Park makes most of mining legacy

A CROWD of more than 1500 gathered at Wilson Botanic Park in Berwick on 26 July 1992 to see then Governor-General Bill Hayden officially open the park.
Mr Hayden unveiled a plaque and planted a Queensland kauri to commemorate the vice-regal visit to Berwick. Dallas Hayden planted a broad-leaf linden tree.
Mayor Kirsty Lottkowitz on behalf of the City of Berwick, as it was then, presented the couple with a painting of the park by watercolour artist Margaret Cromb.
The work of landscaping, planting, building, and allowing the gardens to mature would go on well into the next century, Mr Hayden said.
The park is built on 36 hectares of disused quarry, 20 hectares of the land donated by owners of the former quarry, Mr and Mrs George Wilson.
From the start the park was a significant research centre for rare and endangered species of plant life. It was also significant for its geology and palaeontology, following fossil discoveries in the cut rock.
“The need for open space for understanding the natural, environmental, and historical forces that have brought us to the present was of great importance to the life of any urban society,” Mr Hayden said.
“The commitment to converting what had been a quarry into a botanic park showed that while the mining and extractive industries had been of great importance to Australia’s economy, and would continue to be, it was not necessary to allow disused mining sites and tailing dumps to disfigure the landscape as so many of them had from the last century.”
Mr Hayden was patron of LandCare Australia at the time.
The site had also been of social and economic significance from the mid-19th century. The mining of bluestone for road-making and ballast for the Gippsland railway line had begun in 1853 and continued right up to the closing of the quarry in the early 1970s.
Volunteers have contributed to its maintenance and financial viability. In the lead-up to the opening, since 1988 there had been public tree planting days. Many who had planted trees were there for the opening.
“Many of you here will know what a great feeling it is to be contributing to this beautiful park,” Cr Lottkowitz told the crowd.
Groups and individuals who participated in the establishment of the park include the Hoo Hoo Club, the service club of the timber industry, the Andrews Foundation, Coles/Myer, Pacific Dunlop, Nubrick, and Boral. Resident Charles Gamble donated the entrance gates and also a rotunda in memory of his wife Alice.
Cr Lottkowitz made special mention of park superintendent Lex Nieboer and the team, including Syd Grey and Jamie Rowe, who had worked seven days a week to prepare for the opening.
“I am reminded of a story about a 120-year-old tree, which finished with these words: ‘Someone must have planted it years ago and looked after it, so it grew to be big and strong’.”
Residents in the City of Casey and surrounding areas could imagine their forebears saying the same about the beautiful botanic park that now graces the entrance to Berwick village.