This is the coastline immediately north of Maroubra beach in the city of Randwick. On the right (north) of the shot you'll see a car park. That is the car park for Jack Vanny Reserve, which is just to the north again. And this really hacks me off. Somebody makes a significant contribution to the development of a place. The contribution is so significant that the local self-proclaimed worthies decide to dedicate a park, or a road, or a tree, or a lamppost, or SOMETHING to their memory. Like Jack Vanny, for instance. Now in all of the council web pages about the reserve... try finding a single word about Vanny. When did he live? What did he do? Why did he matter? What did he look like? How old was he when he died? Bupkis, baby. There is not a single word about who the man was, besides his name. No Wikipedia article. No history page. Nada. What was even the point of naming anything after him if nothing BUT his name is memorialised? I looked through the list of past mayors and deputy mayors, but... no, he wasn't one of those. So let us all raise a glass to... whoever this guy was, and whatever he did.

Edit 06 Mar 2025: Well, look at what turned up, apparently around the time that I posted the image above on PBase back in 2022. (Not that I am claiming credit necessarily; it's not like PBase photos (which this was at the time) have had high visibility for years.) It is a list of "Historic Street And Park Names for Randwick Council.

What does it say about this place?
"Jack Vanny Memorial Park, MAROUBRA
Named for John Francis Vanny, alderman for the Central Ward 1971-1983 Deputy Mayor 1980-1981. First dedicated 1959 (see Vanny Place)."

Oooh-kay, so he was a local councillor. And deputy mayor for an entire year. (Didn't I say that I checked the list of mayors and deputy mayors? I did. But rechecking that list on Wikipedia I note that there are huge, honking chronological gaps in the list of deputy mayors, including during Jack's incumbency.) And it was first dedicated in 1959, was it? So... 12 years before he was first elected as a councillor, then? That's prescient! I suppose it's possible that it was an unnamed park then and given Vanny's name later, of course, but the description is hardly what I'd call "clear".

Still, at least we finally have a face and a history behind the name. Vanny died on 27 September 1982, according to a snippet of a death notice that I found on a website called myheritage.com.