By Cameron Lucadou-Wells
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THE heated dispute over the naming of a plaza in Springvale is set to become a Greater Dandenong Council election issue.
Last month, the council voted down the name Saigon Square for the Buckingham Avenue site in favour of the “more inclusive” title Multicultural Place.
Saigon Square action group convener Trung Doan last week told the Weekly that Saigon Square supporters – many from the Vietnamese community – would be putting the “undemocratic” council under political pressure in the lead-up to this year’s council elections.
During public consultation, the council got more than 8000 of 11,000 petition signatures in favour of Saigon Square. “We’ll do what we can to remind voters of the arrogance of the councillors,” Mr Doan said.
He questioned Cambodia-born mayor Youhorn Chea’s comments that the petition wasn’t genuine.
Last week, Cr Chea said he was “very happy” that the naming would be an election issue.
“It’s a democracy – many families in my ward are very happy with Multicultural Place. There’s already one Vietnamese councillor. It’ll be interesting if they can get more than one councillor.”
