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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Amy Martin

How one man named an ACT park after himself and no one noticed

What's in a name? As Shakespeare wrote, a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.

It is fair reasoning. Except if the rose is actually a local park. And the name in question is actually your own name.

We're not talking about having a public space dedicated to you because you are someone of note, but because you managed to not only name it but to convince everyone - and we mean, everyone - that this previously unnamed park just coincidentally shared your name.

That's a pretty sweet situation. And for Oliver Tester, it's also the reality.

When Oliver Tester noticed the park across the road from his Higgins home didn't have a name, he saw an opportunity. Picture by Keegan Carroll

It all started in 2018. Tester and his wife Claire had lived in their Higgins home for a couple of years, and while looking on Google Maps, they discovered that the park across the road was sans name.

"Suggest a name?" Google asked. Who wouldn't be tempted to give a nameless piece of public open space a name?

"When I first put it in, I didn't really know what I was doing. It was just that I wondered what would happen," Tester says.

"Then it just kept happening by itself, kept on rolling on and as more people visited the park, it started getting reviews, and people started naming it on social media."

From there it just grew - and Tester was there watching on.

When someone added a Google review, Tester would know. Every time it appeared in a real estate listing, he would message his friends about it. And every time the park came up in neighbourly conversation - under its newly minted name - Tester couldn't help but smile to himself.

This patch of grass that was surrounded by houses and home to - what was once - a simple playground and not much else, suddenly had if not an identity, certainly recognition and a sense of community ownership. Not only were families from the surrounding streets enjoying the space, but Tester Park also became somewhat of a hub with local households coming together to host community barbecues.

And it was at one of these events that Tester saw the beginnings of the moment he had been waiting for. The big guns, when it came to the park's name recognition, so to speak.

It was at one of these community events Tester first talked to local member Tara Cheyne about the park. And it was from that moment that the topic of upgrading the park's facilities first came up - something Tester said Cheyne was a big advocate for.

In 2019 the park was officially put forward, along with Higgins Oval, for potential upgrades and members of the community were asked to give feedback on which would receive the funding. And in the submission, there in black and white, was the Canberran's beloved park noted not by the street name, but as Tester Park.

The park went on to get the popular vote and was chosen over Higgins Oval for the upgrades, which according to Cheyne's social media post at the time, was the preferred option by the community co-design group.

It meant the once basic playground grew to include a dirt bike track, accessible spinner and picnic shelter, making it more popular than ever.

When Oliver Tester noticed the park across the road from his Higgins home didn't have a name, he saw an opportunity. Picture by Keegan Carroll

"I don't think it would have had the same result without a name," Tester says.

"There's a lot of parks around Canberra suburbs that are unnamed. And so by giving it a name, and getting people together for a picnic, that was a stimulus for getting the development happening in terms of the new play equipment. It was an important stepping stone point.

"Names bring an identity to a space, and they also give the local community a responsibility to look after and care for that place.

"Since we've had the name, since we've had the new equipment, we've had a huge outpouring of community support coming around it, just in their own time picking up rubbish, mowing lawns, keeping things neat and tidy. We wouldn't have seen that in the same way, before.

"And it sounds silly to have a name triggering this roll-on effect, but I genuinely think it has."

Is that not what you want from a local park? A place where the community can come together and feel some sort of ownership over?

And for what it's worth - and no matter how this engagement came about - Minister for Transport and City Services Chris Steel says it's great the the community is getting behind its local park.

"It means we can be confident that the new park facilities will be well utilised with significant flow-on benefits of bringing the community together," he says.

"The ACT government is delivering a range of suburban infrastructure upgrades across our city, with each community being consulted as they are designed."

When friends heard how Tester successfully named a park after himself, they were keen to follow suit. One tried naming a park in Turner, another named a small island off the New South Wales coast near Wollongong, while someone created Tester's wife Claire Tester Point in Kingston as a gift.

When Oliver Tester noticed the park across the road from his Higgins home didn't have a name, he saw an opportunity. Picture by Keegan Carroll

Nothing has had quite the impact as Tester Park has had. But with five years in the making, it's also had time on its side.

In fact, the name has lasted longer on Boniwell Street than the Testers themselves, having moved house last year.

That's part of the reason why Tester is talking about the naming origins now - because he knew going public with the information there was a chance that it would revert back to its original nameless state. The former Higgins resident didn't want to be around if that happened.

"I'm not sure how long the name will be retained in any official capacity or by the ACT government," Tester says.

"But I guess it is part of the community's identity and what we know it as now and they can change the name or remove the name if they like but it's still going to be known as Tester Park colloquially amongst the community."

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