Push for Baldivis memorial

A family history of service and a local veteran population were the catalysts for 17-year-old Baldivis resident Jess Abbott to urge local authorities to create a memorial park in the suburb.

Encouraged by her ex-defence force parents, the Year 12 student created a proposal to transform Clyde Park into an Anzac memorial centre for the community.

“We know a lot of ex-service (people) in the Baldivis area that have nowhere to go for Anzac Day,” she said.

“We all have to go to Rockingham or Kwinana ... why don’t we have one here?

“It’s quite important to (my family), and pretty much we just wanted a representation of that in Baldivis.”

Enlisting the help of Baldivis MLA Reece Whitby, community feedback and funding options are now being sought.

“It just makes sense — we’re a huge community in Baldivis, a lot of services connections, a big military connection town and a lot of people that would like to have a memorial right here,” Mr Whitby said.

“We don’t want to compete with Rockingham ... but it would be nice to have a complementary memorial, a smallish memorial that’s not going to be hugely expensive or extravagant but somewhere where local people can come.”

Jess has also flagged the idea of renaming the park Remembrance Park, pending community feedback and council approval.