Local resident names new park in Officer

The park on Harmony Place at Arcadia Estate, will be known as ‘Gumnut Park’ after Pakenham resident Dean Schembri submitted the name as part of a competition.

Officer’s newest public park finally has a name and the person responsible for the title isn’t a sporting legend or a government figure – it’s a local resident.

The park on Harmony Place at Arcadia Estate, will be known as ‘Gumnut Park’ after Pakenham resident Dean Schembri submitted the name as part of a competition run by Satterley, the developers behind the master-planned community.

He won a $2000 travel voucher when his name was chosen from nearly 150 entries during a moonlight cinema event at Arcadia last Saturday.

Mr Schembri said he has friends who live at Arcadia and is a frequent visitor to the park with his wife and two young children.

“The layout of the park is great for families – it’s spacious and has lots of green space for the girls to run around and play ball games,” Mr Schembri said.

“My three-year-old daughter is quite the climber, so it’s a fantastic park for her in that respect as well.”

Mr Schembri said he came up with the name “off the top of his head”.

The Satterley judges felt the name resonated strongly with Arcadia, a community which gets much of its inspiration from literature.

“When we saw Mr Schembri’s entry, we immediately thought of Australian author May Gibbs and her characters Snugglepot and Cuddlepie from the Gumnut Babies picture books,” Satterley – Victoria and Queensland general manager Jack Hoffmann said.

“There is also a cubby formed from gum-leaves with a gumnut on top in the park, so we felt the name really captured the surrounds and overall feel of the area.

“The name also meets council requirements to be officially registered, so along with being a great name, it will also be a name that’s permanently visible on Google Maps.”

Dean and his wife haven’t taken a holiday in more than five years – their oldest daughter was nine months old when they got married, meaning there wasn’t even an opportunity for a honeymoon – so the travel voucher is going towards a much-needed family adventure.

“We’re yet to make any concrete plans but I’m hoping we can put the money towards an overseas adventure for the whole family,” he said.