A new Bushfire Memorial planned for Bendigo will be a place the community can be proud of as well as a place for quiet reflection, Minister for Community Development Lily D’Ambrosio said today.
Ms D’Ambrosio today visited the Richardson Reserve in Bendigo to inspect the site the local community has nominated as the location for the future Bendigo Bushfire Memorial.
Visiting the site with members of the Bushfire Memorial Working Group as part of the Brumby Labor Government’s Bendigo Region Community Cabinet, Ms D’Ambrosio said she was impressed with the plans for the new Memorial.
“The commitment of the group to working with the community and the designers to come up with the proposed Memorial has been outstanding,” she said.
“This is a sensitive and appropriate design and I’m sure it’s something the community can not only be proud of and use as a place for quiet reflection, but it will also offer a space for visitors to come and relax.”
The Memorial will incorporate a garden and picnic area along with an art installation and an interpretive memorial wall.
Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction, Bill Shorten, said Memorial funding, for projects such as this, was provided to councils to let them work with the community and the Community Recovery Committees to identify the most appropriate memorial.
“Communities are rebuilding across Victoria, but an important part of rebuilding is remembering what we lost during the fires,” Mr Shorten said.
“Every community has a different way they want to remember. We have given them our support to create what they think is the most suitable memorial for their area.”
The Community Recovery Fund contributed more than $148,000 and the City of Greater Bendigo $ 90,000 towards this project. The Victorian and Commonwealth Governments jointly established the Community Recovery Fund in February for communities affected by the 2009 Victorian bushfires, each committing $5 million.