News

Latest update for Yellow Rock name duplication

1 July 2023

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.

Thank you for your feedback!

We received 123 responses, and you told us:

  • 30% of responses (34 residents) did have issues with the suburb name
  • 16% of responses (18 residents) did have issues with the road name
  • 5 residents stated that an Emergency Services responder could not find them
  • 19 residents said that a service provider was confused and could not easily find their address
  • 24 residents experienced delivery delays
  • 15 residents experienced difficulty with address validation using online forms
  • 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 to 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 ofresolving the duplication and deciding on a change.

Tell us what you think:

After receiving the survey responses, there are two suffix options that meet the GNB Naming Policy guidelines and are preferred by Yellow Rock residents.

Share your feedback on which one of the below the community of Yellow Rock and Yellow Rock Road most prefer!

Yellow Rock Ridge

Yellow Rock Creek

There will be several ways landowners and residents in the suburb of Yellow Rock and/or on Yellow Rock Road can share their thoughts:

  • Complete and return the survey attached to:
  • Call Customer Service on 02 4221 6111