‘Community driven’ Greenbushes Youth Precinct opens with all hands on deck for planting day

The brand new Greenbushes Youth Precinct — in the heart of the historic timber and mining town — has come to life with a band of community members coming together to make it happen. The new youth space is near the Greenbushes Town Hall in Thompson Park, adjacent to the Greenbushes Primary School, and includes a new skate park and playground. Principal project manager of the Bridgetown Greenbushes Shire Morgan Gillham said the new precinct would give young people a place to be occupied and enjoy hanging out. “There wasn’t anything for them to do in Greenbushes before,” he said. “It really is a significant project, and there’s been nothing like that going to Greenbushes for decades. It cost well over half million — probably $600,000 or up — so it’ll be well looked after by the shire.” Mr Gillham told the Times the project was “absolutely community driven” and a collaborative effort between the Shire, community group Grow Greenbushes, local ratepayers and Talison Lithium. The Bush Carers from Bridgetown-Greenbushes Community Landcare, led by Karrie Williamson, contributed to the landscaping. The precinct also features a pump track, and sports grounds — all wrapped up into one space. “The feedback from the community, from both the parents and the kids, has just been incredible,” Mr Gillham said. “I just love going out and watching the place get so heavily used.” The project was completed in two phases with the first part commencing in the last financial year for a new playground, some shade and a skate park. “The last phase, which was totally funded by Talison to the tune of $180,000, was for the completion of the project, which was a brand new pump track, which is attached to it, and landscaping,” Mr Gillham said. Talison general manager of the Greenbushes operations Craig Dawson said the redevelopment of the youth precinct had been an important project for the community. “Talison is proud to have played a key role in bringing it to life,” he said. “Talison is committed to supporting projects like this that are a high priority for local communities and align with the development goals of local government. Mr Dawson told the Times the project was part of the Partnering for the Future program funded through the Talison Community Investment Program. “It’s great to see how this precinct, with its newly created gardens and recreational facilities, is promoting connections and creating a vibrant space for everyone to enjoy,” he said. The skatepark was designed and built by Skate Sculpture, and the pump track by Three Chillies Design design — the builders of the new Ngoolark MTB Jump Park in Nannup. Mr Gillhan told The Times in the background of the project, while the first stage was in development, Grow Greenbushes also put forward a proposal to council to design an additional space near the precinct. “They went out and got their own donations and built quite a significant set of retaining walls and put one of those really durable steel ping pong tables in there, and a mandala garden,”Mr Gillhan said. “There’s a seat that they put in there with a handcrafted top that Men’s Shed built and hand carved.” “It’s all part of the same thing now. They did it themselves. They came up with the concept plan, they went to council, and council endorsed it, and they actually built it themselves. “There’s that really strong, again, community input into that facility as well. So, it becomes a lot more enduring.” A planting day marked the completion of the project at the new youth precinct on August 1. An official celebratory event for the opening of the Greenbushes Youth Precinct is to be confirmed, however, the space is open to the public.