A permanent home for Lorne’s Anzac Memorial

LORNE’S new Anzac Memorial Park has given the town’s remembrance services a permanent and prominent home after decades of being moved from place to place.

The cenotaph and memorial have previously been sited near the school, the pool and the lifesaving club, shifting over time without a fixed place.

Lorne RSL Sub-Branch president, Neil Hillard, said securing a lasting, central home was essential.

“It deserves it,” he said. “It deserves to be in the front street of Lorne where everyone can see it.”

 

Living nearby, Hillard said the site is already drawing regular visitors.

“The amount of people I see walk in there after they’ve finished work, it’s unbelievable,” he said.

The memorial now sits on the main street in a large, open green space.

“It’s not off the beaten track. It’s on the main street in a big park, and it’s where it should be,” Hillard said.

“What it represents, it deserves grandeur.

 

“It respects what the Diggers went through and it needs to be grandiose. It needs to be recognisable.”

The design features three plinths honouring local service members, a central cenotaph, four corner markers representing the cardinal points and a surrounding seating area.

The park was officially last week with Wannon federal member, Dan Tehan, in attendance. The space can accommodate crowds of more than 200 people on commemorative days, and Hillard hoped the space will invite quiet reflection, particularly among younger visitors.

“I hope they realise how futile war is. Nobody enjoys them,” he said.