It is one of the most iconic spots in the Byron Shire, a rolling stretch of green that runs from the Surf Club down to Clarkes Beach.
But there’s a problem with ‘Denning’ Park – we’ve been misspelling it for years.
The agenda for Byron Council’s upcoming meeting reveals that the signs in the park and map references have for decades referred to it as ‘DeNNing Park’.
It is not quite clear how the error occurred (autocorrect probably can’t be blamed for this one).
But council’s research has revealed that the park is named after after one of the Shire’s most respected figures – the historian S J Dening (note the single ‘n’).
‘S J Dening wrote the History of Byron Bay 1850 – 1966… and he was President of the School of Arts and on [Lismore] Council,’ Byron Councillor Jan Hackett wrote in the agenda document.
‘His son, Glen Dening, was [also] a member of the first junior surf life saving club in Byron Bay.
‘I have barely scratched the surface of the places where S J Dening’s name appears in our historic files, but a prompt correction of this misspelling would be greatly appreciated by remaining family in the area as well as long term residents and history buffs.’
Thankfully the memorial plaque at the Byron Swimming pool features the correct spelling of Mr Dening’s name – chiselling an ‘n’ out of the 67-year-old block would not be an aesthetically pleasing option.
And council staff have now agreed to remove all ‘onsite signage and any future maps, notices and correspondence’.
This particular local quirk will soon, it seems, be consigned to the annals of history.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
