QEII Square debate will show how tethered Albury residents are to British monarch

Now in a second Elizabethan era that same query is being pondered in regard to the title of Albury's CBD park - QEII Square.

Aboriginal elders have suggested the square's name, taken from Queen Elizabeth II, should be changed to a Wiradjuri word.

Unsurprisingly there has been strong feedback to the idea which was presented in a considered manner.

Some has been plain ignorant and racist, while there has also been cries of 'why change?' and 'how much will it cost?'.

To answer the former question, the name debate comes amid Albury Council undertaking a masterplan for QEII Square which involves a substantial revamp of its layout.

In that context, the city will be spending large amounts of money and a name switch would be relatively small change.

Interestingly there is no sign at entrances to the plaza stating 'QEII Square' and the plaque unveiled by the Queen to mark the 1988 naming is nowhere to be seen.

At its heart the issue around the renaming is one of connection.

Do Albury residents feel such a bond to the British monarch that they believe Her Majesty deserves to continue to have her name honoured in the square's moniker?

Or is the link to our Indigenous heritage, a previous title of the square or another person stronger and will it override the existing title?

The Wiradjuri elders who spoke to The Border Mail would like to see a respectful and wide debate.

That should occur and it would flip what happened in 1988 when the Civic Square was renamed without public discussion.

In February last year, we posited the land should be retitled to honour somebody with a greater connection to Albury.

Adding a Wiradjuri dimension to the debate is welcome.

In many ways, to bastardise the end of that Shakespeare quote, "that which we call a park by any other name would smell as sweet".