Winner 2019
Contribution by a Community-based Organisation
Busselton Jetty Inc
Joint Winner
The Busselton Jetty Environment and Conservation Association (BJECA) is a voluntary, not-for-profit organisation. It was established by members of the Busselton community in 1978, in the aftermath of Cyclone Alby, to stop the proposed demolition of the deteriorated Busselton Jetty by raising funds for its restoration and maintenance. The community committee was incorporated in 1987 and has evolved into the organisation it is today.
The 1.8km long and 151 year-old Busselton Jetty is the longest in the Southern Hemisphere. Without the dedication and passion of BJECA, the jetty would not be the heritage tourist icon that it is today.
The jetty attracts over 400,000 visitors annually, and is second only to the Perth Zoo in the number of paid visitors hosted each year. Visitors can experience the historic sense of place via guided walking tours, night train tours, underwater helmet and snorkelling tours, fishing tours and by visiting the world-class interpretation centre.
Jaycees Community Foundation
Joint Winner
The Jaycees Community Foundation was founded in 1976 to enable the State chapters of the foundation to undertake major community projects too large for the individual Jaycee Chapters.
The foundation is an innovative community organisation in Western Australia that works to create opportunities and leadership training for young people through community involvement.
In 1980, the Jaycee Foundation acquired Australia’s last whaling station in Cheynes Beach, Albany. Over the following 25 years, the foundation has transformed this whaling station into an internationally significant and multi-award winning regional heritage tourism destination. In that time, it has attracted more than 2 million visitors and generated approximately $40 million in the local economy. The project is to become the foundation's ultimate ‘gift’ to the Albany community.
Chapman Valley Historical Society
Commendation
The Chapman Valley Historical Society is a cornerstone organisation in the Shire of Chapman Valley that has shown incredible passion, dedication and drive in developing the heritage precinct in Chapman Valley. The society was formed in response to a proposal to demolish the Upper Chapman Road Board Building in 1981. The community rallied, and the Chapman Valley Historical Society was formed at a public meeting. The building became the headquarters of the society and became responsible for the building’s maintenance.
Since their inception in 1982, the Chapman Valley Historical Society has worked to maintain and preserve infrastructure and items of historical significance that allow the community’s shared history to be retained.
The establishment of a public museum by the society in 1996 provides a place of knowledge, ideas, stories and memories. The museum showcases a broad range of displays from farming equipment and vehicles, family histories and household items.
Pickering Brook Heritage Group
Commendation
The Pickering Brook Heritage Group was established in 1994 when a group of residents formed a committee dedicated to the preservation of the history of Pickering Brook, Bartons Mill, Canning Mills, Masons Mill and surrounding areas.
The group identified the importance of restoring, preserving, researching and displaying their local history. The group not only created a physical heritage site but also developed and created a website that extends their reach worldwide.
The group has a dedicated web master who works to collect the stories and photographs of the Pickering Brook region and to upload them on the website. This work allows the group to recreate an interpretative history of the district that can be preserved for the general public.
Many mill sites, mill town and early pioneer settlements across the State have been destroyed by fire, white ants and other natural disasters. The Pickering Brook Heritage Group’s website and the Heritage Park help to preserve and share the important contribution these communities made to the development of Western Australia.
Rail Heritage WA
Winner of the Judges Award: The Professor David Dolan Award
Rail Heritage WA is a volunteer organisation dedicated to preserving the history of railways in Western Australia. It developed, and now operates, the Railway Museum in Bassendean which is the only museum in the State dedicated to the railways of Western Australia. The museum opened in 1974, and not only cares for the physical heritage of locomotives and rollingstock and associated infrastructure but also for historical records and photographs associated with rail heritage.
The society has been a driver for celebrations of key railway events to raise awareness of the importance of our State’s railway heritage, including ‘100 years of Railways in WA’ and the celebration of the ‘Centenary of the Trans-Australian Railway’ in 2017.
Rail Heritage WA specialises in the restoration and reconstruction of railway carriages using traditional skills. Research and a conservation plan have been the mainstay of the planning for major projects such as the restoration of the first railway carriage ever built for the Trans-Australian Railway.