Geographic Names Victoria has endorsed and gazetted yaluk barring park as the new official name for the former Sydenham Park located in Keilor North.
The park is 231 hectares and includes grasslands and river valleys, and is where Jackson Creek, Deep Creek and the Maribyrnong River meet.
It has cultural heritage sensitivity with many Aboriginal archaeological places within the park.
Council endorsed ‘yaluk barring park’ which means ‘river trail’ in the Woi-wurrung language of the Wurundjeri people, as the preferred new name for Sydenham Park at the March 2024 Council Meeting.
In November 2023, council consulted the community on a preferred new name from a list of 3 names provided by Wurundjeri, and 164 responses with a majority of 64.4% supported the Woi-wurrung name, ‘yaluk barring park’.
The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation is pleased with this outcome as it reflects the involvement and collaboration with Council on the renaming process, including the proposal of names for the park that hold cultural heritage significance to the Wurundjeri people.
The renaming of Sydenham Park follows a Notice of Motion at the July 2022 Council Meeting to change the park’s name to an appropriate Aboriginal name suggested by local Aboriginal people.
Park signage will be updated to reflect the new name over the coming months.
