Community consultation on the re-naming part of Dickson Place and the two roads and the public area outside the library has now closed. We asked you for feedback on the proposed names, and feedback was provided through website and email submissions.

How you had your say

Feedback was provided in person, and online, through the activities listed below.

Online feedback

• YourSay survey - online form to share feedback and ideas

Next Steps

We have assessed the community response and submitted a summary to the ACT Place Names Advisory Committee (the Committee) for consideration.

We have provided details of the high level of community support for Hanna Enders Lane, Joan Kellett Way and Taglietti Square to the Committee for consideration.

After consideration, the Committee will provide its advice and recommendations on the Dickson public place naming projects the Minister for Planning and Land Management or his delegate. An announcement of the preferred names, and future action, will be made on the YourSay website and the ACT Planning website.

About the proposals

In the 1960s, the roads and pedestrian walkways in local shopping centres were generally named with the suburb name and the road type ‘place’. The name ‘Dickson Place’ was first gazetted in 1964. Two roads and one public area in the centre are unnamed.

Re-naming part of Dickson Place and naming two roads and the area outside the library is intended to make it easier for people to find their way around.

Proposal 1: Dickson Street

The road that runs from Badham Street to Cowper Street, currently named Dickson Place, was proposed to be changed to Dickson Street to describe it is an open-ended through road.

Proposal 2: Hanna Enders Lane

The road that runs from Badham Street into the shopping centre/precinct to connect to Antill St is un-named but commonly referred to as Dickson Place. This road was proposed to be named Hanna Enders Lane in commemoration of the community volunteer who was co-founder and president of Dickson Neighbourhood Centre.

Proposal 3: Joan Kellett Way

The road that enters the shopping centre/precinct from Cowper Street, opposite the Dickson Swimming Pool is un-named. It was proposed to name this road Joan Kellett Way in commemoration of the long-time Dickson resident, volunteer and education and swimming advocate.

Proposal 4: Taglietti Square

The public place directly in front of the Dickson Library is currently un-named. The proposal was to name the public area as Taglietti Square to commemorate the library’s designer, acclaimed architect Enrico Taglietti AO.

About Hanna Enders BEM (1905-1994)

Born in Budapest, Hungary, to Jewish parents, Hajnalka (Hanna) Hass’s family moved to Berlin, Germany in the late 1920s where she met her future husband, Adam Valentine Enders. The rise of Hitler threatened the family’s future and brought hardship and family separation during the Second World War. The family was eventually reunited, and in 1951, the couple emigrated to Sydney with their three children.

In 1963, Hanna Enders moved to Canberra, taking up an opportunity to practice her costume designing and dressmaking profession. In Canberra, she was an active member of the local community. She was co-founder and president of the Dickson Neighbourhood Centre Inc. from 1979–1987 and a valuable and energetic member of the planning committee which led to the establishment of the North Canberra Community Centre in 1989.

Hanna Enders was awarded the British Empire Medal in June 1981 for service to the community. The medal was bestowed at a public investiture in August 1981 by the Governor-General, Sir Zelman Cowen. Earlier that year Enders hosted Lady Cowen to the second Annual General Meeting of the Dickson Neighbourhood Centre Inc. Hanna Enders provided valued voluntary service to a wide range of local organisations including the Royal Canberra Hospital Ladies Auxiliary, the Horticultural Society of Canberra, and the Canberra Opera Society, designing and making costumes for performances.

About Joan Kellett OAM (1929-2017)

Joan Kellett was an active and influential member of the Canberra community. She held significant leadership roles in several organisations, particularly in the areas of public education and the sport of swimming. She was chair of the school boards at North Ainslie Primary School, Lyneham High School and Dickson College and an executive member of the ACT Council of Parents' and Citizens' Associations.

Kellett represented the council on several government advisory committees and was appointed as its elected nominee on the ACT Schools Authority (later restructured as the ACT Education Council) from 1984–1989. Kellett was Chair of the North Canberra Community Council in 1994–1995 and again in 2004. Joan and Harry Kellett supported the Dickson Swimming Club over many years, taking on executive leadership roles and coaching and officiating duties.

As President of Swimming ACT, Joan Kellett was dedicated to the sport within the territory and surrounding region and was instrumental in the development of a swimming program for people living with disabilities. She provided long and valued service to the Girl Guides movement as a Brownie unit leader and later as Division Commissioner. Joan Kellett was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2003.

About Enrico Taglietti AO (1926-2019)

Enrico Taglietti was a key practitioner in Australia of the late twentieth century organic style of architecture, characterised by free massing, textured brickwork and roof planes with a horizontal emphasis. Taglietti first came to Australia from Italy in 1955 and established his own architecture practice in Canberra in 1956. He was later commissioned to design the Italian Embassy in Deakin.

The Dickson Library was designed by Taglietti in the 1960s for the National Capital Development Commission, construction being completed in 1969. Taglietti described the area outside the Dickson Library (the square) as a meeting place for all. Other public commissions in the Australian Capital Territory include the Giralang Primary School (c. 1974), Flynn Primary School (c. 1971) and the Dickson Health Centre (c.1980).

The library building was awarded the inaugural Royal Australian Institute of Architects (RAIA) ACT Chapter Twenty Five Year Award for a public building in 1995. Taglietti was made a Life Fellow of the RAIA in 2001 and awarded the Gold Medal of the RAIA in 2007. In 2020, Enrico Taglietti was posthumously appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia ‘for distinguished service to architecture, particularly in the Australian Capital Territory, to education, and to professional organisations’.