Lumen Waite 100 - Flipbook - Page 13
Joanna turned her stakeout on the intersection into a
bona fide campaign. She held rallies – the largest of which
attracted more than 1000 people – and collected signatures
in person and via change.org.
The comments alongside the signatures were emphatic:
“Insane. This is heritage listed, and the trees
provide habitat and shade.”
“This plan by DPTI (Department of Planning,
Transport and Infrastructure) is totally
inappropriate. We must retain the trees and the
Lodge.”
“The lodge is a high point of taking children home
up the freeway. We are getting home the trees are
part of our history. We need those lungs.”
“We can’t keep losing these Historic Buildings.”
“I don’t want to see more trees removed or see a
heritage building demolished.”
“I’m signing because it’s the only way to contribute
without getting angry!”
An amenable solution was found – though a widening of
the road went ahead, and some trees were lost. To Kate, this
is still a source of disappointment. “We lost six or eight big
ones, and then there was probably half a dozen, maybe up
to 10 smaller ones,” she says. “And they did replace them
with trees, sure. But what people seem to forget is you can’t
replace a 100-year-old tree with one single tree that’s two
years old. It’s not a replacement, because you need 100
years to grow it.”
A silver lining, though, is the retention of the Gatehouse,
which is being moved, brick by brick, and its non-heritage
extension upgraded. When the rebuild is completed
sometime this year, the Gatehouse will be a volunteer
centre and the home of the Waite Arboretum – something
Kate has long hoped might one day exist.
“It’s giving the Arboretum a lab, because we talk about the
Arboretum as the living lab, but there’s no building,” Kate
says. “It’s a much clearer, higher profile building to bring
people to, and where we can make the community much
more aware of the Arboretum as a scientific endeavour,
rather than just a big park with trees.”
This is a future for the Gatehouse made material by the
community that surrounds the Waite campus – one which
understands the importance of not only protecting the gift,
but honouring its spirit.
“Peter Waite could’ve done anything with that land, and
we’re really fortunate that he thought it was important
enough to leave it as a whole parcel, because the value that’s
come from the Arboretum alone is just significant,” Joanna
says. “That is a heritage piece in itself. A lot of it is about
amenity, but it’s about appreciating the past, and it gives us
that appreciation of what Peter Waite actually did. I mean,
the generosity of that is just amazing.”
A rendering of the new Gatehouse, courtesy Dash Architects.
LUMEN
WORDS › JOHNNY VON EINEM
outcome for the project and community”. The implied
power to overcome heritage stoked the fire already roaring
in Joanna’s belly.
