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The City of Greater Bendigo will hold the last of a series of community workshops at 6.30pm this Friday July 29 at the Bendigo Council offices for people wishing to be part of an important local history project.
City of Greater Bendigo Acting Strategy Manager, Andrew Cockerall said the ‘From the ground up’ project is a proactive approach to heritage protection in our municipality.
“This type of study is a groundwork study – typically done before an area is examined. Now, we’re doing it for the entire area of Greater Bendigo at once. This will help us to prioritise those future studies and more easily determine what heritage places are significant.
Community workshops have previously taken place in Eaglehawk, Heathcote, Bendigo, Marong, Huntly, Elmore and Strathfieldsaye.
“These workshops have provided a great opportunity for residents to get involved, and we’ve learned so much. History isn’t just about facts and dates, its also about people. We can learn a great deal for this groundwork study from books, but only community members can tell us which places and stories are important to them.”
“The workshop taking place on Friday is an opportunity for those who may have missed the other workshops to get involved.
“When people get together and share their stories, everyone benefits. Many people think that the stories that they have or the places that were a part of their childhood aren’t important. But that’s not true! All of it has played a role in our history and developing who we are as a community.
“When completed, the report will be publicly available via the Council website and at the libraries. It will help us to plan future work so that we can protect our heritage from inappropriate future development or demolition. It will also help organisations like schools and heritage societies by providing information for seminars, education materials, walking and driving tours, pod casts and videos, interactive maps, gallery exhibits, and so much more,” said Mr Cockerall.
Anyone who would like to attend the workshop should contact Katie Nolan on 5434 6125 email k.nolan@bendigo.vic.gov.au to confirm their attendance.
The project is being undertaken by the City of Greater Bendigo with funding assistance from the State Government’s Heritage Grants.
Sharon Greenaway 