We're seeking community feedback on proposed names for four parks and gardens across Stonnington: Rockley Gardens in South Yarra, South Yarra Siding Reserve, Bailey Avenue Park in Armadale, and Dixon Street Park in Malvern.

Council's naming process aims to reflect our community's values, acknowledge local history and cultural heritage, and meet the requirements of the Victorian Government's Naming Rules and Council's own Naming Policy. None of these four locations currently has a formally registered name.

You can find background on each location, and each proposed name, on this page. Feedback from this consultation will help inform Council's consideration of the proposals at its meeting on 26 October 2026.

Proposed name: John Chandler Gardens

347–349 Toorak Road, South Yarra. Currently known as Rockley Gardens.

John Victor Chandler OAM (1940–2024) served the Prahran and Stonnington communities for over three decades. He was a member of Prahran City Council from 1982 to 1994, including as Mayor in 1988/89, before the City of Prahran was dissolved and merged into the new City of Stonnington. He was elected to Stonnington City Council in 1996 and served as the new municipality's first Mayor in 1996/97, with further terms as Mayor in 2006/07 and 2011/12, and as Stonnington's first Deputy Mayor in 2019/20. He retired from Council in 2020.

During his time on Council, he helped establish a street-tree planting program in South Yarra and supported work to improve Stonnington's open spaces and biodiversity. He was also involved with the Prahran Mechanics' Institute for 37 years, helping to preserve and share Prahran's local history. In 2014 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for service to local government.

Proposed name: Barring Baluk Park

17 William Street, South Yarra. Currently known as South Yarra Siding Reserve.

Barring Baluk means "where we walk." The name acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the East Kulin Nations as the Traditional Owners of this land.

This site is currently known as South Yarra Siding Reserve, reflecting its location beside the rail corridor and its history as railway land. Following the Metro Tunnel works, it reopened in 2024 as an accessible community park with new walking and cycling paths, native planting and First Nations artwork.

As the park forms part of the rail corridor, VicTrack, the Victorian Government agency that manages Victoria's rail land, is also involved in the naming process. The proposed name has been developed through consultation with VicTrack and the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.

Proposed name: Claude Ullin Park

2 Bailey Avenue, Armadale Currently known as Bailey Avenue Park.

Claude George Ullin AM (1937–2017) served the Malvern and Stonnington communities for almost three decades. He was a member of Malvern City Council from 1987 to 1994, including as Mayor in 1992/93, before the City of Malvern was dissolved and merged into the new City of Stonnington. He was elected to Stonnington City Council in 1999 and served three terms as Mayor, in 2000/01, 2006/07 and 2015/16. He resigned from Council in 2016.

A gallery owner and passionate supporter of the arts, Claude was a strong advocate for Stonnington's creative community, heritage and local businesses, and served as Chair of Chapel Off Chapel, Stonnington's performing arts venue in Prahran. In 2017 he was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for service to the arts, multiculturalism and local government.

Proposed name: Phyllis Gration Park

25 Dixon Street, Malvern. Currently known as Dixon Street Park.

The City of Stonnington has been unable to locate existing family members to seek permission to use the proposed name, and calls for consent from the family and/or family contact details from the community.

If you have information that could help us get in touch with Phyllis Gration's family, please contact us on 03 8290 1333 or council@stonnington.vic.gov.au.

Phyllis Gration AM, who was blind from the age of eight, was the first blind woman to graduate from a university in Melbourne. In April 1960 she founded the Lady Nell Seeing Eye Dog School, which first operated in Wonga Park before relocating to Thanet Street in Malvern, where it continued to grow, run from the front room of her home before it outgrew the house and moved to a larger property nearby. The organisation remained in Malvern until 2002, when it relocated to Kensington, and is now known as Vision Australia Seeing Eye Dogs. In 1975 she became one of the first Victorian women appointed a Member of the Order of Australia, for her service to social welfare.

What happens next

We'll review all feedback received and prepare a report for Council. Council will consider the community's feedback, alongside other relevant information, at its meeting on 26 October 2026, and decide whether to proceed with each naming proposal.

If Council decides to proceed with a name, it will be submitted to Geographic Names Victoria for consideration and final determination. If approved, the name will be formally registered and added to VICNAMES, the official register of place names in Victoria. Follow this page to be notified when the outcome is published.

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