Highlights
- Inner West Council officially recognised Marrickville's strong Hellenic presence and contribution
- The precinct renaming as Little Greece was approved this week
- An event celebrating the symbolic move is scheduled for 25 March
The Council voted to approve the renaming of the Marrickville Rd Precinct on Tuesday, and is in the process of submitting an application for “Little Greece” to NSW’s Geographical Names Board.
“Little Greece” was reportedly preferred over an earlier proposal for the name to be “Little Athens”.
In a Facebook post on the day of the voting, Inner West Mayor, Darcy Byrne had reiterated the aim of the symbolic recognition “to honour the history, heritage and ongoing contribution of the Greek community to Marrickville”.
The renaming proposal, initiated by Councillor Sam Iskandar, was put forward for consideration in April.
Community consultation that followed demonstrated that “the Greek community, not just in the Inner West but across Sydney, recognise Marrickville as the original heartland of the Greek diaspora in Sydney,” Mr Byrne said.
Indeed, Marrickville became a hub for post-war Greek and Greek-Cypriot migrants, with the wave of arrivals peaking in the ‘70s.
The naming of the Greek precinct will be celebrated in an event at Marrickville Town Hall on 25 March to coincide with the 200 years’ anniversary of the Greek War of Independence
Meanwhile, consultations have began for another precinct in Marrickville to be renamed in recognition of its Vietnamese community. It follows previous initiatives of the Council renaming central Petersham as Little Portugal and central Leichhardt as Little Italy.
