Sydney mayor accused of ignoring community in playground naming
SYDNEY Lord Mayor Clover Moore has voted to rename a historic Sydney playground against community wishes with councillors slamming the decision as an “outrageous abuse of power”.
NSW
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SYDNEY Lord Mayor Clover Moore has voted to rename a historic Sydney playground against community wishes, with councillors slamming the “outrageous abuse of power”.
City of Sydney councillors are furious over Ms Moore’s captain’s call to rename Elizabeth McCrae Playground, Redfern, which opened in 1953 named after a “strong grassroots advocate for the health and wellbeing of children”.
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Ms Moore used her casting vote, which can only be used to resolve a deadlock, to rename the park Zamia Kepos Playground to reflect its location, on the corner of Zamia and Kepos streets.
It’s understood Ms Moore lives on Kepos Street.
But councillors say the decision was “undemocratic” — of 55 submissions received from the community, 45 were opposed to the proposed new name and 31 wanted to retain the original name.
Liberal councillor Christine Forster, who voted to keep the name Elizabeth McCrae, said it was clear residents “cannot ever trust Clover Moore and her political flacks to honour the process of community consultation”.
Independent councillor Kerryn Phelps, who is running in the federal seat of Wentworth, said Ms Moore’s vote was “disrespectful and undemocratic”.
“It was just an outrageous abuse of power,” she said.
Ms Moore’s spokeswoman said the name Elizabeth McCrae Playground was never officially registered by the Geographical Names Board.
“The new name … celebrates the longstanding Greek association of the area by renaming the park after its adjacent street names, Zamia (from an Ancient Greek word for pine cone) and Kepos (a Greek word for garden),” she said.
Independent councillor Angela Vithoulkas, the first Australian Greek woman elected to City of Sydney, council said she was “absolutely offended” by the notion.
“It’s wrong to imply people should be more excited because it’s got a Greek culture implication — what an insult is that?” she said.
“(Elizabeth McCrae) is the name people wanted … it’s not councillors’ job to override decisions.”
Ms Vithoulkas is also running for the seat of Wentworth.
The spokeswoman said council would commemorate Elizabeth McCrae, born in 1870, with signage in the playground.
In council briefing notes, Mrs McCrae was acknowledged as a “highly respected citizen of the district”.