Blackboy Park: ‘Offensive’ park name in Mullaloo officially changed

Blackboy Park in Mullaloo officially has a new name, nearly seven years after the City of Joondalup council first determined the name was no longer appropriate.

The park will now be known as Koolyanga Park, named after an adjoining street with an Indigenous name, bringing to a close a long-running discussion over its former name.

The City will now install signs with the park’s new name.

The City said the change followed an extensive process of community consultation, engagement with First Nations groups, and formal consideration by Council and Landgate.

Joondalup mayor Daniel Kingston said the new name acknowledged the cultural significance of Aboriginal language in the area and reflected the city’s commitment to respectful place-naming practices.

“The former name, which features prominently on park signage, is no longer considered appropriate,” Mr Kingston said.

“Koolyanga Park represents a respectful and locally meaningful choice, and is a name our community can be proud of.”

Community consultation held by the City of Joondalup in early 2025 showed majority support for the change, with 55 per cent of around 1800 submissions backing the renaming.

Those in favour of a change said the name was “offensive, outdated, derogatory and racist”, and that a new name would make the park feel “more respectful and welcoming”.

The park was given its original name because of the presence of a small number of Xanthorrhoea plants in the parkland — now commonly known as grass trees.

Although the council first raised concerns about the park’s name in 2019, it wasn’t until early 2024 that an Aboriginal-led consultancy was engaged and the name Koorlangka Park, meaning “children’s park” in Noongar, was selected.

However, the city could not proceed with “Koorlangka Park” after Landgate said it sounded too similar to a nearby street.

Last July, the Joondalup council voted to halt any further spending on consultancy for the renaming, instead backing three options, one of which is the now-approved Koolyanga Park.

At that meeting, Cr Russ Fishwick, who initiated the renaming motion in 2019, expressed frustration at how long the process had taken.

“When I first raised this notice of motion some 6½ years ago, I didn’t really believe it would take this long, and it still hasn’t been resolved,” Cr Fishwick said at the time.

“I referred to President Kennedy when he said that at some stage ‘I want to lob a man on the moon within 10 years’, and that was done within about nine, so for us to take 6½ years is really an issue with me.”

The city has spent more than $26,000 on the renaming process.