On Saturday, 25 September 2021, Brisbane City Council officially unveiled the naming of a park in East Brisbane after one of Australia’s oldest bus families.

Council named the park at 5 Wellington Road after the Watt family because they have been in business for almost a century and owned and occupied this particular property for 66 years. It was here that they conducted their Watt Bros body building business between 1938 and 1973.

The ceremony was attended by more than 70 people including Councillor Fiona Cunningham, Chair of Council’s Finance and City Governance committee; Councillor Ryan Murphy, Chair of Council’s Public and Active Transit committee; Barrie Watt, managing director of Watt’s Bus and Coach Works; and Nick Wilson, President of the Queensland Omnibus and Coach Society (QOCS).

The Wellington Road property sat vacant for several years until it was resumed by Brisbane City Council in June 2012, and developed into a park during 2016.

In January 2019, QOCS President Nick Wilson lodged a petition with Council on behalf of the Watt family requesting the council name the park ‘Watt Park’ to recognise their significant contribution to the bus industry.

In November 2020, Council officially approved the renaming of the park to ‘Watt Park’ at the request of Councillor Fiona Cunningham, with an official unveiling ceremony taking place on Saturday, 25 September, 2021.