Avenue restoration honoured

PLANS to restore an Avenue of Honour that has long been left unmaintained have been given new life, with the State Government providing a five-figure grant last week.

Member for Eureka Michaela Settle and Member for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas announced $29,675 worth of Restoring Community War Memorials and Avenues of Honour funding would be going to the Barrys Reef Avenue of Honour Restoration Project this month.

Ballan RSL President Pippa Morris, Ballan Shire Historical Society Secretary Richard Biden, and member of the Blackwood Historical Society Ray Castellin joined the MPs at the site last week, which has been overgrown due to more than a century without maintenance.

While there’s much work to be done before the project is complete, Ms Morris said the funding will go a long way towards making the site safe for people to visit.

“The project’s going well, the community support for the project is still strong. It’s been about five years now to get to this stage,” she said.

“This grant is to make the trees safe, lopping the trees, and also clearing out all the undergrowth. It’ll then become more of a safe space for people to visit.

“The works that’ll come from this grant will significantly open the place up for smaller planning things like where we put a memorial, where we lay information boards, et cetera.

“It’s really the key to everything else.”

Ms Settle and Ms Thomas said it was great to be a part of making important historical projects happen.

“Our veterans have given so much to allow future generations to live comfortably. It’s important that we preserve their legacy by restoring our community war memorials and Avenues of Honour, such as in Barrys Reef,” Ms Settle said.

Ms Thomas said it was an important project for the Ballan RSL, and the communities of Blackwood and Barrys Reef.

“It’s a really great project that we can honour those who’ve served our nation through these grants,” she said.

“It’s through the hard work of dedicated volunteers like Pippa that projects like this come to life.”

Phase Two is expected to be completed by next May, with Phase Three (paths, parking space, memorials, signage) expected to take another three years, depending on grants.

“We’re hoping to rededicate the space as a memorial space by possibly 2027 to 2028,” Ms Morris said.