By Tyler Wright
A public artwork next to Cockatoo’s railway line near the town’s main road is in its final stages and set to be completed in coming months, but locals wish they had more input into the work’s location.
The artwork, commissioned by Cardinia Shire Council and completed by James Voller, was created as part of the Cardinia Public Art Program.
“The artwork celebrates the wonderful history of the Cockatoo community incorporating original photos in its design,” a Cardinia Shire Council spokesperson said.
“Council explored a number of different suitable sites for this piece of artwork, working carefully with the artist and his team, Cardinia’s Ranges Ward Councillors (at that time) and Puffing Billy (as owners of the land at Cockatoo Station which was the mutually agreed final site),” the spokesperson said.
“Whilst the artwork itself was completed as originally planned, due to risks associated with other sites and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic it has taken longer than was originally anticipated to place the artwork on site.”
The artwork is taped off to the public currently, and Council will undertake the landscaping to complete the project – which will then be permanently accessible to the public.
Chris Thompson, Cockatoo local, said he has been aware of the project plans being in place for over three years, and believes the “very nice” piece of artwork could have been placed in a “more prominent” spot.
“I’ve had a lot to do with township committees over the years and that was a project very few people knew about from what I can gather,” Chris said.
“A lot of people seem to like it and are happy to have it – there’s always two questions; ‘how much did it cost?’…but the most important thing is, ‘why was it located there?’
Tate McFarlane, chairperson of Connecting Cockatoo Communities Inc, believes the artwork was “ready to go” years ago until it was placed in the community “the other week”.
“It would have been nice if council had been a little bit more public about how they discussed that,” Tate said.
