The family of former Dickson resident and community advocate Hanna Enders has expressed dismay at the furore over the naming of a street in her honour.
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In a letter to the editor in Tuesday's Canberra Times, granddaughter Jessica Enders responded to town planner Jane Goffman's concerns the surname would invite ridicule and not be the fitting legacy.
Ms Enders said her family though the assertion was 'short-sighted and disturbing, not to mention noxious and harmful' - adjectives used to describe the choice of Enders for the east-west road that runs beside the Woolworths car park and library, between Badham Street and Antill Street.
"If Jane Goffman really cared about dignity and preserving legacy, perhaps she might like to know that in three generations, she's the first one to "ridicule" our name," she said.
"My family and I find that 'short-sighted' and 'disturbing', not to mention 'noxious' and 'harmful'."
The Dickson Residents Group proposed naming the service road after Aboriginal tribal groups that travelled through the valley or eminent architect, Enrico Taglietti.
Concerns the name Enders would attract ridicule left many Canberrans puzzled, with the reaction to the news one of general bemusement.
In a response to the Enders family's letter and public backlash, the Dickson Residents Group said Ms Goffman's comments were "being misconstrued".
"She said clearly that her fears were for 'the lack of fitting dignity it would confer on the Enders family' if signage was vandalised," deputy convenor Felix MacNeill said in a Canberra Times letter to the editor on Tuesday.
"Given that the street that is proposed to be named in honour of Hanna Enders runs east/west and would require a sign at either end, the most benign, but undignified, mischievous re-labelling should be apparent..."
Mr MacNeill apologised for the group's "civic pride" being "misinterpreted as a slighting of a respected former resident when the exact opposite was intended".
Ms Goffman said Mrs Enders' legacy deserved "beautiful" recognition, such as naming a park or playgound in her honour.
"Hanna Enders' legacy deserves recognition and dignity in a beautiful way - let's get on with doing that," she said.
In the letter, the residents group suggested putting a playground in a park as "a better alternative" and suggested the corner park next to the Majura Community Centre on Antill Street.
