The proposed name for a street at the Dickson shopping centre will invite ridicule and imply "something noxious or harmful", the ACT government has been told.
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Residents are also dismayed they were not consulted about the place name, given the high visibility of the shopping centre and the controversial proposal redevelopment.
The Dickson Residents Group has been campaigning for some time for a name for the east-west road that runs beside the Woolworths car park and library, between Badham Street and Antill Street.
They proposed naming it after Aboriginal tribal groups that travelled through the valley or to honour eminent architect, Enrico Taglietti.
Instead, the group has been told the service road will be named after Mrs Hanna Enders, a former resident of Dickson and a driving force in the founding of the Dickson neighbourhood centre.
The decision was made by the ACT Office of the Surveyor-General, the group was told in an email.
However, town planner Jane Goffman says the name will invite ridicule and not be the fitting legacy the Enders family should expect.
"I find it quite short-sighted and disturbing that the decision-making about this cluster of streets that frame the core business and retail district of Dickson has been made with no reference whatsoever to the wishes of the community," she said.
"The community quite naturally feels a sense of ownership and has a direct connection to the place in question, and is entitled to have at the very least been contacted and advised about the process and invited to suggest names.
"Unless people have a voice in the final decision and can express their views and wishes, the government of the day risks appearing hugely out of touch.
"I also find it quite odd that the name 'Enders' appears to have overridden the many other possible choices, including Aboriginal names of tribal groups that would have used and travelled through this valley pre-settlement.
"I also think it unwise to select a name for a central visible section of roadway that invites ridicule.
"To place the sign 'Enders' when it points directly to the sunny much-used community hub that makes up the forecourt of the library, and is regularly used by a very large population and a very wide mix of incomes and abilities, seems quite bizarre.
"These two or three road segments form the primary access route to the centre as a whole, so it would be helpful to name them in a way that reflects both the significance of their location, and that assists with legibility.
"Duplicating Dickson Place seems certain to create confusion and lead to problems, and tagging the centre 'Enders' implies something noxious or harmful.
"The sheer potential for this person's surname to be twisted and made to seem a bad joke, or for the sign to be stolen or vandalised, and therefore the lack of fitting dignity it would confer on the Enders family should surely be taken into account.
"Personally, I think we can do a great deal better and that the contribution that a former resident, Mrs Enders, made can be appropriately recognised in some other way."
Last month the ACT government rejected the proposal for a new residential and commercial precinct for the Dickson shopping centre.
Plans were lodged at the end of last year for a mixed-use development of 155 apartments, and Coles and Aldi supermarkets on the existing Woolworths car park site on the corner of Anthill and Badham streets.
There was huge public outcry over the plans and more than 1600 people signed a petition tabled in the Legislative Assembly calling for a halt to the development of the car park.
