Bursting with pride is how Gargarro Development Group chair Athol ‘Doc' McDonald described the Girgarre community’s feeling as he delivered the keynote address at the official opening of the Gargarro Botanic Garden last week.
“It is a momentous day in Girgarre’s history and shows what can be achieved by a small community working towards a common goal,” Mr McDonald said.
Standing inside the soundshell that signalled a start to the project six years ago, Mr McDonald shared the story of Girgarre’s transformation from a town losing a major employer to a valuable member of an international botanical gardens organisation.
The land on which the first stage of the five-stage development is situated was gifted to the community by the Kraft Heinz Company after an initial offer of cash was turned down and a compromise was made to allow the community to take possession of the former factory site.
Fittingly, Kraft Heinz was not only represented at the opening, but long-time employee Yasmin Boswood was afforded the honour of cutting the ribbon of the viewing tower at the heart of the project.
It was indicative of Mr McDonald and his team’s ability to maintain and nurture relationships with not only large corporations, but also at all levels of government and with other stakeholders in the project.
“This project has progressed because of partnerships,” he said.
“When Heinz announced they were going to close the factory and offered a cash donation, the community responded by saying thanks, but can we have the land instead?
“They not only said yes to that request, but the value of that donation more than quadrupled when they also gave us the water right.”
With a $3 million-plus price tag accompanying the botanic garden project, to this point, the development committee has ended up with a semi-finished product that will — at its conclusion — be a unique and world-class attraction.
Mr McDonald shared the story of his first visit to Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne, which inspired his group to seek out the landscape architects responsible for its design.
“We were inspired by the red sand garden; it remains one of the most spectacular sites of any garden I have seen,” he said.
“And it made the choice for a landscape gardener pretty easy,” he said, referencing the decision of the group to make initial contact with one of Australia’s most awarded landscape architecture practices, Taylor Cullity Lethlean.
Mr McDonald said he was not sure how interested such a large organisation would be in working with a small community with not a lot of money.
He said it was in 2016 that the first Victorian Government grant enabled the group to build the soundshell and develop the lawns, which have hosted several community events since the installation of the stage.
“Almost $3 million spent on this project in the last 12 months, and there have been many other people responsible for what we have in front of us today,” Mr McDonald said.
He honoured Gerard Brandrick and Shannon Johns, the two principals of Echuca firm Brandrick Architects, and the construction company behind the earthworks, Quarrell Civil Construction.
Among the many other contributors mentioned by the development group chair was Rochester Nursery operator Scott Wise, who he said had gone out of his way to assist.
The army of volunteers that turned out at various stages of the project also gained Mr McDonald’s acknowledgement, as did the many financial contributors to the project.
“We did have to find a significant amount of matching funding, which came from a group of sources,” he said.
He mentioned the generosity of the neighbouring Australian Consolidated Milk business, among many others, before explaining the extended relationships that had grown out of the development of the garden.
A project involving Gargarro Green Thumbs Nursery and Kyabram Fauna Park started two years ago and involved the growing of a eucalypt plantation at the rear of the gardens to provide ongoing sustenance for the Zoo Victoria site’s koala population.
“That is an amazing partnership between the fauna park and Friends of Gargarro group,” he said.
Mr McDonald also paid tribute to Campaspe Shire Council’s planning department.
“These gardens are in a farming zone and I am not sure how just many cafés are located on farming land,” he said.
Mr McDonald ended his passionate address by explaining there was still a lot of work to do on the site, as the challenge of gradually replacing plants damaged by last year’s flood continued.
“This is the first stage of a five-stage garden,” he said.
Mr McDonald explained the project, as it continued to grow, would require ongoing investment and manpower in order to maintain the garden.
“The task we will have is to find the funds for ongoing maintenance,” he said.
“For now it will be maintained by volunteers, but as we move forward we will at least need a curator and some part-time staff.”