What’s in a name? Locals and councillors clash on Bicentennial Reserve

Willoughby City Council has been deliberating for months on whether the name of Bicentennial Reserve in Naremburn should be changed to Noel Reidy Parklands, in recognition of the late former Willoughby mayor. 

Reidy served as the Mayor of Willoughby from 1974–1980 and 1982–1991. In that time, he oversaw a period of transformation for Willoughby with the development of Chatswood as a commercial centre, and the construction of Willoughby Leisure Centre.

Reidy, who died in 2024 aged 92, served 21 consecutive years as a Willoughby alderman, from 1970 to 1991.

According to Willoughby City Council, Reidy also acted as the “driving force” behind the opening of Bicentennial Reserve, which was previously a landfill site. The reserve name refers to 1988, which marked 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet.

For Mayor Tanya Taylor, the renaming of the reserve is a matter of paying respect to a “distinguished mayor”. She claims members of the Reidy family, who she has spoken to, have been left feeling embarrassed and disrespected by the council's hesitation. 

Former Willoughby councillor Kate Lamb disagreed, telling the Lorikeet she was “not supportive of any individual being commemorated in a piece of public land”.

She suggested the local Aboriginal Heritage Office would be a “good place to start” in terms of finding a name.

One local resident wrote to councillors and said the reserve’s “importance predates its formal establishment, reaching back to the original custodians of the land, the Cammeraygal people. This deep and layered connection to place cannot be captured by naming it after a single person”.

In the council meeting on September 15, councillors voted to go back to members of the Reidy family and ask if they would be happy for a different piece of council property to be named after Noel Reidy. The motion passed 8–4.