed from.
Formalisation of the suburb boundary
- The name Yellow Rock was assigned as a locality name in 1973 following a review of place names by the Department of Lands.
- The formalisation of the boundary in Shellharbour LGA was gazetted in 1996.
- In Kiama LGA the boundary was gazetted 1997
- In 2007 Council and the GNB approved an amendment of the boundary between Yellow Rock and Tullimbar
Yellow Rock in the Blue Mountains City Council area
- A public reserve name ‘Yellow Rock’ was gazetted on 9 July 1895
- The name Yellow Rock was assigned as a suburb name in 1972 following a review of place names by the Department of Lands.
- The formalisation of the boundary in Blue Mountains LGA was gazetted in 2004.
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Customer Service phone: 4221 6111 www.shellharbour.nsw.gov.au
council@shellharbour.nsw.gov.au
