The NSW Department of Veteran Affairs awarded the BRA a $10,000 grant to undertake the next step in the $25,500 project to prepare a comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for the important heritage plantation just south of Berrima on the Old Hume Highway.
The plantation at Berrima was started in 1956 and formed part of the 1954 Sydney to Canberra Remembrance Driveway that commemorates the sacrifice of Australian servicemen and women in WWII and later conflicts. By way of background, the NSW Remembrance Driveway Council transferred custodianship of the site to the Association in a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 19 December 2019.
The first stage in the current project was completed in 2021 when a full inventory of the plantation was made by Chris and Charlotte Webb. As the Memorial was established in 1956 many of the trees in the plantation are reaching full maturity. This report was also funded from NSW War Memorial Fund grant of $9,000.
The second stage of the project involves the preparation of a Conservation Management Plan (CMP), also by Charlotte and Chris Webb, that will guide the future, maintenance, conservation, and interpretation of the 9-hectare site based on best practice heritage conservation. The CMP will also address issues of public access, security and the scope for quiet reflection and public commemorative events.
The Berrima Residents Association is committed to managing the Remembrance Grove memorial in a professional manner into the future. The CMP is essential if the Association is to undertake this responsibility correctly.