By JESSE GRAHAM
MURRINDINDI Shire residents are being asked to share their thoughts and help to design memorials for those killed in the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires, with workshops to be held throughout July.
From Sunday 17 to Sunday 24 July, workshops will be held around the Murrindindi municipality, giving residents the chance to suggest designs or ideas for six memorials, to be erected in Toolangi/Castella, Kinglake, Narbethong, Marysville, Kinglake West and Flowerdale.
The council has appointed CONVIC to co-ordinate the memorial design and construction, and the workshops will be the first stage in the design process.
Mayor Margaret Rae said, of the six memorials, Kinglake and Marysville would be the sites of two larger memorials, which would have the option of incorporating the names of those who died during the 2009 bushfires.
Almost seven and a half years on from the fires, Cr Rae said the consultation process for the memorials had been slow to allow community members to take part as they recover from the tragedy.
“People are at different stages of their recovery, and that’s a sad word in some ways to be using this far in, but certainly, when the consultation started, a lot of people were keen to get things started quickly – other people didn’t want to participate at all,” she said.
“Then, as time went on, other people wanted to come back and join in, and so the consultation had to be broadened and, at times, revisited, to make sure all of those voices were heard.
“I believe, overall it’s been a very good process, albeit it’s probably taken longer than some have wanted, but it’s been necessary.”
After the July workshops, the draft design consultation will begin, followed by the final design presentation and the construction of the memorials – though Cr Rae said there was no official timeline for them to be completed.
The Flowerdale workshop will be held from 1.30pm on Sunday 17 July at the Flowerdale Community House, while the Kinglake West workshop will be held on 18 July at 10am at the Kinglake West Hall.
The Marysville workshop will be held at the Marysville Community Centre from 6pm on Tuesday 19 July, while Narbethong’s will be held the following night at 6.30pm.
Kinglake’s workshop will be held from 7pm on Thursday, 21 July, at the Kinglake Neighbourhood House, while the Toolangi/Castella workshop will be held at 2pm on Sunday, 24 July, at the CJ Dennis Hall. Bookings are not necessary.
For more information, call Jenny Branton on 0417 532 344.
