Roy Goslett made the submission to the council and offered to donate a metal chair. Photos: Oliver Jacques.
Griffith City Council has proposed naming the grassed median strip on Ortella Street after the Goslett family, whose members have contributed to the town for 95 years and served their country in overseas conflicts.
Roy Goslett, the 80-year-old former owner of Central Butchery, has also offered to enhance the parkland by installing a metal chair on the strip at a place of the council’s choosing.
“My grandparents the Hendersons moved to Griffith in the 1930s, they came from Ivanhoe,” Mr Goslett said.
“My father, Lynn Goslett, fought in the Second World War. He married my mother, May Henderson, who was in the Land Army. My brother John fought in Vietnam.”
The strip is already known as Goslett Park on Google Maps. It is situated between Wyangan and Kelly avenues.
Mr Goslett, who lives in Ortella Street, wrote to the council to suggest both changing the name and enhancing the park in January 2025.
“It is my family’s desire to have a metal chair made akin to what John Curran did and that the Curran family installed at the Yenda Cemetery,” he wrote in his letter.
Full view of what could be Goslett Park.
The chair will be constructed by Roy’s son Chris, at the family’s expense.
It will feature a unique design that includes artwork covering the agricultural heritage of Griffith.
Chris now lives in Alice Springs, where he teaches prisoners how to build.
“The chair helps with the beautification and it’s something different. Griffith is different to any other town in Australia,” Mr Goslett said.
Mayor Doug Curran moved a motion supporting the renaming and chair installation, which was recommended by council senior staff.
The proposal is now on public exhibition, with submissions invited before 9 May. Councillors will then vote on ratifying the name change.
Over the past few years, Griffith Council has been naming landmarks after families who have contributed to the town.
In 2023, three carparks in Railway Street were named after Bob Stevenson, who built Stevenson’s Blue Metal Quarry; Fred Eardley, a Griffith pioneer who opened the town’s first haberdashery store; and Eugene Jasnos, a Polish immigrant shoemaker.
More recently, a new roundabout at Kidman Way and Thorne Road was named Khalsa Chowk in honour of the local Sikh community. This means ”pure junction” in the Punjabi [Indian] language.
More information on the Goslett Park proposal can be found on the council website. Feedback can be provided by mail to PO Box 485, Griffith NSW 2680, or by email to [email protected] before 4 pm on 9 May, 2025.
