General News
12 June, 2023
Friends of Bristol Hill to push for action
Local residents, clubs and community groups are being invited to the Bristol Hill Memorial Tower this weekend for a community meeting to establish a Friends of Bristol Hill group. The tower was closed to the public in mid-2021 following vandalism...
Local residents, clubs and community groups are being invited to the Bristol Hill Memorial Tower this weekend for a community meeting to establish a Friends of Bristol Hill group.
The tower was closed to the public in mid-2021 following vandalism and concerns around the structural integrity of the building, with the local icon falling to a state of neglect since.
While the tower has since been found to be structurally sound, Parks Victoria, along with the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, as well as the Central Goldfields Shire Council, are working to determine what management of the tower and surrounding bushland will look like in the future.
The Maryborough Rotary Club has expressed interest in being involved in managing the tower and surrounding area for some time and now, along with the Goldfields Sustainability Group, Girl Guides and Midlands Historical Society, among others, is calling on residents to get involved in a Friends of Bristol Hill group.
Rotary’s president Garry Higgins said the club was keen to see the tower restored, which he believes a Friends of Bristol Hill group could help achieve.
“My motivation is to create a bit of political pressure,” he said.
“We are very keen to see something happen in this space and there’s a real concern the place has been neglected, it’s an embarrassment to the town really.
“The good thing is the structural integrity of the tower has been inspected and found to be sound, now we need progress on restoring and maintaining the tower and land around it.
“I think it’s a matter of getting a group of concerned community members together, even if it means we come up here once a month to mow the lawn, at least we can start to take ownership.”
The Bristol Hill Pioneer Memorial Tower was built in 1933 during the Great Depression by the community, who raised some 600 pounds for the project to immortalise the founders and pioneers of Maryborough.
Midlands Historical Society member Margaret Flowers said beyond its historic significance, the tower was also an important social icon.
“As a kid, we’d cone up here and absolutely love it but there has always been an issue of people defiling the tower,” she said.
“It would be terrible to lose it, there is so much history here and the tower is special to so many people.
“This holds so much history for people in the community, it’s vital it’s maintained.”
The Friends of Bristol Hill meeting will take place this Saturday, June 17 at the Bristol Hill Apex playground and barbecue area from 2 pm, with a barbecue provided.