Barangaroo’s Future Builds on Golden Past

ALL the major landmarks and locations at the multi-billion-dollar Barangaroo development on the harbour have now been officially named.

Authorities have released a new set of names for walkways, bays, streets and even stairways, reflecting the historic links the area has with Aboriginal settlement and maritime industries.

The seven new names, exclusively revealed to The Daily Telegraph, come less than two months after Premier Mike Baird announced that the first major landmark — at the northernmost end of the multi-billion dollar waterfront development — will be named Barangaroo Point.

The Barangaroo development this week

The area in 1870. Photo: State Records of NSW.

 

Ship building yards and terraced homes circa 1880. Photo: State Records of NSW.

 

In November, Daily Telegraph readers were given a say in naming key parts of the new Barangaroo site, on the western edge of the Sydney CBD, including Barton Street, which commemorates Australia’s first prime minister Edmund Barton.

The new list of names from the Barangaroo Delivery Authority includes Nawi Cove, a local Aboriginal word for canoe, to be used for the cove near the northern end of the site.

The bay at the site’s southern end will be named Watermans Cove after the water taxi drivers of their day.

A 2km foreshore walk is to be named Wulumay Walk after the Aboriginal word for the popular fish snapper.

Three sets of outdoor stairs will be named Burrawang, Walumil and Girra Girra after the local Aboriginal words for a native plant species, the Port Jackson shark and a seagull.

The main avenue through the development will be called Barangaroo Avenue.

The use of Aboriginal names was co-ordinated in consultation with local indigenous land councils to ensure they were appropriate and sensitive to the Aboriginal history of the area.

Aden Ridgeway, the Barangaroo Delivery Authority’s indigenous adviser, said the names were a mix of local Sydney Eora languages and nautical and maritime words.

He said they were meant to achieve the “right balance between past and present”.

“The names link in with the story of Sydney — balancing the thousands of years of history of the Barangaroo site as a place of fishing and hunting for the Gadigal people.”