The Warren Zines Reserve in Dover Heights will get to keep its name and a proposal to name it after Adam Goodes will not push through, contrary to reports of a planned change.
The reserve that features a lookout along Cadigal Place has been dedicated to the memory of Australian bowler Warren Zines since 1999.
Mr Zines tragically died in Tel Aviv in 1997 due to the collapse of the Maccabiah pedestrian bridge. Some 60 members of the Australian-Jewish delegate were in the Israeli city for the Maccabiah Games.
For over two decades, the naming of the Warren Zines Reserve, which was part of the Dover Heights Bowling Club, had not been a problem with locals. The site was chosen as Mr Zines and his family were avid bowlers and members of the club. The Zines also ran a local pharmacy.
However, Sam Collins, a resident from Bondi discovered an oversight in the naming process as Waverley Council still needs to register Warren Zines Reserve with the Geographical Names Board (GNB). Mr Collins filed an application with the GNB to replace the reserve’s name with the Adam Goodes Lookout, after the Indigenous AFL legend.
In a radio interview, Mr Zines widow, Lynette Zines, said that she was heartbroken about the plan to rename the park in honour of her departed husband.
“I have no problem with a park being named after Adam Goodes,” the widow said. “But don’t take away the name of another park.
However, the Gujaga Foundation, which conducts audits on naming and referencing Aboriginal cultural locations, does not support the renaming as Cadigal Place does not “possess a high level of significance to the local Aboriginal community.”
Meanwhile, Waverley Council has since made moves to correct the oversight and GNB sought a public consultation to retain the name, “Warren Zines Reserve.”
“The Board acknowledges the reserve has been unofficially called Warren Zines Reserve for more than 20 years and the changing of long-established names can cause confusion and disruption,” Chair of the Geographical Names Board Narelle Underwood said in a statement.
The public consultation will run until 9th December 2022.
