Herbert Heaney's grandsons Warren and Greg want new Coon Island name to recognise former residents

Warren and Greg Heaney's grandfather Herbert Heaney was the first person to live permanently on the island under a lease from the Lands Department issued in 1915 and was nicknamed 'Coon' due to often coming home with coal dust on his face.

The cousins said they accepted the name was offensive and understood why people wanted to change it.

"We know it's derogatory," Warren said.

"We understand that fully, we're certainly not racist," Greg added. "It's got to go.

"I knew it wouldn't have been far away after the Coon Cheese. That certainly got the ball rolling."

But they said they were upset they had not yet been consulted by Lake Macquarie Council about the issue.

The Heaneys said they received a call from Mayor Kay Fraser before Monday's council meeting, in which council voted to consult the community, including the Local Aboriginal Land Council, former island residents and descendants of Herbert Heaney, to investigate alternate names, including dual name opportunities for Coon Island and Coon Island Point.

The pair said they have a meeting with Cr Fraser this Wednesday.

Warren and Greg Heaney said they did not want a dual name for the island, and wanted it to be about the residents, many of whom were coal miners, who lived there from 1915 until the last one left in 1994.

"We really don't want a name that's Aboriginal," Warren said.

"I think the place deserves its own standalone name, from what went on here," Greg said.

"They went through a lot of hardship, they had king tides running through their house."

"Their shacks had brattice walls, their floors were dirt," Warren said. "They went through a depression, mine strikes. It would have been tough."

"The Aboriginals certainly would have been here before those guys but we want recognition to them and what they endured," Greg said.

"We're more about what happened here at the time of the shacks. I think there were about 70 homes here.

"For any person that didn't experience all that I really don't think they have a right to be included in the name.

"In terms of a dual name it's probably something we don't want but that decision will be beyond us. If the decision comes to do it then we'll have to accept it and get on with it."

Greg said the family had a couple of ideas for a new name, none of which were specifically about the Heaneys.

"It's to do with everyone who lived here," he said.

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