By Shelby Brooks
The evolution of the way the community interacts with Wilson Botanic Park in the 30 years of its existence is what is most fascinating to City of Casey team leader Janet Reid.
Janet has been working at Wilson Botanic Park for five years in community facility management- looking after connecting and activating the community in the park.
“The park development is one thing, but it’s really the people in the park that’s the story for me,” Janet said of the park’s 30-year history.
In the 1990s, volunteers from the Friends of Wilson Botanic Park laid bricks that are still walked on today.
“They have been here since the beginning,” she said.
“They were residents who were passionate.
“They advocated, they had to fight against council, and fought against developers who wanted a McDonald’s on the road. Really, they designed so much of it.”
Janet helped collect memories and stories of volunteers from over the years for the 30th anniversary celebrations.
Those included the park’s first superintendent Lex Nieboer collecting a lilypad from a neighbour’s garden and putting it in Lilypad Lake.
Another Friends member still comes to the park every day to pick up rubbish, despite being in his 90s.
And another recalled the moment they learnt a Valentine’s Day movie event led to the conception of a child.
“For me, the journey has been about the people and what they have put into this place,” Janet said.
“We really honour and celebrate the people who have imputed into the park and made it what it is.”
Come 2020, the community started attending the park in record numbers during Covid-19 lockdowns.
“This became the place they could go,” Janet said.
“We have heard stories after stories ‘if it wasn’t for this place I wouldn’t have made it’.
“People could get outside and walk with a friend. All of that was their saving grace.”
Janet said before Covid-19, the park was averaging around 500,000 visitors a year.
Now it’s over 600,000.
“We’ve grown a lot. The community was taking photos, sharing it on Facebook, the community was still happening here all while trying to keep people safe at the same time,” Janet said.
Janet is now looking to the future to see how the community will interact with the park in years to come.
“As it gets busier, it’s about how to manage the park,” Janet said.
“What is it going to look like in the future that we live in now we have a totally different community than we did 30 years ago.
“How do we get people engaged and active is a big one.”
Janet also hopes to encourage a change in attitude in park users.
“There’s a sense of ownership the more we connect with a place, if they feel connected and involved together we’ve got to work together to look after this space,” Janet said.
“The more people means more wear and tear on the park, so how do we maintain the standard of a beautiful space but ensure people have access to it?
“There’s education that needs to go with community that says this is your place but you need to look after it.”
