DEVASTATED by November floodwaters, the Old Fairbridgians Association met with Cabonne Council on Monday to discuss restoring The Fairbridge Children's Park to its rightful and sacred state.
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Referred to as 'Old Fairbridgians', the now-adult-children of Fairbridge Farm saw the park's official opening less than two years ago.
Though, upon their return this week, felt heartbroken to see the post-flood wreckaged state of it now.
"It's devastating to see ... absolutely devastating," Old Fairbridgian, David Hill said.
Just east of Molong, the commemorative children's park - which holds an extremity of cultural significance - runs along the Molong Creek on the Mitchell Highway.
The genius landscaping behind the park's design was created to capture the journeys of Fairbridge Farm children - like brothers, David and Dudley Hill - and was structured in a way where the rightful role of its history is told.
And, even with its design plans having taken extensive considerations to the park's flood plain location, many of its surface exhibits - such as signage, landscape features, and gates - were destroyed by the area's severe weather late last year.
"We're pleased that a lot of the structure is standing solid, but it's devastating for us to see how extensive the damage has been," Mr Hill said.
"So, what we're doing today is coming to get a really good look at how serious and severe the damage has been, and we're meeting [Cabonne] council about the plans to repair it.
"We also need to know [Cabonne Council's] plan of long-term management for the park's future - because it might be a bushfire next, or another flood - and we'd like to know that there is an agreed plan in place for restoring it."
Accepting the park as a very valuable asset for the community, Cabonne Council take responsibility for the ongoing maintenance of the park in turn.
Cabonne Council's general manager, Brad Byrnes noted the location's Achilles heel with regard to irregular bouts of flooding.
"Unfortunately, due to the park's location in a flood plain, the site may be subject to intermittent flooding at times," Mr Byrnes said.
Mr Byrne also noted the site's marked significance, and spoke about council's plans to secure funding for its flood-damaged state.
"Council staff have recorded all damage, and are in the process of seeking funding assistance through the state government to assist with repairs and restoration of the site," he said.
"The timing of this will be subject to funding availability, but given the significance of the site, council is confident of a prompt response from the NSW government."
From 1938 to 1974, an estimated 1000 orphaned or poverty-stricken children from Britain arrived at Fairbridge Farm where they were taught to be servants and farm-hands.
Chairperson of the Fairbridge Children's Park, David Hill became one of the farm's many young residents at age 12 in 1959, along with his twin brother, Richard Hill and older brother, Malcolm 'Dudley' Hill; with all three brothers living there for three years.
The Hill's returning mother reunited the family, where the brothers went off to be incredibly successful, even acquiring "a swag of degrees" over the years since.
And, although there were some favourable childhood memories, the farm also holds an impeccably sad history; weighted in child neglect, physical and sexual abuse.
This dark history - one in which the federal and NSW state governments now acknowledge - is just one of many reasons as to why the severe storm damage at Fairbridge's commemorative park has hit so close to home for 'Old Fairbridgians' like the Hill brothers.
"We're probably over-sensitive because we're Fairbridge kids, and we've invested a lot in this park," David Hill said.
Having written and published a book titled, 'The Forgotten Children' back in 2007, David Hill chronicled the story of life on the farm, which includes the lives of other Fairbridge children.
"When I published 'The Forgotten Children', it was 15 years ago now, so there was about a 50/50 [split] in terms of dark vs light moments," David Hill said.
"But you see, more people have come forward with stories of abuse over that time; and there was a lot of dark side at Fairbridge.
"So, this park is a celebration of the Fairbridge children; it is very popular with all the surviving migrant children, and [so] we want it looking its best all the time."
Designed by Australia's leading landscape Architect, Leonard Lynch, the park was also structured to resist the heaviest impacts of floods.
"Leonard Lynch, he's a genius; he captured the spirit of our vision so perfectly - it was as if he was a Fairbridge kid himself - but he also designed the park with flooding in mind," David Hill said.
"We're well-aware of the history of flooding in this area, so it was structured in a way that would minimise damage; but when the recent floods in November came, they were of such intensity, and it was the speed with which the creek broke its banks."
While the heavily-engineered park has ensured some of the deepest structural footings are in still tact, surfaces were swept away in the November storm, with gravel and ground also washing away some of its structure.
"Further up, some of the structures have been ripped out of the ground and thrown further along the site," David Hill said.
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"For example, I donated money for a park bench - which is now on the side of the site - where the bench footings and all have been washed away in the flood ... you'll see the bench has a plaque for those unfortunate ones during our time at Fairbridge ... and there were so many children who experienced that dark side, who never saw their parents again ...
"... so I dedicated this bench to all of those poor bloody kids; the ones who had nobody there for them."
After an emotional recollection of events, the Hill brothers sighted the damage, and met with Cabonne Council before heading back to their homes in Sydney.
With council agreeing to restore the park to its original condition, the Hill brothers are feeling "very grateful", and have future plans in the pipeline to harness the ongoing legacy of Fairbridge children.
"We're very grateful, and [council] have said it'll have detailed design plans with [the repair plans] in the next month or two," David Hill said.
"For the long-term, we're going to establish a local foundation or organisation, and with so much local support for the park, we've decided we should harness that support; and to have prominent local supporters band together, creating an organisation which would represent the interests of the park to local council.
"We've made this choice because what the park represents is incredibly significant ... and us bunch of aging Fairbridge kids can only do so much."
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