Memorial curation for the redeveloped Anzac Park will be underway in the New Year with consultants Niche Environment and Heritage Pty Ltd selected to undertake the work.
Niche undertook an extensive community consultation process on behalf of Bundaberg Regional Council, providing opportunities for stories about local servicepeople and animals to be shared.
Mayor Jack Dempsey said, at its 19 December meeting, Bundaberg Regional Council endorsed a specialised supplier arrangement that would see the Niche team continue with the project.
“During the consultation process Niche developed an extensive and detailed knowledge of military history across the region, including the stories of individual service personnel,” Mayor Dempsey said.
“The Anzac Park redevelopment and memorial curation is now transitioning to detailed design and the commissioning of artworks so having Niche appointed as a specialist supplier to provide guidance and support to artists and designers will ensure the project maintains momentum.
“This will ensure a consistent vision and theme throughout the entire process and see Niche play a critical role in the ongoing consultation and management of the multiple stakeholder groups throughout the remainder of the project.”
Councillor Jason Bartels recently provided an update on the Anzac Park redevelopment, including the safekeeping of the original pool’s foundation stone.
“Council is committed to ensuring Anzac Park remains true to its purpose as a place of remembrance and respect,” Cr Bartels said.
“The revitalised Anzac Park will be a gathering place for commemorative services and will see increased visitation of the memorial as the project’s elements combine to create what will be a premier destination.”
Niche Principal – Heritage, Dr Kevin Rains welcomed the news that they had been selected as specialised supplier for the next stage of memorial curation.
He was one of the team members that undertook a range of consultation sessions in the Bundaberg Region in the first stage of the memorial curation process.
His passion lies in talking with community and discovering personal stories that allow more people to connect with history and he said he’s excited to continue working on the project.
“We did all the background research and consulted with the community to tease out to find key stories regarding, I guess, Bundaberg’s involvement in all the conflicts from the 19th century to the present time,” Dr Rains said.
“It will be a great opportunity to work with the artists to help them generate art for the community and tell those stories in another way.
“It’s a huge privilege really, I feel very honoured to be part of that process and to contribute to it.
“Council has been a great organisation to deal with and the people we have worked with so far have been fabulous.”
A number of project documents related to the Anzac Park redevelopment and its early community engagement phase have been published on the project page following community interest.
So – where do we find the plans for all of this, given that all we have to-date is a concept plan?
Any Councillors able to tell us where to find the plans we just paid $2.3m for – and also all the Niche outcomes, given we have just re-hired them to continue their work – and how much is all that costing?