THE new agricultural pavilion at Seymour’s Kings Park could retain the names given to the two previous buildings if Mitchell Shire Council can receive an exemption from the Register of Geographic Names.
Council has proposed the new pavilion be named the Grimwade Head Pavilion in acknowledgement of Frederick Grimwade AO and Eric Head and their contributions to Seymour Agricultural and Pastoral Society and the greater community.
Before the new building was constructed, the park’s previous pavilions were commonly known as the Fred Grimwade and Eric Head pavilions, but the names were never recorded and are considered legacy names.
Mr Grimwade, a former Broadford resident, served as a Pyalong shire councillor and was also a Member of the Legislative Council for Bendigo and the North Central Province.
Mr Head was a long-time Seymour councillor and a great contributor to Seymour Agricultural and Pastoral Society.
The name was requested by Seymour Agricultural and Pastoral Society. However, names consisting of more than one word or name are often knocked back by the Register of Geographic Names.
Through discussions with Geographic Names Victoria and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, a possible exemption was identified for historical legacy names that could be used but the original names would need to be officially registered retroactively.
Upon receiving support form the Registrar of Geographic Names, council would then undertake community consultation on the new and retrospective namings before making a final recommendation to the registrar.
Council also plans to support the provision of interpretive signage to acknowledge the contributions of Mr Grimwade and Mr Head.
Mitchell Shire councillors unanimously agreed with the officer’s recommendation at last week’s council meeting.
North ward councillor Fiona Stevens said council had hit some hurdles in the naming process.
“Staff are trying to overcome these hurdles to ensure due respect is reinstated in the community,” she said.
“A suggestion has been put forward that the pavilion be called the Grimwade Head Pavilion, but there is still some sorting out to be done on that because there is some community concern that may not be a suitable acknowledgement of the two individuals and a little bit confusing, as people might think there’s a person out there named ‘Grimwade Head’ and, therefore, not know the significance of both those families.
“At this stage it’s not clear how this will unfold but we are putting it out the community to give them the opportunity to help us with this one.”