The Friends of Wilson Botanic Park Berwick’s new history project is well underway, with a grant from the City of Casey to digitise its thirty-plus years of archival records.
On 6 August, the group held a background briefing along with lunch, with the attendance of council staff who were present when the Friends was initially formed.
With the support of council staff, the group created a visual display of the then and now scenes of the park’s visitor centre, with the current display highlighting the Rose Garden and Arbour Walk.
Coordinator of the history group, Paula Taylor said that “visitors will be amazed at the transformation”.
“The display will change every few months, we invite visitors to stop by and learn about the history of both the park and the Friends,” she said.
Special invitees to the lunch meeting included former CEO of the City of Berwick and mayor of Casey, Neil Lucas; former City of Berwick senior design engineer and later manager of technical services for Casey, Ron Chidgey.
Paula Taylor added that both guests were “proactive in the establishment of Wilson Botanic Park Berwick” and have “maintained a life-long interest and connection”.
Attendees of the meeting learned that the council faced a number of challenges concerning the park and that its development was dependent on successful applications for support from State and Federal government agencies and other community groups.
“It was also dependent on volunteers for their physical work and fundraising efforts,” Ms Taylor said.
“Neil and Ron are in complete agreement that the park could not have progressed as well as it has and become what it is today without the countless hours of dedicated volunteer work contributed by the Friends.”
Mr Lucas, one of the special guests learned about the work of the Friends of the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens, where a report to the council suggested the establishment of the current Friends group at Wilson Botanic Park; after a public meeting in 1992, the group was formed.
Mr Chidgey had been directly involved with the contracted engineering company Scott and Furphy which designed the park and proposed the timeline and stages for its development.
The park’s eventual transformation from a bare quarry into a lush botanical wonderland was a massive and expensive undertaking, but something that Mr Chidgey described as “a labour of love”.
For more information on the Friends and the Wilson Botanic Park, its history and background, contact Paula Taylor at paulafwbpb@gmail.com
