THE KORUMBURRA Recreation Reserve Committee (KRRC) have put forward a proposal to rename the reserve and the oval to honour the late, great, Allen Victor ‘Cobra’ Summerfield. 
Under the proposed change, the Korumburra Recreation Reserve would become the ‘Summerfield Recreation Reserve’ and/or the oval, the ‘Summerfield Oval.’ 
The KRRC considers the renaming a deserving recognition to Allen’s extraordinary and tireless service and significant contribution through positions he held at the local clubs; alongside the work Allen undertook in maintaining and developing the recreation reserve and its facilities.
Various sporting clubs that frequent the reserve have written letters of support and endorsed the renaming, as well as Danny O’Brien, MP, Member for Gippsland South, with no objections put forward. 
The proposal was put to Council at last week’s meeting with Cr Bron Beach giving some insight into what Cobra himself might have thought about it.
“Allen Summerfield, ‘Cobra’, as most of us knew him, passed away in December 2023. One of my dearest friends…provided care to Cobra for 20 years. He became a quadriplegic around the age of 18,” said Cr Beach.
“I asked my friend what she thought Cobra would say about the honour of a local football reserve being named after him, and she said, he'd probably feel a bit embarrassed, actually, because he never liked being the centre of attention, and he was humble and an unassuming guy. He did so much in the background for the community and particularly for young kids.” 
“She said she wanted to say that ‘Cobby’ would be so very touched, and this would be such a huge legacy for him and the community.”
While Mayor John Schelling strongly recommended the proposal to anyone. “I grew up as a kid playing cricket against Cobra, and I can tell you; he was a hell of a sportsman. He didn't take any prisoners as a bowler or a batsman,” said Cr Schelling who recalled then coming across Cobra later in life, when Cobra was Secretary of the Korumburra Football Club and then Secretary of the Korumburra Cricket Club.
“He wrote so many grant applications for the Korumburra community to get stuff for the footy club or the cricket club, or whatever our group was going on there. And he was just a champion bloke.”
Councillors voted unanimously to pursue the proposal, and Council will now undertake a period of community consultation from Thursday August 21 to Sunday September 21, 2025, seeking community input into the suggested renaming of the Korumburra Recreation Reserve oval to ‘Summerfield Oval.’