An artist’s impression of what the Black Saturday bushfire memorial garden in Bunyip will look like. Courtesy of Species Landscape Architecture. By Danielle Galvin
THREE years on from Black Saturday, Bunyip will play host to a park of peace.
On Tuesday, the Cardinia Shire Council named Koolangarra Park in Bunyip as the site of a memorial garden, to remember those who lost their lives and properties in the fires.
Former shire mayor Bill Pearson, who lives on the Tonimbuk and Bunyip North boundary, said that Bunyip was the centre for helicopters on February 7, 2009.
He watched the fires change direction, just three kilometres from his home.
“We had a lengthy process when we tried to come up with something for a memorial for the Black Saturday bushfires,” he said.
“The council decided on two things in co-operation with the CFA and the State Government as well as locals, and that was an upgrade to the Tonimbuk Hall which is now completed and a rotunda.
“Bunyip has a population of 4000 – and this will be a much more visible reminder of the Black Saturday bushfires.”
Mr Pearson said the Bunyip Recreation Reserve was the home base for the emergency crews fighting the fires in Labertouche and Tonimbuk.
He said it was an important memorial for one of the state’s darkest days.
“It will be a reminder of how lucky we were – we were so lucky in this shire that the wind changed and we escaped,” he said.
“I believe this will be a very fitting memorial.”
The council received funding from the Victorian Government Department of Planning and Community Development for a memorial and the park was selected following community consultation.
The council’s open space co-ordinator Mark Reynolds said a landscape architect had worked with a community steering committee to develop a master plan for the garden.
“The landscape design is intended to provide both a space for contemplation and an area suitable for community congregation,” he said.
There are plans for a community planting day and a dedication cermemony after the works have been completed.
The master plan for the park, at the corner of Hope and Main streets in Bunyip, is on public exhibition and community feedback is invited.
Sue Anderson from Bunyip, who is also on the town’s hall committee, welcomed the memorial garden.
“I think it’s lovely that there’s a memorial,” she said.
“The Bunyip Hall was used as a relief centre after the fires and the floods – so it would have been helpful if we could have had some funding to go towards the hall.”
To be involved in the community planning day, contact the council’s open space co-ordinator on 1300 787 624 or email mail@cardinia.vic.gov.au
