ARE they flamin’ serious? An ongoing debate for a Queensland suburb name change has sparked up again, with Home and Away’s iconic home one of the options.

It is not the first time the residents from Deception Bay, north of Brisbane, have raised the possibility of a name change — with mixed opinions.

Those keen on changing the name suggested alternatives such as “Summer Bay” or “The Bay” — akin to the fictitious home of popular Australian TV show Home and Away.

Sam Dearlove — on the change-the-name side of the debate — said a new name could change the suburb’s image.

“I understand the historical significance. I just hear the tone when people mention Deception Bay ... or as it’s more commonly known, Depression Bay,” he said.

Former Caboolture Shire Council mayor and long-time Deception Bay resident Tom McLoughlin said the name should be left alone.

“I have noticed that nearly every time new people come to live here they want to change the name,” Mr McLoughlin said.

“The name Deception Bay has been in existence for nearly 250 years.”

The suburb was named by Lieutenant John Oxley in 1823 after he mistook the shallow water for a river.

In later years, it developed a negative connotation with some people renaming the suburb as “Depression Bay” or “Desperation­ Bay”.

Changing the name was a hot topic in 2007, in the lead-up to council amalgamation, where Caboolture, Redcliffe and Pine Rivers councils merged into Moreton Bay Regional Council.

Some residents suggested new names including Endeavour Bay or Discovery Bay.

media_camera Deception Bay. Picture: Alan Quinney

University of Queensland planning program academic Laurel Johnson said there was an insider view and an outsider view of the suburb.

“Insiders are the people who have lived there for a long time and have a sense of identity with the name; it is their home,” she said.

Ms Johnson said it was usually an external viewer who wanted to change the name. If the name was changed, Ms Johnson said residents risked losing their identity and sense of place.

A Department of Natural Resources and Mines spokesman said it was unusual for the name of a Queensland suburb to be changed.

But said it could happen if there were “sound reasons”.