An ANZAC Centenary memorial in Kinsail Court Park Cleveland has been given the go ahead following endorsement by Redland City Council and the State and Federal Governments’.
Council’s General meeting today approved the proposed design and location of the memorial to be constructed in time for the special 2015 ANZAC Day Centenary commemorations around Australia and overseas.
Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said the memorial would be an important and appropriate focus for the centenary commemoration of the ANZAC campaigns.
“The Redland community has one of the largest ANZAC day attendances in Queensland and the Redland RSL Sub-Branch has strong member and community support for their proposal to commemorate our ANZAC sacrifices”, Cr Williams said.
“The memorial design records seventy major battles and campaigns centred around an ANZAC soldier with ‘reversed arms at rest’ and will be an emotional tribute to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.”
Alan Harcourt, Redlands RSL Sub-Branch President said the branch has received confirmation of a $60,000 Federal Government ANZAC centenary Grant and $50,000 Local Government Major Infrastructure Grant for the memorial, with the balance of the memorial funding to be provided by the RSL.
“The memorial approval, after almost 12 months of negotiations and alterations, will be a great relief to our members and the many people who support the idea of a new Memorial.
“The Redlands has great Cenotaphs which honour our fallen, but this Memorial will be a monument to all the ANZACs who served, not just in the so called Great War, but for World War 2 and the major battles and conflicts since.”
Today’s report to Council acknowledged community representations on the new plans drafted with the help of Council. The new plans followed the rejection of earlier RSL plans for a large memorial wall at the site.
While formal written submissions on the new memorial proposal were divided with a small majority for the plans, a large number of informal comments were also received during the plans advertised public exhibition and the distribution of over 450 explanatory flyers.
Community comments were acknowledged in the Land Management Plan prepared by Council at the request of the State Government and approved without amendment.
On a key point, the report to Council made it clear the park will not be used for vehicle parking during the popular ANZAC celebration which will be tightly managed through Event Traffic Management Plans as happens for every Anzac day.
The Land Management Plan also noted that the proposed low profile memorial (including pathway, platform and retaining walls) will cover only 3 percent of the 15,080m2 Kinsail Court Park land parcel.
The proposed memorial use is consistent with the park’s zoning as ‘Open Space’ recreation, with additional public open space available within nearby Linear-Rotary Park, GJ Walter Park, Raby Bay Foreshore Park and a number of other parks in close proximity to Kinsail Court Park.
