By Lachlan Ellis<\/p>\n
You might have driven past it without even realising, but local groups hope to restore a \u201cforgotten\u201d Avenue of Honour in Barrys Reef \u2013 believed to be the final \u201clost\u201d but restorable Avenue.
\nLed by the Ballan RSL, the committee plans to restore a 29-tree Avenue of Honour planted over 100-years ago in Barrys Reef, back in 1919.
\nThe Avenue was originally planted by a local primary school that no longer exists, representing the 29 men from Barrys Reef who fought in World War I, with nine never returning home.
\nAn initial $8,000 grant allowed the committee to pay an arborist to study the trees, with only a handful of the trees still standing in the area, which has become overgrown with weeds.
\nBallan RSL President Pippa Morris said the committee wanted the area to become a \u201chomage to the Blackwood and Barrys Reef community both pre- and post-World War I, and represent a long-lost community\u201d.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve been negotiating with DELWP for four or five years to get the management of this. Originally, they weren\u2019t aware that this was an Avenue of Honour\u2026the RSL took it on as a project back in 2017, and we were able to get the licence early last year,\u201d Ms Morris told the Moorabool News.
\n\u201cThis year we got a State Government Veterans Grant to do what we call Phase 1 of the project, that was to pull together a Community Reference Group with the Blackwood Historical Society, the Blackwood Landcare Group, and the Ballan Shire Historical Society, to put together a restoration plan for what we\u2019ll then call Phase 2.\u201d
\nPhase 2 will comprise the actual physical work to restore the Avenue, which the committee will apply for funding for in the next grants round in March 2023.
\n\u201cThe project itself will probably take at least three years, we need to break the work plan up into yearly lots, and seek individual grants for each year. It\u2019s not just about the military history of this, it\u2019s about the community that was here that isn\u2019t here anymore,\u201d Ms Morris said.
\n\u201cThis area was all about mining and sawmilling. The plan is to create a space here that represents the community, not just information about the 29 men who signed up. We want to turn it into a community space, and bring back the community that planted it in 1919, but also have it as a bridge to the current community that lives here.\u201d
\nA project launch is planned for February next year at the Blackwood Hall, but an exact date hasn\u2019t been set yet.
\nThe committee is also planning a number of working bees to clear the weeds at the site.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Lachlan Ellis You might have driven past it without even realising, but local groups hope to restore a \u201cforgotten\u201d Avenue of Honour in Barrys Reef \u2013 believed to be the final \u201clost\u201d but restorable Avenue. Led by the Ballan RSL, the committee plans to restore a 29-tree Avenue of Honour planted over 100-years ago […]<\/p>\n