After a winter hiatus, while the volunteers responsible were travelling to Europe and “nomading around”, the water is now flowing in the re-imagined APEX waterfall, now renamed the WAG Apex Waterfall, in Central Park.
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Allen Valentine, president of the Wingham Advancement Group, reports that stage one of the project he initiated is nearly complete.
Work commenced on the waterfall in January this year, but was delayed by wet weather. As all of the work is being done by volunteers, progress was also hampered by volunteer availability.
“What remains to be done is the planting of hardy plants to soften the rocks and enhance the vibrancy of the water and flowforms,” Allen said.
Stage one was what Allen calls the ‘rebuilding and re-imagining’ and ‘deconstruction and reconstruction’ of the original APEX waterfall.
Funding will be sought next year for stage two, which will provide more landscaping, two bench seats, paving to match the paving at the Anzac Place corner of the park, plus curbing and council signage.
Fencing around the waterfall is being retained until early December to allow the plants to become established. An opening ceremony is being arranged for mid December.
“It’s unique to Wingham. No other town in Australia has flowforms at their entrance. They might have a prawn, a toad, a sheep, or something, but they will not have an avant garde water feature like this!”Allen said.
The waterfall is unique in that it uses flowforms used in biodynamic acriculture. The way the forms are constructed make the water move in a lemniscate – an infinity symbol, or two figure-of-eights – before it cascades down to the next form.
It’s unique to Wingham. No other town in Australia has flowforms at their entrance. They might have a prawn, a toad, a sheep, or something, but they will not have an avant garde water feature like this!
- Allen Valentine
The flowforms are said to enrich and re-oxygenate the water and return it, as near as is possible, to the purity of a mountain stream.
Three large rocks, kept from the original Apex Waterfall, have been placed as seating around the waterfall for people to sit and contemplate.
“We invite people to bring their cushion and sit on our ‘rustic seating’ and admire it,” Allen said.
Other rocks were given to Gwen Johnson, the widow of Ted Johnson, who was the driving force in Apex in 1972 to get the waterfall built as a nod to Earth Day. Gwen asked for some of the excess rocks as a memento of enjoyable times and her husband had with Apex building the original waterfall.
Allen Valentine is looking to get in touch with former Apex members to attend the opening ceremony. Contact Allen on 0420 107 245.
Julia Driscoll
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
Julia Driscoll has worked as a journalist for the Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Times for seven years. She values the deep connection with community that being a rural and regional journalist brings. Career highlights have involved environmental stories - bringing the plight of the little known endangered Manning River helmeted turtle to the attention of the public, resulting in wide-spread knowledge in the community and conservation action; and breaking the news of the Manning River ceasing to run for the first time in recorded history.
