Kirsty McIntyre, Castlemaine
“You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone”, the words of Joni Mitchell’s Big Yellow Taxi rang through my ears, coming out of the council meeting last Tuesday night.
Disappointingly, most councillors have decided to approve the council’s master plan for Camp Reserve.
This will mean the demolition of the topography (hillock on the south-western corner), the destruction of significant heritage trees and the removal of other markers of our past. From the hill, there are views directly to historic buildings in nearby streets (the houses of famous figures, the court house, the gaol and the pre-gold rush tree along Goldsmith Crescent including the heritage-listed ‘prisoner’ tree). As well, the view from Goldsmith Crescent towards the Camp is an uninterrupted vista to Camp Reserve hill, the beautiful River Red gums and across the oval to the avenue of 1860s elms and
Barkers Creek. This continuous view was planned so many years ago. Without these features and views, we will just have photos and paintings to understand our past.
This area was an important place for the Dja Dja Wurrung people who would have benefited from living in a fertile area where three creeks join. In the early years of the gold rush, it was known as ‘Canvas Town’ where a large number of families camped. It was also the administrative centre of the whole of the central Victorian goldfields.
Soldiers paraded up and down the grounds when it was used as military barracks. Chinese opium dens were to be found on the edges of the camp ground. It was an important place for so much of our history. There are good reasons why this area is, and should continue to be protected by a heritage overlay.
People come to visit and to live in Castlemaine because of its history and its character. Quaint, historic small-scale buildings and streetscapes make it different from other towns which have been taken over by main roads, traffic and huge commercial signs.
If this area was to be preserved, it could become a premier historic precinct where tourists could walk along a tree-lined avenue from the railway station through the Camp Reserve grounds towards the historic buildings in the nearby streets, with informative signs, artwork and installations along the way.
I look forward to the day, if it ever comes, when we value our history and our environment as much as we do our sporting facilities. One day, future generations will wonder what were we thinking when we bulldozed so much of our rich and fascinating heritage.