Avenue restoration launched

By Lachlan Ellis

There’s a buzz around a local RSL and historical societies this month, with a huge project to restore a ‘lost’ Avenue of Honour officially launched.

The Barrys Reef Avenue of Honour Restoration Project was officially launched on Saturday 18 February, with special guests including State MP for Macedon Mary-Anne Thomas, Minister for Veterans Natalie Suleyman, Federal MP for Hawke Sam Rae, and Senior Vice President of RSL Victoria, Des Callaghan.

Led by the Ballan RSL, in partnership with the Blackwood Historical Society, Blackwood Landcare Group, and Ballan Shire Historical Society, plans to revive a former Avenue of Honour in Barrys Reef, which has been neglected and become overgrown since it was planted in 1919.

Ballan RSL President Pippa Morris said it was exciting to get the ball rolling on the much-anticipated project.

“We’re very excited, we’ve had this project to get the Avenue restored and rededicated on our agenda for six years. As an RSL, it’s our main project – we have other projects too, but this is our main one. But with that excitement, we feel the responsibility of it as well,” Ms Morris told the Moorabool News.

“We need to get it right, there’s a significant history with this Avenue of Honour and we want to do it justice. We want to ensure that the community that built the Avenue is represented in the final site. It will be more of a community space and a reflective space at the end, it will include information boards about the community of Barrys Reef around the First World War, biographies of significant people, information about the industries that existed up there during the Gold Rush, and also information about the Indigenous population that was there prior to the Gold Rush as well.”

Phase 1 of the project was supported by an $8,000 grant from the State Government’s Restoring Community War Memorials and Avenues of Honour Grant Program, allowing for an arborist to assess the trees, and the Community Reference Group (CRG) to develop a project plan.

Ms Morris is hopefully the CRG will be able to obtain a $46,000 grant for Phase 2 of the project this year, which will allow for tree pruning and removal of the undergrowth in the Avenue.

“The site at the moment is a bit unsafe, there’s the risk of falling branches and things, so it’s going to take a lot of work to make the trees safe and remove the understory so it’s safe for people to come into the site and undertake some planning work,” Ms Morris said.

“We can then engage with the community about an appropriate memorial to sit in the centre of the site. But the major work this year is to get the site safe.”