Thank you to everyone who completed our survey and helped us to pick a new name for the park at the former Ruthven Primary School site! Voting ended on Sunday 3 July 2022. All votes were counted, and the name with the majority of votes was presented to Council as the proposed official name of the site.

At its meeting on Monday 26 September, Council endorsed the proposed name, Wat Ganbo Park.

Council have now made their application to Geographic Names Victoria and been formally granted approval for the name Wat Ganbo Park.

Thank you to everyone who took the time to have their say.

Sound file kindly supplied by Elder Aunty Gail Smith on behalf of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.

To give Reservoir locals more open space to enjoy, we purchased the former Ruthven Primary School site at 74-76 Glasgow Avenue from the State Government on 19 July 2017.

Together with our community, we created a long-term vision and plan for the park called the Reimagining Ruthven Masterplan. The vision for the area, which includes a bushland sanctuary theme, will come to life over the next 20 to 30 years.

In 2021 we also finalised designs for a new playspace at the park, which is currently under construction.

Council resolved on 24 May 2021 to consult with the community on a new name for the park as part of the Masterplan vision. The proposed names are consistent with Darebin’s Road and Place Naming Policy.

We consulted with the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and Darebin Aboriginal Advisory Committee to narrow it down to three potential names in Woiwurrung language.

The options were:

• Nganga Nyinguwa Park – “gan-ga nee-in-gah-wa” (meaning ‘see and do’ in Woiwurrung language)
• Wat Ganbo Park – “what gan-bow” (meaning ‘we are one’ in Woiwurrung language)
• Biik Guljin Wayi Park – “bik gul-jin way-ee” (meaning ‘land – people – us’ in Woiwurrung language)

After consulting with the community, the name Wat Ganbo Park was selected as the preferred name.

The park is located at the former Ruthven Primary School site at 74-76 Glasgow Avenue, Reservoir. It's not the same park as W Ruthven VC Reserve, which is in Preston and is keeping its name.

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For more information about the Reiminaging Ruthven Masterplan and the design of the playspace please see the project pages below.